OL98: Year 2000 Dates Are Imported and Exported Incorrectly

ID: Q193604

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Outlook 98

SYMPTOMS

Using Outlook to import or export text files with dates formatted with two-digit years results in some years being designated in the wrong century.

CAUSE

The Outlook translation files Transmgr.dll and Rm.dll, do not handle some two-digit dates correctly. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Outlook 2000.

RESOLUTION

Microsoft has made a combined fix available to correct both the import and export issues. This file contains the following files:


File name      Version
----------------------
Transmgr.dll   8.05.0000.6511
Rm.dll         8.05.0000.6430

A Readme file is also included with instructions on installing the updated files.

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Software Library. Click the file name below to download the file:

O98dtfix.exe

Release Date: May-27-1999

For more information about how to download files from the Microsoft Software Library, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q119591 How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services

International versions of this file are available for the following languages:

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Importing Issues

The importing issues have to do with the format of the dates in the incoming import file. For example, an incoming date that is formatted with a two-digit year, such as 7/1/00, is translated to 7/1/1900 instead of 7/1/2000.

Exporting Issues

The exporting issues have to do with the designation of the date range for exporting, for example:

If you enter an export date range using a two-digit year for a valid leap-year, such as 2/29/96 or 2/29/00, Outlook will not recognize the valid leap-year and the OK button in the Set Date Range dialog box will not be available.

If you enter an export date range using a year of "99" such as 1/1/99 through 1/31/99, Outlook will not recognize these as valid dates and the OK button in the Set Date Range dialog box will not be available.

If you enter an export range using a year of "00" such as 1/1/00 through 1/31/00, Outlook will export appointments for the year 1900.

If you enter an export range without entering the year, such as 1/1 through 1/31, Outlook will export appointments for the year 1900.

NOTE: These issues do not occur if you use four-digit years during the import and export process, nor do they occur when entering appointments, contacts, and tasks with Outlook forms.

Date Determination in Outlook

The following describes the intended behavior of the Outlook translation files in converting dates with two-digit years into dates with four-digit years.

The translation files use a range of 100 years to determine into which century the two-digit year should fall. The default range is computed by subtracting 29 from the current year to derive the lower end of the range and adding 70 to the current year for the upper end. If the two-digit year plus 1900 falls within this range, the date should be considered to be in the 1900s. Otherwise the year should be considered to be in the 2000s.

Examples

The translation files use the -29/+70 formula to compute the range as follows:


   Current year: 1998         Current year: 1998
                  -29                        +70
                 ----                       ----
   Lower end:    1969         Upper end:    2068

Assuming these dates, the four-digit year would be derived as follows:


   9/14/00 - Outlook would add 1900 to the year giving 1900.
             1900 does NOT fall within the 100-year range of 1969-2068.
             Therefore, 9/14/00 should be interpreted as 9/14/2000.

   9/14/30 - Outlook would add 1900 to the year giving 1930.
             1930 does NOT fall within the 100-year range of 1969-2068.
             Therefore, 9/14/30 should be interpreted as 9/14/2030.

   9/14/70 - Outlook would add 1900 to the year giving 1970.
             1970 DOES fall within the 100-year range of 1969-2068.
             Therefore, 9/14/70 should be interpreted as 9/14/1970.

   9/14/99 - Outlook would add 1900 to the year giving 1999.
             1999 DOES fall within the 100-year range of 1969-2068.
             Therefore, 9/14/99 should be interpreted as 9/14/1999.

Additional query words: 98 Y2K Millennium Bug


Keywords          : kbdta kb2000 IntpImEx 
Version           : WINDOWS:
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbbug

Last Reviewed: August 3, 1999