APAR DATA FILE DESCRIPTION 

© Copyright International Business Machines Corporation, 2008.
All Rights Reserved.

APAR data for z/TPF and z/TPFDF has been consolidated into a single file that
is available in two formats, CSV and XLS. All information that was previously
available in various separate files and web pages is now in this file only.
The specific lists and views that are replaced by the CSV and XLS are:
 - All APARs in alphanumeric sequence
 - All APARs by functional area
 - APAR closure sequence by PUT
 - APAR abstracts by PUT
 - Critical APARs by PUT
 - z/TPF and z/TPFDF corequisite APARs
 - Software Profiler APARs
 - Continuous Data Collection APARs
 - Single Source APARs

In addition, data is provided to associate a z/TPF APAR with the "same fix"
APAR in TPF 4.1, and to associate a z/TPFDF APAR with the "same fix" APAR in
TPFDF 1.1.3.

A "critical" APAR is defined to be an APAR that is severity 1 or 2, or that 
is HIPER. An APAR is HIPER if it causes data loss, function loss, performance
problems or a system outage. 

The CSV ("comma separated value") file holds the raw data for each APAR where
each field is delimited with a special character, in this case, a semi-colon.
The XLS file is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet which has pre-processed the data
in the CSV and organized and formatted it into different worksheets for 
convenience. You should examine both files and become familiar with their
content. You can use the CSV file to derive information and customize it in
a way that suits you.

CSV File
--------
The first line of the CSV file contains the "last updated" date. The second
line provides titles for each semi-colon delimited field in all the remaining
records. All closed APARs are included in the file. Open APARs which meet
the criteria for being critical or single source are also included. When
information is not available or not applicable for an APAR, the field will
be empty or contain the word "None".

The APAR number field is a hyperlink to a web page that holds the APAR
description/response. However, if the APAR was cancelled (closing code is CAN)
then the APAR number field is not a hyperlink. The information for these 
APARs can be found in the downloadable package only. Occasionally, the APAR
number hyperlink in the first column may take you to a "page not found"
page due to synchronization problems between the creation of the CSV and XLS 
and the posting of the final APAR description. In that case, you can still
access the final APAR description contained in the APAR downloadable package. 

The Package URL field is a hyperlink to a web page that has the downloadble
APAR package. A userid and password is required to access the package. 

For APARs that have been closed as duplicates of other APARs (closing code is
DUP), the closing code field is also a hyperlink to the APAR description of
the APAR that this one is a duplicate of.

XLS File
--------
The Excel spreadsheet (XLS file) content is derived from the CSV file.
If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer, when you open the spreadsheet, it may
display in the IE window. If you prefer the spreadsheet to open in the 
Microsoft Excel Viewer or the Microsoft Excel product (provided one of these
is installed on your compueter), you can change the behavior by doing the 
following:
   In Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer), click on:
       Tools
          Folder Options
             Select "File Types" tab
             Select "XLS"
             Click "Advanced"
                De-select "Browse in same window" 

There are several different worksheets which organize the data in various ways
to replace equivalent data that used to be available in many different files.
Further refinement of the data that is viewed can be done by the user.
Certain worksheets have been set up to enable use of the "auto filter"
function. This means you can limit the display to certain rows that match the
criteria you select, such as PUT level or Severity.

For sheets that do not have autofiltering turned on, you can enable it yourself.
If the spreadsheet is displayed in the Internet Explorer window, use
View->Autofilter or Data->Filter->Autofilter from the Action bar to turn
autofiltering on and off.
If the spreadsheet is displayed in the Microsoft Excel Viewer, use 
View->Autofilter to turn autofiltering on and off. 
If you have the Microsoft Excel product installed, you can do much more with
the spreadsheet, including sorting data and creating new worksheets.