What is Compliance?

Answer.

There are many definitions of Year 2000 compliance.

In the Cinderella Domain, a very strict definition is needed:

(Version 3 1998-07-21) "Year 2000 Compliant" can be stated as the attribute of a computer-based system to operate correctly, accurately, unambiguously and acceptably in storing, collating (sorting), displaying, and calculating date information within defined System and User date ranges, including leap years according to the Gregorian calendar, in a form compatible with the full ISO8601 YYYY-MM-DD form, communicating with other systems in FIPS-4 YYYYMMDD form, with default installation values and error checking to specifically exclude User error, before and after the Year 2000.

Note: Acceptability Index 0 is defined as "Year 2000 Compliant".

(Version 3 1998-07-21) "Year 2000 Ready" can be stated as the attribute of a computer-based system to operate correctly and acceptably in storing. collating (sorting) and calculating dates, but where the strict "compliance" rules for display or input are relaxed to allow two digit year usage or allow ambiguity or windowing, on a descending scale of Acceptability from 2 to 8, or where User procedural action or Setup is required to allow correct operation.

"Non-compliant" can be stated as failure to meet the requirements of "Year 2000 compliant" or "Year 2000 Ready" and where rework or replacement is needed to allow correct operation.

Note: Acceptability Index 9 is defined as "Non-compliant".

Preferably such programs should be seen to be compliant.

Visibility is important. If a program displays the date in the ISO8601 YYYY-MM-DD format or YY-MM-DD then it is far better than if it does not.

However this is not always possible.

In the Cinderella context, we use the Object Classes and Acceptability Index as tools for classifying and rating compliance. This is really a formal system of compromise to aid in decisions with programs that do not fully support ISO8601.