Summary of new Japanese era updates for .NET Framework

This article introduces the new Japanese era updates for .NET Framework.

Original product version:   .NET Framework 3.5 and later versions
Original KB number:   4477957

Summary

On May 1, 2019, the new era in the Japanese calendar will begin. Microsoft is preparing for these changes and plans to ship updates in each monthly rollup release. This is the first transition from one era to another since January 1989, and also the first in the history of .NET Framework. This article is intended to help developers test and verify how eras work in .NET applications, how applications are affected by the era change, and what you, as a developer, have to do to make sure that your applications handle the upcoming Japanese era changes successfully.

For more information about Windows updates for the Japanese era change, see KB 4469068.

.NET Framework updates

The following releases contain the Japanese era updates for .NET Framework. They also contain quality and reliability improvements.

Note

For some versions of Windows, .NET Framework updates are delivered through a separate .NET Framework-specific cumulative update. For more information, see Announcing Cumulative Updates for .NET Framework for Windows 10 October 2018 Update.

Knowledge base articles by .NET Framework version for Japanese era updates

The servicing updates that are listed in the following table contain all the Japanese era updates for .NET Framework that were already included in the previously released updates. The servicing updates also contain a new quality update that removes the dependency on single quotation marks to output the Gannen character in Japanese era formatting, so that either "y年" or "y'年'" of the custom date and time format string enable .NET Framework to format year number 1 to . These updates are available on Windows Update, Windows Server Update Service (WSUS), and Windows Update Catalog.

Windows 10, version 1507 Windows 10, version 1607 (Anniversary Update) / Windows Server 2016 Windows 10, version 1703 (Creators Update) Windows 10, version 1709 (Fall Creators Update) Windows 10, version 1803 (April 2018 Update) Windows 10, version 1809 (October 2018 Update) / Windows Server 2019
4489872 4489889 4489888 4489890 4489894 4489192

Microsoft released a .NET framework security and quality rollup for Windows 8.1 and earlier supported versions of Windows in May 2019 as below. All security and quality rollups released later to these updates will also contain Japanese era updates.

.NET Framework Windows Server 2008 Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2012 Windows 8.1 / Windows Server 2012 R2
.NET Framework 3.5 4495604 4495606 4480061 4495608
.NET Framework 4.5.2 4495596 4495596 4495594 4495592
.NET Framework 4.6 or later 4495588 4495588 4495582 4495585

Note

Microsoft did not release a .NET Framework security and quality rollup for Windows 8.1 and earlier supported versions of Windows in March 2019. If you want to deploy the latest updates for .NET Framework that contain all the Japanese era updates for Windows 8.1 and earlier supported versions of Windows, see the Changes for Security Only update customers section.

Changes for Security Only update customers

This section is for customers who rely on the Security Only (SO) updates for Windows 8.1 and earlier versions of supported Windows.

Similar to the .NET Framework updates for Windows 10 that are listed in the previous section, the updates that are listed in the following table contain all the Japanese era updates for .NET Framework that were already included in previously released updates and a new quality update to remove the dependency on using single quotation marks to output the Gannen character in Japanese era formatting.

These updates don't include any new security updates or new additional quality and reliability improvements that were not already included in previously released updates, except the update for the single quotation mark issue. Therefore, users who rely on the Security Only (SO) updates and the Monthly Rollup (MO) updates for Windows 8.1 and earlier supported versions of Windows can also select these updates for the new Japanese era. These updates are available through Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) and Windows Update Catalog only.

.NET Framework Windows Server 2008 Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2012 Windows 8.1 / Windows Server 2012 R2
.NET Framework 3.5 4488661 4488662 4488660 4488663
.NET Framework 4.5.2 4488669 4488669 4488668 4488667
.NET Framework 4.6 or later 4488666 4488666 4488664 4488665

Important

After you install update 4488669 on Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1), or Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2), .NET applications may not start after you upgrade .NET Framework from version 4.5.2 to version 4.6 or a later version. Microsoft is working on a resolution to this issue and will provide an update in an upcoming release. For more information, see KB 4488669.

Test the new Japanese era on .NET Framework

For all the versions of .NET Framework in the Knowledge Base articles table, and also for .NET Core running on Windows, calendar era information is provided by the Windows operating system and retrieved from the system registry when you apply the updates for .NET Framework. To make it easier for you to prepare for the Japanese era change, you can control when you add the placeholder registry entry to your systems, and choose the timing that meets your needs. Currently, the placeholder registry for the Windows operating system is supported for the following systems:

  • Windows Client: Windows 7 SP1 and later
  • Windows Server: Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and later

Note

We will offer additional new Japanese era updates for Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Embedded & IoT, Windows Embedded Compact 7 and later versions, Windows Embedded Standard/POSReady 7 and later versions, and Windows 10 IoT.

