Re: [office] table:null-year

[robert_weir@us.ibm.com]

Patrick Durusau <patrick@durusau.net> wrote on 08/20/2009 03:03:36 PM:
> 
> I ran across table:null-year while making sure we have definitions for 
> all the attributes, etc.
> 
> Don't know if it should be an issue but thought I should at least ask.
> 
> We say:
> 
> > The |table:null-year| attribute specifies the start year for year 
> > values that contain only two digits. All two digit year values are 
> > interpreted as a year that equals or follows the start year.
> >
> > The default value for this attribute is |1930|.
> >
> Well, I can remember when 1930 would be a very good default value. ;-)
> 
> Question, perhaps for ODF-Next, is that the default we want now?
> 
> I suppose it is a question of user expectation, noting that I have no 
> idea what an "average" user would want.
> 

This is a Y2K conversion hack.  You see this a lot when you deal with data 
produced before people realized that two-digit year abbreviations were 
evil.  So when interpreting such two-digit years you commonly use a 
heuristic that makes use of a cutoff date. 

I don't know what wisdom went into the choice, but it seems that a lot of 
systems use 1930 as the cutoff date. 

In the end it is still a hack, and if people use two digit years for new 
data, they'll run into the same problem if they start referring to years 
past 2030.

-Rob