...([link|http://www.statgraphics.com/|it's still around, it seems]), used -32768 as code for "missing value". That's the same thing, only interpreted as a signed in stead of an unsigned integer, isn't it?
I always used to wonder what you'd do if your data actually included the actual value -32768... (OK, no, I didn't. But I could wonder what a *statistically naive* user would do. :-)