Re: Y2K and Forms 4.5

In article <01be4fb6$a1c5f5a0$245f95c1_at_default>, gbaron_at_dial.pipex.com says...
> Hi all,
>
> According to reliable sources, Forms 4.5 is "Y2K compliant" . However, I
> have noticed some quirky behaviour when ASSIGNING date values in triggers.
>
> Perhaps someone could shed some light ?
>
> The basic situation is, in a d/b using "dd-mon-rr" default date format :
>
> I want to assign a (*very*) 'high' value to a forms date field, using the
> following syntax -
>
> :date_thing := '31-Dec-49 ;
>
> or
>
> :date_thing := to_date('31-Dec-2199','dd-mon-yyyy') ;
>
> where date_thing is an 11-character non-database date field in the form.
>
> I get some strange results, which I won't disclose here for fear of
> prejudicing your responses. I appreciate that some of the above could be
> considered "Son of Y2K", but we're desperate :)
>
> Cheers,
>
> Glenn Baron
>

I haver found that Forms does not use the NLS Date format setting of the database. It instead relies on the NLS Date format setting in the registry of the PC. By default, the Oracle Installer does not set up a string value for NLS Date format in the registry, so it instead uses DD- MON-YY. Personally, I cannot see how Oracle can claim that Forms 4.5 is Y2K compliant unless the installer sets up this string variable with a Y2K compliant date format.

I'm on a Y2K Project at the moment, and we are now having to arrange for this string variable to be set up in the regsitry of every user PC. I have done this by just getting my own registry right, exporting the branch from regedit into a file called y2k.reg, then editing the y2k.reg file to include only the NLS Date format string variable. This can then be executed on each PC. But you probably know all this!

(Incidentally, I have sometimes found that edited .reg files are not always processed correctly by regedit. The files with just the single entry seems OK though).
--

Grant Sinclair          Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk
grants_at_dove.net.au      about happy things. (Chaim Potok: The Chosen)