Since the beginning of time on OS/400, the beloved ancestor of IBM i, six long dates have always used the “1940 rule” to determine the century.
If Year >= 40 then Century = 19
If Year < 40 then Century = 20
2039 is not that far in the future, only 17 years away, IBM has developed a replacement rule, “1970 rule”.
If Year >= 70 then Century = 19
If Year < 70 then Century = 20
As part of the IBM i 7.5 announcement IBM has said that the new rule will be implemented in a future release or Technology Refresh.
IBM is giving a foretaste of the new rule in 7.5. I used the word “foretaste” as the “1940 rule” has not been replaced, but the new rule can be implemented on top of it, if you so desire. The rule can either be applied to your entire system, which I do NOT recommend, or it can be implemented just to the current job.
