MPE/iX Release 7.5 Patch Revision 2028
MPE/iX Year 2028 Overview
Technical Overview
Many MPE/iX operating system procedures and intrinsic functions rely on the CALENDAR Intrinsic and the internal binary format of the CALENDAR date argument return. The CALENDAR intrinsic returns a 16 bit value, allowing 9 bits for day of year and 7 bits for the year. The base year is presumed to be 1900, limiting the maximum year to 2027 since the largest number represented by 7 bits is 127. Several different MPE/iX Intrinsic functions (such as but not limited to: FMTCALENDAR, HPFMTCALENDAR, ALMANAC, and DATELINE) extract the CALENDAR returned value and subsequently format the year based on 1900.
CALENDAR NM and CM callable. Returns the calendar date, including the day of the year and the year since 1900. Syntax U16 date:=CALENDAR; Functional Return date 16-bit unsigned integer (assigned functional return) Returns the calendar date in the following format: Bits Value/Meaning 7:9 Day of year 0:7 Year since 1900 Binary 9 bits: 111111111 = 511 Maximum value. Enough for up to 366 days in a year Binary 7 bits: 1111111 = 127 Maximum value. Allows for year 1900 + 127 = 2027
Solution
Patches developed by Beechglen address this issue by altering the base year to 2028 for CALENDAR year return values < 10. This effectively extends the CALENDAR range to 12/31/2037. Beyond 1/13/2038 would require more extensive patching as the internal hardware and software time is kept as the number of seconds since 00:00:00 1/1/1970. Communicator 3000 MPE/iX Release 7.5
Note: The ‘Year >2027 Patches’ have been developed as enhancements under the Beechglen Development Inc. MPE/iX Source Code Agreement with Hewlett-Packard. As provided in this agreement, these patches can be provided as enhancements to MPE/iX systems covered under a support or services agreement from Beechglen Development Inc.
Application Considerations
Each system applying these patches should be evaluated for the customer and third-party code that calls the CALENDAR intrinsic directly. For example, MANMAN calls CALENDAR to calculate an internal date. This instance was easily patched and integrated into the MANMAN application. In other applications, the object and source code that calls CALENDAR will need simple modifications. Native Mode Programs (NMPRG) can be examined for NM CALENDAR CALLS using the LINKEDIT LISTPROG command. Compatibility Mode programs (PROG) can be examined using the LISTPROG utility. At the time of this publication, Beechglen is in the process of evaluating third-party applications on a case-by-case basis. Thus far, Adager has been certified to function normally to 12/31/2037.
Who Should Consider Applying 2028 Patches?
- Anyone using future dates in applications – initially observed in 2018 with 10-year record windows. Examples include shop floor calendars and patient scheduling.
- Anyone planning (or not planning but may find) their HP3000 system running beyond 12/31/2027; including virtualized instances of MPE/iX on different hardware.
- Expiration dates for labeled tapes are kept in CALENDAR format and are already exhibiting problems for customers with 10-year retention dates on tapes.
