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HP OpenVMS Systemsask the wizard |
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The Question is: All knowing Wizard, Question: Availability of language specific utils to test VMS date/time system services and library routines? I've been asked to test and document the language specific date/time functions and proper calls/returns fro the various system services. I'm not a programmer but I can do this if I must. I'll probably just write my own (C v5.7, Cxx v6.1, Fortran v7.1) but I've been looking for util(s) with source that will test all the VMS date and time functions; both system services and library routines. I've looked around but can't find one. Yes, I can piece together snippets from the programming examples but I would think with all the Y2K fever out there somebody has done this already. Do you know of any available sources for this? If there aren't any I'll probably just write one and post it for everyone else to use. Regards, Ron Hesse Systems Engineer - VMS Team FactSet Research Systems Inc. The Answer is : A cursory Y2K test is trivial. See the OpenVMS Freeware for various source-code examples of calling time-related system services. A complete Y2K test is a major undertaking. Without intending offense, you clearly do not understand the number of different places throughout OpenVMS that accept, manipulate, or return time values. The Y2K review located many such areas, ranging from the obvious sys$actim system service to more obscure references such as the time fields within various data structures used with the sys$qio calls to the file system XQP to the contents of the RMS XABDAT data structure and the WFIKPCH device driver routines. The complete OpenVMS regression test suite occupies roughly 9,238 files and 1,523,979 blocks, requires several weeks and a very large and specialized hardware configuration to complete, and is evaluated by skilled engineers very familiar with the operation of the test suite and associated environment. The Y2K testing performed here in OpenVMS included the use of the regression test suite and code reviews of the operating system, among other activities. For the recommended Y2K testing procedures, please see the Y2K website referenced in the Ask The Wizard page and in the OpenVMS FAQ. Skipping steps in the Y2K testing procedure -- such as skipping the system reboots or the disk backup operations -- is strongly discouraged.
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