Talk:Program temporary fix

It has been suggested that portions of this article be moved into SMP/E. (Discuss)

Don't merge this in to SMP/E as it applies to way more IBM products than just the mainframe line, for example AIX and Tivoli products. 202.36.29.1 (talk) 22:18, 18 May 2011 (UTC) CJE

Notability

I deleted the "notability" issue. A quick google search ptf ibm -"ibm.com" turns up 1,390,000 hits. Looking at the first few pages I see lots of mentions in magazine articles, etc. and this mostly excludes hits from IBM sites. This topic has "received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject." Peter Flass (talk) 12:29, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

Nonstandard term HA

The article uses the term HA for a non-production system. I've been dealing with SMP and PTFs for decades, and have never seen the term. I suspect that it is a local term for a development or QA LPAR, but it is certainly not anything in common parlance. Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz Username:Chatul (talk) 03:25, 12 May 2020 (UTC)

Is it possible that the editor meant Quality Assurance (QA)? --Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz Username:Chatul (talk) 15:23, 11 January 2023 (UTC)

Possibly. That seems to fit.Peter Flass (talk) 00:54, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

Service cycle

The description of the service cycle is seriously flawed. An RSU may contain thosands of PTFs; installing them one at a time is not practical. Further, it is normal to receive warnings about holds. Under most circumstances you let SMP exclude PTFs with holds, except for cases where you have determined that it is safe to bypass the hold or where you need a PTF in error because of a more serious issue. Some installations funnel service through muliple stages, e.g., development, test, QA and production.

Further, the section is specific to OS/360 and successors, other IBM operating systems use other service vehicles, e.g., VMSES/E for z/VM.Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz Username:Chatul (talk) 03:41, 12 May 2020 (UTC)

Organization

I've created a new section, Program temporary fix#PTF installation; it needs information on the maintenance vehicle for, e.g., AIX, z/VM, z/VSE, as well as information on distribution and packaging of service for each platform. Some information can be moved from Program temporary fix#PTF usage but most needs to be added by an SME. I've added {{expand section}} templates to both sections, pointing to #Service cycle for discussion.

I'm not sure whether it's best to have subsections for each platform, or to make the platforms the main sections with Installation and Usage subsections. --Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz Username:Chatul (talk) 15:32, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

In any case the new section consists only of unsourced material. It needs to be sourced. TJRC (talk) 16:31, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

History

§ History and development has no history, although historical data appear elsewhere. Should there be subsections for different OS families? -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz Username:Chatul (talk) 13:49, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

Scope of terms

While IBM initially coined the terms APAR and PTF as part of their error tracking and correction process, IBM later expanded them to include Small Program Enhancements (SPEs). I'm not sure how best to word an edit to the article covering that. Also, if someone has an RS with the date when IBM introduced the term, that would be helpful. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz Username:Chatul (talk) 10:46, 7 May 2026 (UTC)