Further Reading: Date and Time Processing

IBM Documentation

  • Enterprise COBOL for z/OS: Language Reference — Sections on CURRENT-DATE, INTEGER-OF-DATE, DATE-OF-INTEGER, INTEGER-OF-DAY, DAY-OF-INTEGER (SC27-1408).

  • z/OS Language Environment Programming Reference — Chapter on Date and Time Callable Services (CEECBLDY, CEEDATM, CEESECS, etc.). SA38-0683.

  • Enterprise COBOL for z/OS: Programming Guide — Section on date processing with practical examples and millennium considerations (SC27-1412).

Y2K History

  • de Jager, P. "Doomsday 2000." ComputerWorld, September 6, 1993. The article that brought Y2K to mainstream attention.

  • Kappelman, L. et al. "Y2K: Lessons Learned." Communications of the ACM, 2000. Post-mortem analysis of the Y2K remediation effort with statistics and lessons.

  • Murray, J. & Murray, M. "The Year 2000 Computing Crisis: A Millennium Date Conversion Plan." McGraw-Hill, 1996. One of the first comprehensive Y2K remediation guides.

Calendar and Date Algorithms

  • Meeus, J. Astronomical Algorithms. Willmann-Bell, 2nd edition. The definitive reference for calendar calculations, Julian Day Numbers, and astronomical date conversions.

  • Dershowitz, N. & Reingold, E. Calendrical Calculations: The Ultimate Edition. Cambridge University Press. Comprehensive coverage of calendar systems from around the world with algorithms.

Standards

  • ISO 8601 — International standard for date and time representations (YYYY-MM-DD format). Understanding ISO 8601 helps when interfacing COBOL systems with modern APIs and web services.

  • ANSI X12 EDI Date/Time Qualifiers — DTP segment date format codes (D8 = YYYYMMDD, RD8 = date range, etc.). Essential for healthcare EDI processing.

  • Chapter 20: Intrinsic Functions — Introduction to CURRENT-DATE, INTEGER-OF-DATE, and other date functions.
  • Chapter 30: Batch Processing Patterns — Date-driven batch scheduling, business day processing, and end-of-month/end-of-quarter batch cycles.
  • Chapter 33: Interfacing with External Systems — Date format conversion for web services, XML/JSON, and cross-platform data exchange.