The 'YYYY' Dates Date Structure specifies the structure to be used for COBOL data items that were associated with an eight-digit date transform when the catalog was designed, and the 'YYYY' Base Year constant specifies the base year used to interpret date values containing a four-digit year.
The eight-digit date transform is specified during catalog design when the structure of end-user COBOL dates, with four-digit years, varies for different end-user sites. Each end-user site can set this variable to the structure used in its files. The default structure is YYYYMMDD (a four-digit year, followed by a two-digit month of the year, followed by a two-digit day of the month).
The default base year is 0. The base year is added to a four-digit year value obtained from a COBOL data item when computing a column date value and is subtracted from the column date year value when computing a COBOL data item that contains a four-digit year.
- On the Tools menu, click Date Constants.
The Date Constants tab is displayed.
- In the YYYY Dates section, in the Date Structure field, select one of the available structures:
- YYYYMMDD
- MMDDYYYY
- DDMMYYYY
- In the 'YYYY' Base Year field, enter a value (up to four digits) for the base year.
- Click Save to save the changes to the catalog.
Tip: If you click Defaults, the structure reverts to YYYYMMDD, and the base year reverts to zero.
