Source Code - General Tools

Assembler code (assembly language): For a discussion Y2K issues, see of a recent article on independent verification and & validation of this code/language.

Carillon: Available at no cost from a professor of computer science and several other researchers at UC Berkeley, this is at a simple, fast, and effective type-based system for finding Y2K errors in C programs. Carillon is available for in three different system configurations: Sparc-Solaris, X86-Linux, and HPPA-HPUX. A 21 page users manual provides documentation and examples of how Y2K problems are found with Carillon.

C/C++ - Tools:

OnMark 2000 Workbench for C/C++, from Viasoft, runs under Windows 95 and Windows NT, uses Microsoft Project 4.1 or MS Project 98 (for online project planning, estimation and tracking), and is ODBC-compliant. The software parses and analyzes application source code to extract key lexical and semantic information. This impact assessment builds a source code repository on any ODBC-compliant database with information about lines of code, lines of impacted code, number of date variables, program complexity and audit tracking. A fully-functional evaluation copy is available for downloading.

Open Systems Portability Checker, from Knowledge Software. is described as a "Standards Enforcement Toolset". It can be configured to flag many Y2K problems. Free versions are provided. More powerful versions of OSPC are for sale. For example, a single user copy of the API deduction tool that provides meaningful warning messages, along with pinpointing violations of the API specifications in the user source, is about $225.

Linux uses libraries that store dates as 32-bit integers, which count the seconds since 1970. This counter will not overflow until the year 2038. However, applications running on Linux are still susceptible to the Y2K bug because they may not use the standard library routines. Linux applications should be checked to verify Y2K compliance. The Free Software Foundation provides a web page where you can check Y2K compliance for GNU software.

Perl - For an opinionated article, see Tom Christiansen's "Year 2000 Compliance: Lawyers, Liars, and Perl". ("The answer is that Perl is every bit as Y2K compliant as is your pencil; no more, and no less.")

Perl - tools:

     A script which will read a Perl file and check it for date inconsistencies, then generate an HTML file which highlights date 'tainted' variables, is available here. It will check any Perl script, but requires Perl5 to run.

RQE Workbench, from Peritus Software Services, facilitates in-house quality evaluation of Y2K renovations for C and COBOL code. The tool runs on NT workstations and is priced per seat for unlimited usage.

Utility2000, from ATTG, is a comprehensive remediation tool. Versions are available for Access, C, C++, PowerBuilder, and Visual Basic, as well as a Generic module that can be used for Ada, Java, COBOL, Mapper, Clipper, dBASE III, FORTRAN, etc. A free evaluation copy is available.

SCAN2000, from Speedwell Computing, is a MS-Windows utility that will scan any number of ASCII text files for any data. Approximately $40 (single PC license).

MAXFIND by Stanley C. Peters, similar to SCAN2000, available from peters@miu.edu. Shareware, $21; maximum of fifteen match patterns.

Year 2000+ Software Analyzer, from Bozeman Legg, Inc. Freeware. For Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 [and presumably Windows 98 and NT]. Analyzes source code and flags lines that potentially contain Year 2000 problems. The reports can then be used to isolate the critical Year 2000 problems in the application. Can be used to analyze source code written in any high level programming language. Comes ready to analyze several common programming languages; other programming languages can easily be added by following the included instructions.

Database Stored Procedures

Data Moving Between Applications