Microsoft Year 2000 Readiness Disclosure & Resource Center

Product Summary

Product: Word 6.XX Version: Category: Compliant# Operating System: 16-Bit Win Language: Italian Release Date: 01 Nov 1993 Operational Range: 01 Jan 1901 - 31 Dec 2035 Prerequisites: NONE Product Dependencies: Windows 3.1, or Windows NT 3.51 (no specific SP is required) Clock Dependencies: System Clock Last Updated: 05 Aug 1999

Product Details

Description of how the product handles dates: Storage.  Date and time values for all date usage in Word are stored either as simple text strings or as a 32-bit integer.  If the date information is stored in a 32-bit integer, the data is represented fields that have the following ranges: Hours: 0-23 Minutes: 0-59 Seconds: 0-59 Weekday: 0(Sun)-6(Sat) Day of Month: 1-31 Year: 1900-2411 Unless otherwise noted, all features within Word that manipulate dates store the dates as a 32-bit integer. This convention means that the date is represented by a 4-digit year. Dates saved within versions of documents retain their 4-digit year designations, regardless of display.   This means that even if a 2-digit year is displayed, Word internally stores that year with all 4-digits.  Similarly, all revision marking date information retains the 4-digit year designations. String date parsing. Other date values, such as might be imported from another program or entered with an Insert Date/Time command, are simple text. Therefore, they are not handled as date values. The one exception is with the Table/Sort command.  In this instance, text strings can be interpreted as date values. The two-digit year '00 is interpreted as the year 2000, all other two digit years are interpreted as being in the 20th century.  If the user wants to sort dates in the 21st century, they should use the full four digits. There is no validation of the dates in Table/Sort, so, for instance, a date of 2/30/2000 would be sorted before 3/1/2000.  Table/Sort interprets the range of years 1900 through 2035. The same 1901-2000 window is used for interpretation of two digit dates when using Date formatting (picture switch) of Quote Fields. Saving to an earlier version of Word, or upgrading, will have no affect on dates within a document. All date field information and file properties will be retained and correctly recognized. 2-digit shortcut handling: Conversion of 2-digit shortcut dates (primarily in table sort and in Word fields) assumes a date window of 1901 through 2000. What are the acceptable deviations?: All 2-digit shortcuts for dates are assumed to be in the 20th century with the exception of 00, which is interpreted as the year 2000. This behavior is exposed in table date sorting, quote fields, text form field date formatting, custom document properties, WordBasic date text to date conversions, and Find File Advanced Search. It is not exposed by inserting a date from the menu, by date fields, or by any other date functionality in Word. All dates that are used in the Find File Advanced Search dialog time stamp tab are converted to 2-digit format by default. The year 00 is interpreted as the year 2000. All other years are assumed to be in the 20th century. This means that the default operational range of dates for Find File in Word 6.0x for Windows is 1901û2000.  This date format can, however, be modified to use all 4 digits for the year.  For details on this workaround and additional information on this issue please see http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q171/2/86.asp. Recommendations: Because of the way that 2-digit shortcuts are handled in certain fields and functions of Word 6.0x, users should enter 4-digit years for their dates. Common date usage errors: In general, the entry, importing or formatting of years as 2 digits should be discouraged or eliminated where date calculation dependencies in the user solutions exist. Since most document content, including data entered through Insert Date/Time and Text Form Fields, is stored as plain text, the century information could be improperly derived or assumed by the user solution. Use of Word date field types and pre-defined document and file properties for document-related date calculations will ensure that the available information represents a true date. Because Word date fields do not support date arithmetic, we have, in earlier documentation, suggested the use of nested formula fields (expressions) to accomplish adding or subtracting days, months, or years to dates. Because simple arithmetic calculations are not calendar-aware, this method is prone to Year 2000-type errors, particularly with 2-digit year values, and is no longer recommended. Testing guidelines and recommendations: In general, avoid testing in a production environment because we cannot predict side effects with other products. Interoperability testing with other Microsoft Office products can be conducted safely. The following areas should be examined to verify that dates are being properly used. The table below can be used to guide testing of Microsoft Word within your organization. Area SubArea Testing Notes Edit Insert Date/Time Table Sort   Insert Date and Time can insert the current date as text formatted as a date, or as a date field that can be updated.  Table Sort can interpret text strings as a date, and sort in chronological order, ascending or descending.  Two digits can be interpreted as years.  '00 is interpreted as the year 2000, all other two digit years are interpreted as being in the 20th century.  Table Sort recognizes the years 1900 through 2035. File File Native RTF Text Conversions Graphics Filters  Document Properties Revision Marking  Find File Date information is stored in the document for creation date, revision date, and the date the document was last printed.   Dates are written to RTF in a four digit format.  Date information is stored with text that is marked for revisions. Fields Date/Time Fields Formula Fields Summary Information Fields Text Form Fields  Field Picture Switches Many fields exist that manipulate date and time information.  CreateDate, Date, EditTime, Info whose types include CreateDate, EditTime, PrintDate, and SaveDate, PrintDate, SaveDate, and Time.  In German, the fields EditTime and Info: EditTime are not available.  Quote fields and Text Form fields are text fields that can be formatted as dates using field picture switches.  Formula fields are designed to calculate text or numbers. Mail Doc Routing Posting  Mail Merge SendMail       Macros WordBasic The WordBasic commands that manipulate date and time information are: AppInfo$(21-26) Date$() DateSerial() DateValue() Day() Days360() DocumentStatistics .Created, .LastSaved, .Printed, .Time Hour() InsertDateField InsertDateTime InsertTimeField Minute() Month() Now() OnTime Second() Time$() TimeSerial() TimeValue() Today() ToolsRevisionDate() ToolsRevisionDate$() Weekday() Year() Misc. Boot / Exit OLE (Links) DDE  Environment       Print Summary Information The last date that the document was printed is saved with the document. Templates Weekly Time Sheet A range of dates can be selected to use with the weekly time sheet template. View Header/Footer Footnotes/Endnotes Comments Status Bar The CreateDate, Date, and PrintDate fields can be inserted into a document's header or footer via the Header and Footer toolbar.   These fields are identical to the fields inserted via the Field dialog.  The current date is displayed on the word status bar on NT 3.51. Wizards Calendar Wizard Fax Wizard A range of dates can be selected to use with the Calendar Wizard.

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ANY MICROSOFT YEAR 2000 STATEMENTS MADE TO YOU IN THE COURSE OF PROVIDING YEAR 2000 RELATED UPDATES, YEAR 2000 DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS, OR REMEDIATION SERVICES (IF ANY) ARE SUBJECT TO THE YEAR 2000 INFORMATION AND READINESS DISCLOSURE ACT (112 STAT. 2386). IN CASE OF A DISPUTE, THIS ACT MAY REDUCE YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS REGARDING THE USE OF ANY SUCH STATEMENTS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED BY YOUR CONTRACT OR TARIFF.

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