Don Poitras writes: >For PK24076, this [IBM Application Time Facility for z/OS, formerly >Isogon TICTOC] is probably overkill. This fix is to the use of the >TZ variable by LE programs. While some programs would be affected by >changing the system time, most don't use TZ, and those that do can >certainly be tested by simply setting the input times to be converted.
I don't necessarily disagree, but I was replying to the original poster's question about tools/utilities. It depends on how frequently time/date-related issues could affect your system and applications(*), the scope of testing, the relative risk/cost of time-related failure(s), labor costs, and the (full) cost of the tool. Really they're the same basic principles you'd apply in deciding whether to get any testing tool. As it happens I was working with some colleagues yesterday to figure out whether we should use a particular testing tool in a new project, and we debated all those factors. For the record, I've since learned CA has a competing product called AllFusion Date Simulator. Princeton Softech has another product in this category called HourGlass. There may be yet others. (*) Japan, for example, doesn't have DST. Businesses here with purely domestic operations may not have the same issues as businesses that operate in Australia, the U.S. (including especially Indiana), etc. I should also mention that it's not necessarily only your own code that merits testing. Middleware, operating systems, and tools/utilities can also be relevant. Ronald Reagan said "Trust, but verify" concerning Soviet treaty obligations, and maybe that's good advice for testing vendor software as well. :-) - - - - - Timothy Sipples IBM Consulting Enterprise Software Architect Specializing in Software Architectures Related to System z Based in Tokyo, Serving IBM Japan and IBM Asia-Pacific E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
