Cumulative PTF Package

Not all PTFs produced are included in a cumulative PTF package. The following criteria help determine if a given PTF is incorporated into a subsequent cumulative package:

· The number of customer orders for a particular PTF

· The severity of the associated APAR

· Whether the PTF is designed as HIPER

· Problems that crash a system and require an IPL

· High availability options (mirroring or checksum, for example)

· Problems that require a reinstall or restore

· Save and restore problems that prevent data recovery

· Problems affecting installability of a product or feature

· Problems affecting a product¢s major useability function

· Problems requiring an unnecessary replacement of hardware parts

· Pervasive customer satisfaction problems

· Data integrity and security problems

· If the PTF has a corresponding PTF in a previous release package (to minimize the rediscovery)

PTFs that have special instructions, which might break the system if they are not followed, are not usually incorporated into the cumulative package.