An update to Windows will add the new era value to the registry after the era name and abbreviated era name are known. .NET on Windows will automatically reflect this update.

  • Relaxed era range checks

    This test scenario is to verify LOB applications work when the new era transition is set to a future date.

    A date in a particular era can "overflow" into the following era, and no ArgumentOutOfRangeException or FormatException is thrown by default. When you set the value of Switch.System.Globalization.EnforceJapaneseEraYearRanges to true, you can restore strict era checks.

  • The first year of an era

    This test scenario is to verify the Gannen (元年) convention in formatting operations as the first year of a new Japanese calendar era.

    By default, .NET adopts the Gannen (元年) convention in formatting operations. You can restore the previous behavior. That behavior always represents the year as "1" instead of as Gannen (元年). To do this, set the following value to true:

    Switch.System.Globalization.FormatJapaneseFirstYearAsANumber

Japanese era supported features

  • Updating data source

    Japanese era information was originally maintained as hard-coded data in .NET Framework 3.5 and lower versions of .NET Framework, however similarly to .NET Framework 4.0 and later, its source for Japanese era was changed from private hard-coded data to the registry key under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\Calendars\Japanese\Eras registry path. The update for Windows will add the registry key for the new era after its name is announced.

  • Range-Relaxation

    When Heisei (平成) Era ends on April 30th, 2019 which is Heisei (平成) 31, and the new era begins on May 1, 2019, :::no-loc text=""平成 31 年 5 月 1 日""::: becomes invalid. We have relaxed our parsers to allow the future or past dates (both Gregorian and Japanese dates) in .NET applications, to be converted into a relevant Japanese era date without throwing an exception such as ArgumentOutOfRangeException and System.FormatException. You will also be able to convert the future dates in Heisei to the new Japanese era once the new Japanese era name is announced. It can be disabled in .NET Framework. By setting the value of Switch.System.Globalization.EnforceJapaneseEraYearRanges to true.

  • Gannen (元年) for the first year of Japanese era

    In historical practice, for the first year of the era, a special character "Gan ()", whose Kanji character means "origin" or "beginning", is used in place of the number "Ichi (1)". The first year "Gannen (元年)" continues until the end date of the Gregorian calendar year, December 31st. .NET Framework supports both "Gannen (元年)" and "Ichinen (1 )" for the first year of the era. For all the versions of .NET Framework, Gannen is ON by default. It can be disabled by setting the value of Switch.System.Globalization.FormatJapaneseFirstYearAsANumber to true.

Previously released updates

Customers need only install the latest update listed above in the Knowledge Base articles by .NET Framework version for Japanese era updates section or those from Windows Update, Windows Server Update Service (WSUS), or Windows Update Catalog.

.NET Framework Windows Server 2008 Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2012 Windows 8.1 / Windows Server 2012 R2 Windows 10 1507 Windows 10 1607 (Anniversary Update) / Windows Server 2016 Windows 10 1703 (Creators Update) Windows 10 1709 (Fall Creators Update) Windows 10 1803 (April 2018 Update) Windows 10 1809 (October 2018 Update) Windows Server 2019
Updating data sources
.NET Framework 3.5 4457007 4457008 4457006 4457009 4471323 4457127 4457141 4457136 4458469 Unnecessary Unnecessary
.NET Framework 4.5.2 Unnecessary Unnecessary Unnecessary Unnecessary Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable
.NET Framework 4.6 or later Unnecessary Unnecessary Unnecessary Unnecessary Unnecessary Unnecessary Unnecessary Unnecessary Unnecessary Unnecessary Unnecessary
Relaxed era range checks
.NET Framework 3.5 4457007 4457008 4457006 4457009 4471323 4457127 4457141 4457136 4458469 Unnecessary Unnecessary
.NET Framework 4.5.2 4457019 4457019 4457018 4457017 Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable
.NET Framework 4.6 or later 4457016 4457016 4457014 4457015 4467680 4457127 4457141 4457136 4458469 Not applicable Not applicable
The first year of an era
.NET Framework 3.5 4459933 4459934 4459932 4459935 4471323 4467691 4467696 4467686 4467702 4470502 4470502
.NET Framework 4.5.2 4459945 4459945 4459944 4459943 Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable
.NET Framework 4.6 or later 4459942 4459942 4459940 4459941 4467680 4467691 4467696 4467686 4467702 4470502 4470502

Additional resources