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What will happen to your data, reports, and other Q&A information when you start using 21st century dates in the new Millennium?

(Nothing surprising—if you're prepared)

e.gif (889 bytes)ven though Q&A stores dates with the four-digit year (assuming they've been entered correctly in properly-formatted Date fields), you could have time-bombs in your databases, programs, macros, reports, specs, and other files that could cause Q&A to misinterpret field entries, "lose" records, sort improperly, and give wrong answers with 21st century dates.

Don't cross your fingers and hope it won't happen. If your Q&A applications include date-related information, you can find and eliminate potential Y2K hazards now. Our Q&A Year-2000 Pack helps you track down and correct Y2K-related problems in Q&A that affect your input and output. Anyone moderately familiar with Q&A and a PC can use this pack. Most Q&A systems can be made Y2K-ready in an hour or less. Only one pack required for all PCs.

In addition to utility files and other Y2K information, the Q&A Year-2000 Pack contains 14 articles and tips from past issues of The Quick Answer newsletter that deal expertly with Q&A and Year-2000 issues. Available from no other source, this timely material—

  • Has been tested and written by Q&A professionals.
  • Is unabridged (the full text as originally published).
  • Deals in a practical way with Year-2000 issues that apply to all aspects and all versions of Q&A.
  • Contains the know-how you need to ensure your Q&A systems are Year-2000-ready.
  • Includes time-saving tips and shortcuts for simplifying the entry of 21st century dates as well as safeguarding your date-related information in the new century.

The Q&A Year-2000 Pack covers Y2K-related issues for ALL versions of Q&A for DOS and Windows, though some items in the Pack pertain only to specific Q&A versions.

The optional Q&A Year-2000 Pack Download Edition contains everything in the regular Pack, except that we provide you with an access code so you can download it from this site.* (We will send your access code to you by return email within a few hours of receipt of your online order or give it to immediately if you phone your order in to us,) This 'electronic' edition of the Pack is fully searchable (all 26 pages) by words and phrases using Acrobat Reader's 'Find' command.

* The Q&A Year 2000 Pack Download Edition file is a self-extracting executable that extracts to Y2KPACK.PDF (the printed pack in Acrobat Reader format), Y2KPACK_Addendum.PDF (updates since October 1999), QAUTILS.ZIP (a Zip file containing the Q&A utility and patch files) and DTFDEMOS.ZIP (a Zip file containing demo versions of John Dow's Q&A utilities.) PKUNZIP.EXE is included to unzip the Zip files. Further instructions are provided when you download the Pack after receiving your access code.

The Q&A Year-2000 Pack
contains everything you need
to perform an informed
Y2K audit
on your Q&A applications

Use the know-how in this Pack to ensure all your Q&A databases, specs, reports, and data entry procedures give you expected results with 21st century dates

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Ticking time-bombs
in your Q&A databases and other Q&A files?

The Q&A Year-2000 Pack contains everything you need to perform an informed Y2K audit on your Q&A applications

Now also available in a
(fully searchable)
downloadable Acrobat Reader edition!
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0 or later)
Click here to download
Acrobat Reader

Use the know-how in this Pack to ensure all your Q&A databases, specs, reports, and data entry procedures give you expected results with 21st century dates

Includes two valuable
utilities diskettes
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With your purchase of the Q&A Year-2000 Pack you're automatically entitled to 30 minutes of FREE phone advice from us on any Q&A Y2K issue!

$89 postpaid
(USPS Priority Mail)
Add $10 for Fed-X Overnight

Download Edition
also $89
(See note in left-hand column)

Use our Online Order Form
to order the
Q&A Year-2000 Pack

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Or call us at
800-780-5474
(949-722-9127)
Fax 949-722-9127

Or mail your check
for $89 to:
Marble Publications, Inc.
1927A Harbor Blvd.
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
and specify
'The Q&A Year 2000 Pack'

- UPGRADE -
If you purchased the original Q&A Year-2000 Pack for $49, you can get the updated edition for an additional $40
Articles and tips in the Q&A Year-2000 Pack include these titles—
  • Back to the Future (Apr 1993)
  • Q&A Dates and the 21st Century (Nov 1996)
  • Shortcut Date Entry (May 1997)
  • Enter 21st Century Dates the Easy Way (Dec 1997)
  • At the Turn of the Century (Mar 1998)
  • Here Comes the Year 2000! (Mar 1998)
  • The Dating Game (Apr 1998)
  • A Fix for 5.0's Buggy Date Formats (Mar 1997)
  • Another Date Bug Side Effect (Mar 1996)
  • Date Bug Can Be Double Trouble (Mar 1996)
  • Sorting Dates Spanning the Turn of the Century (Feb 1999)
  • Y2K Compliance Revisited (Mar 1999)
  • Q&A 5.0's Creators on Y2K (applies to all versions) (Mar 1999)
  • Q&A 5.0 Date Patch File Missing (May 1998)

