another try ...: April 2008

Canon Lens Birthday Code Decoder / JS is a collection of JavaScript embedable in your HTML, which can show the manufacturing factory, production date and age of some Canon lenses and SLR with a lens date code printed on the tail of the lens mount or SLR body's film chamber.

Just type in a valid 5 or 6 charactors code (eg. UK0129, U1140F or V1006) at the input box below and get the age of your Canon machine.

Code:

How to make it work on your web:

Make a backup of your HTML before making any change.
Copy the following code and paste it between the <BODY> and </BODY> tags of your HTML without modification.
<SCRIPT language="JavaScript"> function decodeFactory(code){ switch(code){ case 'F': return 'Fukushima-shi, Fukushima, Japan'; break; case 'K': return 'Kitsuki-shi, Oita, Japan'; break; case 'M': return 'Koyu-gun, Miyazaki, Japan'; break; case 'O': return 'Higashikunisaki-gun, Oita, Japan'; break; case 'S': return 'Nagahama-shi, Shiga, Japan'; break; case 'T': return 'Tan Tzu Hsiang, Taichung Hsien, Taiwan'; break; case 'U': return 'Utsunomiya-shi, Tochigi, Japan'; break; default: return 'an unkown factory'; } } function decodeYear1(code){ yearList = new Array( 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 ); return yearList[code.charCodeAt(0) - 65]; } function decodeYear2(code){ yearList = new Array( 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 ); return yearList[code.charCodeAt(0) - 65]; } function decodeMonth(code){ code = code - 1; monthList = new Array("January", "February", "March", "April", "May", "June", "July", "August", "September", "October", "November", "December"); return monthList[code]; } function calAge(year, month){ month = month - 1; now = new Date(); if(year > now.getFullYear()){ return 'undefined'; }else if (year == now.getFullYear() & month > now.getMonth()){ return 'undefined'; }else{ if(month <= now.getMonth()){ yearDiff = now.getFullYear() - year; monthDiff = now.getMonth() - month; }else{ yearDiff = now.getFullYear() - year - 1; monthDiff = (now.getMonth() - 1) + (13 - month); } age = "" + yearDiff + " year"; if(yearDiff > 1){ age = age + "s"; } if(monthDiff > 0){ age = age + " " + monthDiff + " month"; if(monthDiff > 1){ age = age + "s"; } } return age; } } function decode110(code){ code = code.toUpperCase(); if(code.length == 6){ if(decodeYear1(code.substr(1,1)) == undefined){ month = new Number(code.substr(1,2)); year1 = decodeYear1(code.substr(0,1)); year2 = decodeYear2(code.substr(0,1)); age1 = calAge(year1, month); age2 = calAge(year2, month); factory = decodeFactory(code.substr(5,1)); if(factory == 'an unkown factory'){ month = NaN; } }else{ month = new Number(code.substr(2,2)); year1 = decodeYear1(code.substr(1,1)); year2 = decodeYear2(code.substr(1,1)); age1 = calAge(year1, month); age2 = calAge(year2, month); factory = decodeFactory(code.substr(0,1)); } }else if(code.length == 5){ month = new Number(code.substr(1,2)); year1 = decodeYear1(code.substr(0,1)); year2 = decodeYear2(code.substr(0,1)); age1 = calAge(year1, month); age2 = calAge(year2, month); factory = decodeFactory("?"); }else{ month = NaN; } if (isNaN(month) || month == 0 || month > 12 || year1 == undefined || age1 == 'undefined'){ result = "Invalid code [" + code + "]."; }else{ result = "Your Canon lens or SLR with code [" + code + "], was born on the " + decodeMonth(month) + " of " + year1; if(age2 != 'undefined'){ result = result + " or " + year2; } result = result + " at " + factory + ". Aged " + age1; if(age2 != 'undefined'){ result = result + ' or ' + age2; } result = result + "."; } return result; } function decodeCanonLensAge110(code,resultElementID){ element = document.getElementById(resultElementID); element.innerHTML = decode110(code.value); } </SCRIPT> <P>Code: <INPUT type="text" name="code" size="20" onkeyup="javascript:decodeCanonLensAge110(this, 'canonLensAge110');" maxlength="6"></P> <P id="canonLensAge110"></P>
Save your work.
Done.

Environment tested:

Browser / OS	Test result
Firefox 2 / Mac OS X 10.5 PPC	Work
Firefox 2 / Windows XP	Work
Internet Explorer 6 / Windows XP	Work
Safari 3 / Mac OS X 10.5 PPC	Work

Version history:

Version	Date	Description
1.1.0	11 April 2008	Add logic to decode 5 charactors code as documented at [How to determine the age of your Canon FD or EOS gear]. Fix logic to identify invalid 6 charactors code with a numeric 2nd charactor (eg. U01056).
1.0.0	18 December 2007	Initial public release

Distribution:
You are free to make copy, modification and distribution of this script. But please make a back link to this page, so that the original source can be reached in case of needed.

This script is provided as is. I will not resposible for any result caused by using it.

Enjoy.