CFCEIC News Briefs Week Ending February 13, 1998

CFCEIC News Briefs Week Ending February 13, 1998

[CFCSEIC]

Center for Computer Systems Engineering News Briefs
Week Ending:  February 13, 1998

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CONTENTS:
NEW MATERIALS ON THE Y2K WEB SITE
WRAPPERS AND LEGACY SOFTWARE
NEXT COMMON SOFTWARE RELEASE FROM DISA DUE IN APRIL
EMBEDDED CHIPS ADD TO Y2K PROBLEM
NEW Y2K WEB SITE FOCUSES ON EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
90% OF NETWORKS VULNERABLE TO Y2K BUG
DATA COLLECTION SHOULD BE BY-PRODUCT OF ROUTINE OPERATIONS

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NEW MATERIALS ON THE Y2K WEB SITE
Topic:  Y2K

Two new links have been added to the Y2K tool page, 
http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us/y2k-testing/tools/, under "vendors & 
services":

http://y2k.policyworks.gov/

Federal Year 2000 Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Product Database, a 
centralized registry of information to all Federal Agencies, which will 
speed the research and investigation of products being done by each agency.

http://www.monmouth.army.mil/y2k/cots.htm

Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Software, a list compiled by the U.S Army 
and organized by software name, version, Y2K compliance, what's needed to 
get Y2K compliant, information source, and comments.

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WRAPPERS AND LEGACY SOFTWARE
Topic:  Reuse

This article from the Dec. '97 issue of Object Magazine provides a common 
framework for developing and using wrappers to migrate legacy software 
into the world of component technology, and discusses the impact that 
architecture and process have on "maximizing the gains and minimizing the 
pains" of wrappers.  The authors' step-by-step methodology explores the 
challenges of clarifying architectural context, addressing business 
requirements, identifying legacy system key abstractions, assessing 
changes to requirements, preparing legacy software for wrapping, and 
designing effective wrappers.

SOURCE:  Paul Allen and Stuart Frost, "Fitting Legacy Assets into the 
World of Components", Object Magazine, Dec. 1997 7(10), pp. 39-43.   
http://www.objectmagazine.com

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NEXT SOFTWARE RELEASE FROM DISA DUE IN APRIL
Topic:  DII COE

The next release in the Defense Information Infrastructure Common 
Operating Environment (DII COE), version 3.3, will focus on tactical 
extensions.  Version 3.2, released late last year, included configuration 
definition support and enhanced network management.  Future versions will 
achieve parity between the Unix and Windows NT platforms, and will support 
real-time extensions for selected platforms.  According to DISA 
officials, DII COE's shared applications capability offers new user 
communities an opportunity to provide additional growth and functional 
expansion.  More information  about DII COE is available on the WWW at 
http://www.disa.mil and http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us/coe/.

SOURCE:  John Rhea, "Common software release from DISA due in April", 
Military & Aerospace Electronics, February 1998, v9, n2, p. 5.  
http://www.pennwell.com/aero.html

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EMBEDDED CHIPS ADD TO Y2K PROBLEM
Topic:  Y2K

Julia Vowler, in her article in Computer Weekly's October 23 issue, 
explores the impact of embedded chips on the Y2K problem.  A number of 
millennium project managers are beginning to pay close attention to the 
fact that many embedded processor suppliers use third-party components, 
which makes it difficult to estimate the probability of failure of 
embedded processors that have been fixed.  Two machines may appear to be 
identical, but one may be compliant while the other is not.  Each 
component must be tested separately.  According to Ms. Vowler and other 
experts, this problem could create a demand for parts and installation 
personnel that may be difficult to meet.

Source:  Julia Vowler, "Why the embedded chips are the enemy within", 
Computer Weekly, Oct. 23, 1997, pp. 20-21.  http://www.computerweekly.co.uk

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NEW Y2K WEB SITE FOCUSES ON EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Topic:  Y2K

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a Palo Alto, CA-based 
research facility for electric utilities, launched a Y2K project to share 
information about technical issues in embedded systems.  EPRI's website 
is located at http://www.epri.com/year2000/.

SOURCE:  "Y2K Web sites", Computerworld, Feb. 9, 1998, v32, n6, p. 39. 
http://www.computerworld.com

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90% OF NETWORKS VULNERABLE TO YK2 BUG?
Topic:  Y2K

This article in the Nov. 10 issue of Internet Week discusses the fact 
that 90% of the network devices made before 1996, including bridges, 
routers, gateways, multiplexes, DNS, and e-mail servers, could experience 
the same Year 2000 problems as mainframes and other legacy systems.  The 
author examines how some companies are dealing with this situation and 
highlights Bell Atlantic Network Integration (BANI)'s database of 800+ 
at-risk network devices (http://www.bani.com).

SOURCE:  Tim Wilson, "Is network gear Y2K vulnerable?  You bet.",  
Internet Week, Nov. 10, 1997, n689, pp. 20-21.  http://www.internetwk.com

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DATA COLLECTION SHOULD BE BY-PRODUCT OF ROUTINE OPERATIONS
Topic:  Ada

In his article in the Nov. 24th issue of PCWeek, Peter Coffee states that 
"one of the biggest problems in workgroup computing is the time wasted 
worrying about the 'right' and 'wrong' ways to do things."  Lost 
opportunities to collect data as a by-product of routine operations are a 
"cardinal sin".  Programming languages that use abstract data types with 
strong type safety, such as Eiffel or Ada, help overcome this problem.  
According to Coffee, if attention is paid to fundamentals such as the 
cost and accuracy of the collection process, the applications will emerge.

SOURCE:  Peter Coffee, "Don't get sidetracked by trifling differences",  
PCWeek, Nov. 24, 1997, v14, n49, pp. 32.  http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/

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