For a simpler conversion from the System Variable *TIMESTMP, which expires in 2042, to a timestamp extended by a leading epoch byte, a new System Variable in the format B9 would be helpful. This should be structured analogously to the already planned System Variable *TIMESTMPX but should contain only the first 9 bytes of the *TIMESTMPX. The shortened form has the advantage that in the transition phase with B8 and B9 TIMESTMP fields can be worked parallel, since the MOVE B8 -> B9 is right-justified. Thus, the migration can be done step by step.
Thank you for a review of this requirement.
Currently the solution of adding REDEFINE enable also to use B9.
It is also stated on our documentation. See Link.
We will consider this idea in the future.