At 11:48 PM 1/4/99 -0500, you wrote: Working on a work-around at the moment wherein we need to store 5 digit numbers, but the database (deployed at nearly 400 stores around the western US) has only 2 bytes for this field. Unfortunately, COBOL only allows values up to 9999 to be stored in a two byte field, even though 2 bytes can (in theory) hold numbers from 0 to 65535 (or -32766 to 32767 or so). So we need 4 bytes for COBOL to be able to deal with the new data. But, to roll out a database change like that to the stores would take 5-6 months (can't just muck around with live production systems, you know, and you can't do anything while the stores are open (i.e., taking in $$$).) Interestingly, the numbers we need to deal with are all less than 32000, so they will fit in 2 bytes. So the work-around will be to store the data as two character bytes and convert that within the program into a temporary 4 byte field. So what happens when the numbers get bigger than 32K? Well, I'm sure the system will have been replaced by then... 8^) (Actually, it will have; the new, replacement system was supposed to have been finished by now. We're just patching the old system until it's done.) In the late 1980's, I worked with a company that wrote software for leasing companies. Companies that leased big computers and heavy equipment. In addition to getting to know amortization tables intimately (I used to know the formula to compute payments/periods/rates/etc. by heart!) I got to know the y2k bug pretty well -- most of the leases were 10 year leases. We had a y2k version out by '90 or so. --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/