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Authorized Program Analysis Report

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An APAR (Authorized Program Analysis Report)[1] (pronounced A-PAR, rhymes with far) is an IBM designation of a document intended to identify situations that could result in potential problems. It also serves as a request for the correction of a defect in current releases of IBM-supplied programs.

The Process

"Occasionally"[2] IBM software has a bug.

Once it has been ascertained that the situation has not been caused by problems in third-party hardware or software or the user's configuration errors, IBM support staff, if they suspect that a defect in a current release of an IBM program is the cause, will file a formal report confirming the existence of an issue. In addition to confirming the existence of an issue, APARs include information on known workarounds, information on whether a formal fix is scheduled to be included in future releases, and whether or not a Program Temporary Fix (PTF) is planned.[2]

Solution levels

There are at least 2 levels of fix:[3]

  • The APAR may result in "an APAR fix."
  • a permanent correction called a PTF.

The focus of the "APAR fix" is "to rectify the problem as soon as possible"[4] whereas the PTF "is a tested APAR... The PTF 'closes' the APAR." Prior to that, an APAR is "a problem with an IBM program that is formally tracked until a solution is provided.”[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Authorized program analysis reports".
  2. ^ a b "Issues with Cognos and other IBM software can arise from configuration errors, problems in third-party hardware or software, and occasionally, because of a bug in the IBM product itself." "IBM Support – Authorized Program Analysis Reports". AMItechSolutions.com.
  3. ^ "An APAR fix is usually replaced later by a permanent correction called a PTF." Ebbers, Mike; Kettner, John; O'Brien, Wayne (2012). Introduction to the New Mainframe: z/OS Basics. ISBN 0738435341.
  4. ^ Mehdi Salebi (August 7, 2011). "Diff between PTF,APAR,INTERMFIX".
  5. ^ Gabe Goldberg (June 12, 2013). "IBM's APAR process provides the tools for dealing with software issues". destinationz.org (MSP TechMedia).