Select the first letter of the word from the list above to
jump to appropriate section of the glossary. If the term you are
looking for starts with a digit or symbol, choose the '#' link.
- acceptance test
A test of a partition, usually performed by users to
ensure that their requirements are met.
- baseline
In year 2000 testing, the test results obtained by
running the distilled
testbed against applications before year 2000 changes
are implemented.
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- baseline test
In year 2000 testing, testing to verify that modified
code behaves the same as the original code.
-
- black box test
In year 2000 testing, the performance test of a partition
that focuses on its external functions rather than on its
internal operation. For example, the performance test of
a bank's deposit application would evaluate only the
elapsed time between initiating a deposit request and
receiving verification that the transaction is complete.
What nodes are part of the deposit transaction and their
individual performance is not relevant.
- Contrast with white box test.
-
- bridge
A temporary program that translates dates between
formats. A bridge either converts an old file format to a
changed file format, called a forward bridge; or it
converts a changed file format to an old file format,
called a backward bridge. Interfaces that span partition
boundaries require a bridge because early partitions will
access dates in a different format than later partitions.
Bridges may be required at external interfaces between
applications and external entities as well as at internal
interfaces between partitions. Every application is a
member of one and only one partition.
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-
- bridging
Translating valid values to another format to resolve
transient differences between owners and users of the
data. Use temporary bridge programs for bridging and
permanent bridge programs for interfacing. The idea is
the same; the lifetime differs.
- century window
A 100-year interval, usually crossing a century boundary,
within which you assume all two-digit years lie.
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- compliancy testing
In year 2000 testing, testing to verify unmodified
applications claimed to be year 2000 ready are indeed
ready.
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- compression
The conversion of four-digit years to either hexadecimal
or unsigned packed decimal to make them fit in two-digit
year fields.
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- conversion
Translating valid values to another format, such as
two-digit years (YY) to four-digit
years (CCYY) and/or VSAM
to DB2 (for increased usability),
on a one-time, permanent basis
-
- critical event
horizon
The date on which a hardware or software component first
fails to process dates properly. Each application can
have a unique critical event horizon.
-
- distilled testbed
The refined test cases and test data used to test an
application containing year 2000 fixes. These test cases
and data are derived from those originally used to test
the applications; test cases and data not relevant to
testing the year 2000 fixes have been removed.
- expansion
The extension of date fields to contain the century
information.
- false positive
A reported date impact that is not truly an impact.
- GDG
A Generation Data Group - a group is a group of data sets
that are chronologically or functionally related. They
are referred to by a name and a relative generation
number with a maximum of 255 entries:
DSN=TAX.DATA(0) is the current generation
DSN=TAX.DATA(-1) is the previous generation
DSN=TAX.DATA(+1) adds a new generation)
- (empty)
- Information Technology
Association of America (ITAA)
A trade association composed of members representing a
broad spectrum of the IT industry.
-
- ITAA
Information Technology Association of America
-
- Interfacing
Translating valid values to another format to resolve
permanent differences between owners and users of the
data. Use temporary bridge programs for bridging and
permanent bridge programs for interfacing. The idea is
the same; the lifetime differs.
-
- (empty)
- (empty)
- (empty)
- Millennium Language Extensions (MLE)
- IBM's patent-pending technology that provides support for automated
date windowing in its year 2000 ready COBOL and PL/I compilers.
Conceptually, these extensions give you a mechanism to indicate
to the compiler which dates should be windowed. It is a
compiler-assisted solution for your windowed dates. MLE is fondly
referred to as Emily.
- (empty)
- (empty)
- partition
A set of applications and data. Partitions divide the
overall work effort into separately manageable units for
purposes of funding, scheduling, staffing, and
outsourcing. The defining characteristic of a partition
is that all applications and data within a partition are
put back into production at the same time.
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- performance test
-
The testing of a modified application to assure that it meets
its throughput, response time, and availability criteria.
-
- post-fix test
Using the distilled testbed
to test an application after year-2000 changes are
implemented. The purpose of this test is to assure that
the application continues to run successfully after the
changes are made: a regression test.
- Compare with: 199x test and 20xx test.
- (empty)
- retrofit testing
In year 2000 testing, testing to verify that collateral
changes made to production code function correctly with
code modified for year 2000.
- seed
An initial specification or pattern of a program variable
thought to be date related
-
- seed file
A packet of seeds in a file used as input to the Year 2000 Analysis
Tool of VisualAge Redeveloper
-
- seed list
A list of seeds, generally contained in a file.
-
- scrubbing
Replacing invalid date values with valid values (such as
123299 with 12311999) or a missing value indicator (such
as NULL in DB2).
- standardization
The enforcement of standard date formats, names, and
routines.
-
- subsystem
A secondary or subordinate system, usually capable of
operating independently of, or asynchronously with, a
controlling system.
- (empty)
- (empty)
- (empty)
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- white box test
In year 2000 testing, the performance test of a partition
that studies and measures its internal operations in
order to assess the partition's performance. For example,
the performance test of a bank's deposit application
might measure the time of each node in a deposit
transaction in addition to the measuring the overall
performance of the transaction.
- Contrast with black box test.
- windowing
The introduction of date routines that infer the correct
century.
- (empty)
- year 2000
ready IBM product
A year 2000 ready product is one that, when used in
accordance with its associated documentation, is capable
of correctly processing, providing, and/or receiving date
data within and between the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries, provided that all products (for example,
hardware, software, and firmware) used with the product
properly exchange accurate date data with it.
- (empty)
- 199x test
Using a modified distilled
testbed to test an application that contains year 2000
fixes. The testbed was modified by the addition of year
2000 data and test cases, but the system clock is
current, not advanced to a date later than 1999. This
test assures that the modified applications can handle
year 2000 data.
- Compare with: post-fix test
and 20xx test.
- 20xx test
Using a modified distilled
testbed to test an application that contains year 2000
fixes. This is the same testbed used in the 19xx test; it
was modified by the addition of year 2000 data and test
cases. Also, the system clock is advanced to dates later
than 1999. This test assures that the modified
applications can handle year 2000 data in the future.
- Compare with: post-fix test
and 199x test.