Digital Equipment Corporation has announced that it has broadened its array of tools to meet the Year 2000 date-field challenge. The powerful Piercom 2000 Digital Version tool now assesses and corrects FORTRAN as well as COBOL programs running on Digital`s Alpha and VAX systems. Another tool, GMT Check 2000, inventories a customer`s desktop computers and software and compares the results against a database on the Year 2000 status of more than 3000 desktop products. The Piercom 2000 tool automates much of the effort needed to make customer application programmes Year 2000 ready. It now works with versions of the FORTRAN language running on both VAX and Alpha systems under the OpenVMS operating system, and on Alpha systems running Digital UNIX. Customers who had previously acquired the Piercom tool for use with COBOL programmes will receive the new FORTRAN capability free of charge. Digital`s customers have thousands of desktop systems, which can be running a mix of applications, not all of them ready for the Millennium date change. GMT Check 2000 helps IS managers quickly create an inventory of their company`s desktop products. Running as a client/server application, GMT Check 2000 can correct most PC BIOS issues, and identifies user software that may not be Year 2000 ready. "These additional Year 2000 tools help Digital`s customers attain Year 2000 readiness faster and more easily," said Rob Schroenn, product marketing manager at Digital Equipment Corporation SA. "Digital`s commitment to our customers` readiness has produced a rich tool set; a complete range of Year 2000 services, including our popular Year 2000 System Healthcheck; and the skilled teams in our 19 Year 2000 Expertise Centres around the world." Piercom 2000 Digital Version Assesses, Corrects FORTRAN Code Piercom 2000 Digital Version is the most powerful code-assessment and remediation tool in Digital`s Year 2000 arsenal. The tool works with both FORTRAN and COBOL applications, and will support additional languages in the next few months. The Piercom 2000 tool parses an application programme`s source code, just like a compiler does, and recommends change scenarios, much like a spell checker identifies misspelled words and recommends corrections. It then converts the section of code and displays the results in a user-friendly format. In all cases, Piercom 2000 advises the programmer regarding the changes to be made, and he or she accepts or revises the date change strategy. Once the corrections are complete, Piercom 2000 can generate new source code that implements either a windowing or date expansion solution to the detected Year 2000 problems. Piercom 2000 Digital Version runs under Digital UNIX on Digital Alpha platforms. Digital customers can contract with Digital or its partners for Year 2000 service plans, which may include use of the Piercom tool. Digital customers can also purchase a licence for the Piercom 2000 Digital Version directly from Digital or from Digital`s partners. An unlimited-use licence is also available to customers.
Share
Editorial contacts