Re: New Year's Resolution - MID/MID World Domination!(?)

[Warren Vick, Europa Technologies Ltd.]

Hello Bill,

> Don't worry about the ESRI dreadnought. Since Shape files are 
> not strictly Y2K-compliant (they're partly based on the paleolithic
> dBase format), by this time next year ArcView and all its > users will
> have gone down leaving nothing but a few bubbles at the center 
> of> some expanding circular ripples. Either that or it will 
> explode in a fireball to rival the Sun. Depends which Y2K pundit you listen 
> too.

I though that MapInfo's data files were derived from dBase too. I can certainly read a 
MapInfo DAT 
file with at least two dBase file viewers. This doesn't imply that MapInfo or ESRI 
have used ancient 
dBase date data types. You'll see from ESRIs web site that they're in more-or-less the 
same 
shape (sic) as MapInfo.

Interestingly, I've taken the recent opinion that data compliance is a bit of a farce. 
Although you can 
use a date data type capable of 2000 and beyond is doesn't guarantee that the software 
using it 
will work fine in the next millennium. Conversely, a data set still using 2digit dates 
can work fine if 
software has been adjusted to comply. Indeed many large corporate IT Y2K strategies 
have kept 
two digit years and fixed the software around them. Whether it is "good enough" is 
down to 
particulars I guess!

Regards,
Warren Vick
Europa Technologies Ltd, U.K.
www.europa-tech.com
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