Year 2000 and Stat/Math Software
The Year 2000 problem can have a significant effect on Stat/Math software and the purpose of this document is to provide users with information relating to potential problems. For more information on the Year 2000 problem and Indiana University, refer to the Indiana University Year 2000 Project WWW page.
The information on this page was collected from in-house testing, reviewing vendor-supplied documentation, and vendor statements concerning the Year 2000. This page will be updated periodically to reflect any changes made by the vendors relating to the Year 2000.
Overview
By way of summary, Stat/Math software falls roughly into three categories of Year 2000 compliance: compliant software without date data types, compliant software with date data types, noncompliant software.
- Compliant Software Without Date Data Types - The first category is software that is compliant because it does not contain data types or functions that deal with dates explicitly. This type of software only stores date information determined by the user, i.e. dates are stored in separate variables/fields containing integers representing the day, month, and year.
- Compliant Software with Date Data Types - The second category of compliant software stores dates in a specific date data type and/or has date functions. This type of software either: allows four digits for the year in date variable/fields, or uses a starting date as a beginning point for all date information (date data is treated as the difference between the start date and the data entered), or allows users to define the range of dates when entering data (most common in time series software).
- Noncompliant Software - The third category is software that is not Year 2000 compliant. Typically this category includes software that contains date data types that will not accurately store dates after December 31, 1999, or has date functions that currently do not account for the Year 2000. Fortunately, there are very few of these types of packages and vendors are currently working on new versions to correct any problems.
Data File Structure
Regardless of Year 2000 compliance, the structure of data files is a crucial element in determining whether or not users will have future problems with all Stat/Math applications. Users should note that existing databases containing year variables/fields that are only two digits in length may have problems with the Year 2000. It is recommended that users review the structure of their own data files to ensure that year variable/fields are four digits in length.
Table Remarks
The tables below list all Stat/Math software by category, whether or not the software is Year 2000 compliant, and provides comments and where available links to vendor statements concerning the Year 2000 problem.
It should be noted that in many cases, while the Year 2000 may not affect the functionality or accuracy of a given program, some applications still have problems displaying date data types in data editors, reports and graphs. All vendors are currently working on solutions to these problems and users can expect fixes in the near future. It is strongly recommended that users review the vendor statements on the Year 2000 and familiarize themselves with any possible idiosyncracies of their applications.
Statistical Software
Software |
Year 2000 Compliant |
Comments/References |
| Amos | Yes | Stores dates as integers |
| BMDP | No | http://www.spss.com/y2k/2000BMDP.htm |
| CHAID | Yes | Stores dates as integers |
| DBMS/COPY | Yes | None |
| Gauss | Yes | Gauss version 3.2.32 or greater is compliant. |
| HLM | Yes | Stores dates as integers |
| GLIM | Yes | None |
| LIMDEP | Yes | Stores dates as integers |
| LISREL/PRELIS | Yes | Stores dates as integers |
| Microfit | Yes | Any year after 1999 (or before 1900) must be entered as four digits. |
| Minitab | Yes | Version 12 handles dates slightly differently than previous versions. See, http://www.minitab.com/support/year2000.htm |
| RATS | Yes | Beginning and end dates must use four digits to prevent any inaccuracies. See, http://www.estima.com/faqs/year2000.htm |
| Resampling Stats | Yes | None |
| S-Plus | Yes | There are some display problems. See, http://www.mathsoft.com/splus/splsprod/faqgen.htm |
| SAS | Yes | http://www.sas.com/software/year2000/ |
| Sigmaplot | Yes | There are some display problems but date data is stored correctly. |
| SPSS | No | Only version 9.0 (or later) is compliant. All Windows SPSS users are expected to upgrade to version 9.0 to insure Y2K compliance. SPSS versions 6.1 for non-Windows operating systems (Mac/Unix) will require patches that are still pending from the vendor. See, http://www.spss.com/y2k/status.htm |
| SYSTAT | Yes | http://www.spss.com/y2k/status.htm |
| Stata | Yes | None |
| Statistica | Yes | http://www.statsoftinc.com/whats_new.html#2000 |
| TSP | Yes | Beginning and end dates must use four digits to prevent any inaccuracies. See, http://www.tspintl.com/support/tsp/year2k.htm |
Mathematical Software
Software |
Year 2000 Compliant |
Comments |
| Maple | Yes | http://www.maplesoft.com/y2k/y2k.html |
| Mathematica | Yes | http://www.wolfram.com/support/Systems/All/Year2000.html |
| Geometer's Sketchpad | Yes | http://www.keypress.com/sketchpad/index.html |
| Matlab | Yes | http://www.mathworks.com/company/y2k.cgi |
Decision Software
Software |
Year 2000 Compliant |
Comments |
| LINDO/LINGO | Yes | None |