An Addendum added to the Pack in November 1999
includes the following additional tips:

  • Notes on Applying the Y2KFIX Patch
  • Entering 21st Century Dates Using Two-Digit Years (October 1999)
  • Y2K Date Formats and Reports "Too Wide" (November 1999)
The Q&A Year-2000 Pack includes all this—
  • A QuickStart Guide that tells you how to check and correct those areas of Q&A most sensitive to Year-2000-related issues, and which utilities on the Q&A Year-2000 Pack Diskette to use to help you complete your Y2K audit.
  • Q&A System and Database checklists you can use to confirm that you've covered all your Y2K-related bases.
  • Crisp Reprints of the 14 Quick Answer articles and tips described above.
  • Diskette 1 with the following Q&A Year-2000 utilities:

    Y2KFIX — Files created or accessed after the turn of the century will show erroneous file date characters in Q&A DOS' List Files and File Facilities screens. This patch corrects the problem in Q&A 4.0 and 5.0. Includes instructions.

    Y2KSPECS — Flags all date fields (by field name) in any Q&A database. Plus, it flags any fields containing programming that references a date field. Helps you quickly spot and analyze fields that could cause millenium problems. Includes instructions.

    Y2KTEST — For PCs more than two or three years old. Run this utility on your computer to determine if its BIOS (firmware) is Y2K compliant. Includes instructions on what to do if it isn't. (Q&A relies on your PC's system clock for dates. If it isn't Y2K compliant, date-related operations in Q&A and other programs can fail.)

    QP503C — For Q&A 5.0 for DOS only. Several of Q&A 5.0's date display formats (formats 7, 9, and 10) are buggy. This patch corrects them so they look and work as they should—the same as Q&A 4.0's global date formats. Includes instructions.

    Bonus Diskette

  • Diskette 2 contains demonstration versions of 15 valuable Q&A utilities designed to help you analyze your databases, diagnose and repair damage, recover lost data (from accidentally-deleted records to entire databases), and add powerful new features to Q&A. These remarkable utilities provide valuable information and services that Q&A can't. They're for Q&A developers, database and network administrators, and experienced users who want to improve the health, survivability, and functionality of their databases. Try the demos, then purchase only the utilities you need.
Plus—a purchase bonus that entitles you to 30 minutes of FREE
expert telephone advice from us on any Q&A Y2K issue—a $40 value!
Important Information———————————————————————
  • Symantec has officially stated that Q&A is not Year-2000 compliant.
  • There is no Q&A "upgrade" currently available that is Year-2000 compliant.
  • There is no "patch" that "fixes" Q&A or your databases or related files to make them Year-2000 compliant.
  • It's up to you to ensure that your Q&A applications are Year-2000 compliant.
  • Using the information in the Q&A Year-2000 Pack, you can make Q&A and your Q&A applications Year-2000 compliant in an hour or less depending on how many databases you have and how complex they are.
  • The Q&A Year 2000 Pack is NOT itself a Q&A "upgrade," "update," or "patch." It is an informational package you use to perform an audit of your Q&A files. It contains several utilities (including two patches) which, depending on your version of Q&A, can prove useful in helping you make Q&A ready for the 21st century.
  • The Q&A Year 2000 Pack does not itself modify your Q&A databases or change how Q&A handles date entries. The Pack does, however, tell you what you need to know to configure your databases and streamline data entry for correct 21st century date results.
  • QABACKUP, the external backup utility that comes with Q&A 4.0 and 5.0 for DOS, is not Year-2000 compliant and doesn't work properly after 1999. There is no fix for QABACKUP and no upgade or replacement product. You should not use QABACKUP after 1999. See the December 1999 issue of The Quick Answer newsletter for a suggested alternative to QABACKUP.
A free (non-Symantec) patch is available that will correct the one internal Q&A for DOS Y2K-related problem. The problem is: Any documents or databases created, modified, or accessed after December 31, 1999 will show erroneous file dates in Q&A's List Manager (File Manager/DOS File Facilities)screens. This patch fixes that and is included in our Year-2000 Pack. You can optionally download it now (Y2KFIXENG.ZIP) or read more about it on our Free Downloads page.

Use our Online Order Form to Order The Q&A Year-2000 Pack

Comments? Looking for something? Write us at inbox@quickanswer.com
Want to submit an article to The Quick Answer? Write to office@quickanswer.com
Phone -  800-780-5474 or 949-722-9127 / Fax -   949-722-9127
Marble Publications, 1927A Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa, California 92627
Last modified: December 11, 2006