TWO-DIGIT HYBRID RADIX YEAR NUMBERS FOR YEAR 2000 AND BEYOND

摘要

A method and related input/output devices for using biased 2 digit 'hybrid radix' numeric fields for inputting, generating, storing, processing, and outputting year numbers ranging from 1900 to 2059 and beyond in a data processing system (fig. 1A). In a hybrid radix 2 digit year number, the higher digit is treated as hexadecimal (or in other radix), but displayed in a decimal-like style with font patterns 0-9 and '0, '1, '2, '3, etc. (fig. 1B). While the lower digit is treated as ordinary decimal, so that the year 1900 is represented and processed as 00 while the year 2000 as '00. For applications written with high level languages such as COBOL and SQL, the method can be embodied solely in the system side (compiler, other system software and/or hardware), and no change other than a re-compilation with a new compiler is needed for existing application software. Compatibility with existing data files and databases is automatically maintained.