Authorized Program Analysis Report

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]

Documenting the problem

IBM has a program to facilitate documenting the problem.[3][4]

Solution levels

There are at least 2 levels of fix:[5]

  • The APAR may result in "an APAR fix."
  • a permanent[6] correction called a PTF.[7] 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.”[8]

A PTF is a permanent correction with respect to the VRM (Version, Release, Modification) level of the product to which it is applicable, and is a temporary fix in the sense that the problem correction will temporarily be available as a permanent fix, and later will be incorporated into the product base code, and will thereby no longer be a fix, although the associated PTF and/or APAR numbers will, as a rule, be included in the source documentation associated with the ensuing base code update.

System Improvement/Difficulty Report

SIDR was Xerox's acronym, covering APAR and PTF.

The acronym referred to: System Improvement / Difficulty Report.[9]

System Improvement Request

SIR (System Improvement Request) is a terminology that Digital Equipment Corporation used, much as Xerox used SIDR.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Authorized program analysis reports".
  2. "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. Archived from the original on 2017-12-08. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
  3. "An authorized program analysis report (APAR) is an IBM-supplied program that allows you to create a diskette file or a tape file. The file contains information from your system to help software service representatives to correct programming problems." "Using authorized program analysis reports".
  4. There is no date atop this document, which does not mention eMail options.
  5. "An APAR fix is usually replaced later by a permanent correction called a PTF." Ebbers, Mike; Kettner, John; O'Brien, Wayne; Ogden, Bill (2012). Introduction to the New Mainframe: z/OS Basics (PDF). ISBN 0738435341.
  6. "PTF - Permanent Temporary Fix (humor)". AcronymFinder.com.
  7. "Diff between PTF,APAR,INTERMFIX". August 7, 2011.
  8. Gabe Goldberg (June 12, 2013). "IBM's APAR process provides the tools for dealing with software issues". destinationz.org (MSP TechMedia).
  9. "Xerox Program Availability List" (PDF).
  10. "The Emacs text editing program for VAX/VMS". Tech Insider. October 1984. ... taken from VAX System Improvement Request F83-33. ... DEC should ...
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