Leap year bug hits RSView32 users

Some users of Rockwell Software`s RSView32 HMI (human-machine interface) software have been hit by a bug which deleted their historical data files. The bug is thought to have affected fewer than 100 of RSView`s 50,000 users.

According to the Rockwell`s UK product manager, Chris Haines, there have been "a couple" of incidents in the UK. Rockwell stresses that this was not a Millennium bug problem, but occurred because 2000 is a leap year - the first since RSView32 was launched.

When the date changed from 31 January to 1 February, users who had configured their systems to delete the oldest files "after maximum time" with "days" or "weeks", lost their historical data. Rockwell has apologised for any inconvenience caused to users and says the problem will not occur again until February 2004.

But users can prevent a recurrence of the problem by installing a software patch that Rockwell posted on its user Web site (www.rsviewforum.com) within two days of the problem being discovered.