Illustration of a Beechglen patched MPE System
System StartISL> start norecovery MPE/iX launch facility ... DATE (M/D/Y)? 12/13/2028 TIME (H:M:S)? 13:37 ******************************* Year > 2027 Patches Copyright Beechglen Development Inc. 2017 All Rights Reserved WWW.BEECHGLEN.COM ******************************* WED, DEC 13, 2028, 1:37:00 PM (y/n)? ySETCLOCK/SHOWCLOCK:setclock date=12/31/2037;time=23:30;now Year>2027 Patches Copyright Beechglen Development Inc. 2017 All Rights Reserved www.Beechglen.com :showclock SYSTEM TIME: THU, DEC 31, 2037, 11:30:12 PM CURRENT TIME CORRECTION: 0 SECONDS TIME ZONE: 5 HOURS 0 MINUTES WESTERN HEMISPHERELISTF:listf purgeme,3 FILE: PURGEME.Y2028.SYS FILE CODE : 0 FOPTIONS: BINARY,FIXED,NOCCTL,STD BLK FACTOR: 1 CREATOR : ** REC SIZE: 256(BYTES) LOCKWORD: ** BLK SIZE: 256(BYTES) SECURITY--READ : ANY EXT SIZE: 0(SECT) WRITE : ANY NUM REC: 0 APPEND : ANY NUM SEC: 0 LOCK : ANY NUM EXT: 0 EXECUTE : ANY MAX REC: 1023 **SECURITY IS ON FLAGS : NO ACCESSORS NUM LABELS: 0 CREATED : WED, DEC 13, 2028, 1:53 PM MAX LABELS: 0 MODIFIED: WED, DEC 13, 2028, 1:53 PM DISC DEV #: 2 ACCESSED: WED, DEC 13, 2028, 1:53 PM SEC OFFSET: 0 LABEL ADDR: ** VOLCLASS : MPEXL_SYSTEM_VOLUME_SET:DISCSTREAM AT/IN & SHOWJOB - scheduled jobs:STREAM JOB1;IN=2 #J4 :STREAM JOB2;DATE=12/18/28;AT=23:00 #J5
:SHOWJOB JOBNUM STATE IPRI JIN JLIST INTRODUCED JOB NAME #S1 EXEC 20 20 WED 1:37P MANAGER.SYS #J3 EXEC 10S LP WED 1:37P JINETD,MANAGER.SYS 2 JOBS: 0 INTRO 0 WAIT; INCL 0 DEFERRED 2 EXEC; INCL 1 SESSIONS 0 SUSP JOBFENCE= 0; JLIMIT= 60; SLIMIT= 60
CURRENT: 12/13/28 13:56
JOBNUM STATE IPRI JIN JLIST SCHEDULED-INTRO JOB NAME
#J4 SCHED 8 10S LP 12/15/28 13:56 JOB1,MANAGER.SYS
#J5 SCHED 8 10S LP 12/18/28 23:00 JOB2,MANAGER.SYS
COBOL programs run without recompiling or running with special XLs (NM and CM)
:showtime SAT, JAN 27, 2035, 11:52 AM :cdatenm NM COBOL DATE FUNCTION TEST ACCEPT DATE (YYMMDD) IS: 350127 CURRENT-DATE: 01/27/35 FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE: 2035012711522400-0500 ACCEPT TIME IS: 11522400 TIME-OF-DAY: 115224
STORE and date selection criteria
:store p@;*std;show=dates;date<=12/31/2032 >> TURBO-STORE/RESTORE VERSION C.75.00 B5152AA << (C) 1986 HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. Year 2028+ Enhancements (c) 2017-2025 Beechglen Development, Inc.
STORE p@;*std;SHOW=DATES;DATE<=12/31/2032
SAT, JAN 27, 2035, 11:44 AM
FILENAME GROUP ACCOUNT VOLUME RESTRICTIONS SECTORS CODE MEDIA
CREATED ACCESSED MODIFIED
P3 .TEMP .SYS DISC :C 47104 STORE 1
7/ 2/2030 7/ 2/2030 7/ 2/2030
PD .TEMP .SYS DISC :C 320 1
7/ 2/2030 7/ 2/2030 7/ 2/2030
PDCM .TEMP .SYS DISC :C 320 1
7/ 2/2030 7/ 2/2030 7/ 2/2030
PURGEME .TEMP .SYS DISC :C 0 1
6/ 5/2032 7/ 2/2030 6/ 6/2032
FILES STORED : 4
TOTAL MEDIA WRITTEN : 1
Native Mode Spooler including SELEQ by date
:listspf @;seleq=[date=09/22/2034];detail
SPOOLID JOBNUM FILEDES PRI COPIES DEV STATE RSPFN OWNER
FORMID JOBNAME COPSRM SECTS RECS PAGES DATE TIME
#O1972 S2 PRT 1 1 LP READY MANAGER.SYS
1 16 56 ~1 09/22/34 17:25
#O1973 S2 PRT 1 1 LP READY MANAGER.SYS
1 16 56 ~1 09/22/34 17:27
The following list of vendors certified on Beechglen patched MPE systems that their software is Y2028 compatible.
| Vendor | Application, Utility, or Package |
|---|---|
| Adager | Adager |
| Robelle | QEDIT, SUPRTOOL |
| Hillary Software | byREQUEST, Sheetmate |
Contact Beechglen for more information to see if the MPE/iX Patch Revision 2028 is right for your company.
info@beechglen.com
