date_fut.tex

CCSM Research Tools: Community Atmosphere Model (CAM)

% $Id: Date_fut.tex,v 1.1.6.1 2002/04/24 03:25:48 erik Exp $

The current range restrictions for the date object are primarily an artifact of
the {\tt yearmmdd} interface.  The underlying objects are capable of greater ranges.
The upper range of the Gregorian calendar can be extended to October 17, 1465002, 
at which date the julian day calculation overflows.  The current Gregorian lower limit 
can not be changed.

The No-Leap limits can be extended to the years \( 2^{31} \) (A.D) and \( 2^{31} - 1 \) (B.C.).  
They do not suffer the limits placed on the Gregorian calendar by the julian day 
calculation.  They are limited by a 4 byte integer holding the year.

If the ranges imposed by the {\tt yearmmdd} interface are too narrow, the library interface
can change to accomodate a separate integer for each of year, month and day.