GROUP_PTF_CURRENCY view

The GROUP_PTF_CURRENCY is a view containing a query which implements a live comparison of the PTF Groups installed on the partition against the service levels listed on the IBM Preventive Service Planning website.

When queried, the view uses the XMLTable() and HTTPGETBLOB() table functions to consume a live XML feed from IBM Preventive Service Planning (PSP). If the partition cannot connect to the PSP website, the PTF_GROUP_CURRENCY column will contain PSP INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE. When querying this view, the job CCSID cannot be 65535 or the query will fail.

The results of the query show which PTF Groups installed on the partition match the latest level made available by IBM and those which have a more recent version available.

The following table describes the columns in the view. The system name is GRPPTFCUR. The schema is SYSTOOLS.

Table 1. GROUP_PTF_CURRENCY view
Column name System column name Data type Description
PTF_GROUP_CURRENCY GRP_CRNCY VARCHAR(46)
Nullable
 A description of the PTF group's status. Values returned are:
INSTALLED LEVEL IS CURRENT
Indicates that the PTF Group level installed matches the most current level available from IBM
Start of changeCURRENT AT THE NEXT IPLEnd of change
Start of changeIndicates that the most current PTF Group level available from IBM is ready to be applied when the next IPL occurs.End of change
UPDATE AVAILABLE
Indicates that a more recent PTF Group level is available from IBM
PSP INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE
Indicates that the query is unable to connect to the external IBM PSP PTF Group level feed.

Returns the null value if not applicable to this PTF group.
PTF_GROUP_ID GRP_ID CHAR(7)
Nullable
 The name of the PTF group.
PTF_GROUP_TITLE GRP_TITLE VARCHAR(1000)
Nullable
 The descriptive name of the PTF group.
PTF_GROUP_LEVEL_INSTALLED GRP_LVL INTEGER
Nullable
 The most recent level of this PTF Group installed on the partition.
PTF_GROUP_LEVEL_AVAILABLE GRP_IBMLVL INTEGER
Nullable
 The PTF Group level which is available from IBM PSP.
Start of changeLAST_UPDATED_BY_IBMEnd of change GRP_UPDATE DATE
Nullable
 The date that IBM made the latest PTF Group level available.
PTF_GROUP_RELEASE GRP_RLS VARCHAR(6)
Nullable
 The release level of the PTF Group. For example, 'R730' indicates IBM i 7.3 release level.
PTF_GROUP_STATUS_ON_SYSTEM GRP_SYSSTS VARCHAR(20)
Nullable
 This column will always contain the value 'INSTALLED'.
PTF_GROUP_LAST_UPDATED_BY_IBM GRP_LSTUPD CHAR(10)
Nullable
 The date that IBM made the latest PTF Group level available. This is the character form of the date formatted as MM/DD/YYYY.

Notes

  • Start of changeThe PSP website is:
    https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/sites/default/files/inline-files/xmldoc.xml
    To determine the IP address for your geography, ping www.ibm.com. End of change
  • If the PSP website is relocated, this view can be updated by the user. Use the Insert Generated SQL feature in ACS to extract the source for the SYSTOOLS.GROUP_PTF_CURRENCY view. Update the link and recreate the view.
  • The PTF_GROUP_STATUS_ON_SYSTEM column is included in this view to demonstrate that it would be possible to create your own version of this query or view which includes information about PTF Groups that are loaded, but not installed.

Example

Compare the PTF Group service level detail, ordering the results from furthest behind to current. 

SELECT * FROM SYSTOOLS.GROUP_PTF_CURRENCY 
   ORDER BY PTF_GROUP_LEVEL_AVAILABLE - PTF_GROUP_LEVEL_INSTALLED DESC