CSV file usage hints and tips

Resolving The Problem

Click on the following links to see the hints and tips:

General hints and tips
Microsoft Windows and Excel hints and tips
Lotus Symphony hints and tips
Lotus 123 hints and tips


Go to the WebSphere MQ Fix list documents.

General hints and tips

What is a CSV file and why would you use the CSV file

What is in each of the columns of the Fix list CSV file

What is a CSV file and why would you use the CSV file

The CSV file is a file containing fields separated by commas. Each line or record of the fix list CSV file represents all the fields of an APAR. When you view the CSV file with Notepad, you will see each field separated by commas. When you view the CSV file in a spreadsheet, each field will display as a separate column.

You can use the CSV file to do the following:

• Sort the APARs by any field. For example, the column containing the Recommended Service Update (RSU) so that you can determine what APARs have closed since the last RSU you applied.
• Copy and paste a list of PTFs to include when ordering PTFs.

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What is in each of the columns of the Fix list CSV file

The CSV file contains the following fields separated by commas:

	Column Name	Description
A	PTF	Fix that is downloaded to resolve the problem that was reported by an APAR.
B	Compid	Component number of the product that the fix is for.
C	RRel	Retain Release that contains the fix for the problem.
D	PDO	The week in which the PTF first became available. The format is "yywk". For example, "0341" would be the 41st week of 2003.
E	RSU	Recommended Service Update (RSU) that includes the PTF. If blank then the PTF has not been included in an RSU yet.
F	APAR	APAR this PTF fixes.
G	Severity	Current severity code which will have one of the following values: X fix is needed immediately. 1 fix is needed to solve a critical problem that prevents the program from being used. 2 fix is needed to solve a problem that severely restricts the use of the program. 3 fix is needed to solve a problem that somewhat restricts the use of the program.
H	Symptom	Symptom code which will have one of the following values: AB Abnormal end of the program AI Additional information DD Documentation HL Coded halt IG Integrity problems IN Incorrect output LP Loop MC Machine check MI System/3 message MS Coded message NF New function PF PTF PR Performance UN Unpredictable UR Unpredictable WS Coded wait
I	Opened	APAR open date.
J	Closed	APAR closed date.
K	Close Code	Closing code which will have one of the following values (note that not all codes are used): CAN The record was canceled, probably because it should never have been created or a customer requested that the record be canceled. DAT A data record was fixed. Use this code only for APARs in the RETAIN library. DOC The problem was caused by an error in an IBM publication. DUA The record was closed as a duplicate of another record that either: Had been closed for more than 10 days Has a closing code other than PER, PRS, DOC, UR1, or UR3 DUB The record was closed as a duplicate of another record that both: Had been closed for 10 days or fewer Has a closing code of PER, PRS, DOC, UR1, or UR3 DUU The record was closed as a duplicate of an open record. (Ref #11.) FIN The problem will be fixed in the next release of the product. MCH The problem was caused by a hardware or microcode failure. NAR The change team could not reproduce the problem. PER A programming error was found and will be corrected in a future release. PRS A programming error was found but will not be corrected. It is a permanent restriction. RET The record was returned to the person who created it for more information. SUG The record does not describe a programming error but recommends a change to the code. UR1 The problem could not be reproduced on the next release to be available from SDF. The release in the RREL field was supported at the time the APAR was received. UR2 The problem could not be reproduced on the next release to be available from SDF. The release in the RREL field was not supported at the time the APAR was received. UR3 The problem could not be reproduced on a currently supported release. The release in the RREL field was supported at the time the APAR was received. UR4 The problem could not be reproduced on a currently supported release. The release in the RREL field was not supported at the time the APAR was received. UR5 The problem could not be reproduced on the same release level on which the problem originally occurred. USE The problem was caused by a user error.
L	HIPER	An indication of whether this record describes a serious problem or a problem that involves all customers ("Y" or "N"). The HIPER symptom flags currently included are shaded below in gray, columns O through T.
M	PE (fix)	The PTF was found to be in error, immediately marked PE and withdrawn so you can no longer download it. You can use this flag as a way of finding PTFs which have gone bad. The PTF for the "Fixing APAR" in column N should be applied when it becomes available. It will resolve the original problem and the problem caused by the bad PTF.
N	Fixing APAR	The APAR that fixes the PTF that was found to be in error and marked PE. If there are multiple APARs this field will contain the latest fixing APAR.
O	H Pervasive	Hiper Pervasive. The problem could affect many customers, even though the problem does not seriously impact each customer ("Y" or "N").
P	Dataloss	The problem causes you to lose data or data is corrupted ("Y" or "N").
Q	System Outage	The problem causes an outage of your processor. The system fails causing you to re-IPL, reboot, recycle or restart one or more systems or subsystems ("Y" or "N").
R	Function Loss	The problem prevents you from using one or more functions in the software ("Y" or "N").
S	Performance	The problem causes your processor to run more slowly. There is severe impact to system performance or throughput ("Y" or "N").
T	H XSystem	Hiper XSystem. An indication of whether the problem created a severe impact to cross-system compatibility or toleration ("Y" or "N").
U	S Pervasive	Special Attention Pervasive. This flag is automatically added to WebSphere MQ z/OS Non-HIPER and non-PE APARs with a combined Interested Parties (IP) and Automated Status Tracking (AST) count of five or greater. Therefore, at least 5 customers have shown interest in the APAR. Note that HIPER and PE APARs are assessed individually for pervasiveness.
V	New Function	PTF ships new function or capabilities for the product.
W	Installability	Provides fix needed to successfully install the product.
X	Serviceability	Provides a fix for the product or improve the product making it easier to service the product. For example, better dump formatting.
Y	CST	No longer provided in this CSV file.
Z	S XSystem	Special Attention XSystem. An indication of whether the problem created a severe impact to cross-system compatibility or toleration ("Y" or "N"). Like "S Pervasive" it has been marked "Special attention" because at least 5 customers have shown interest in the APAR. IBM recommends that you install this fix even if you are not experiencing the reported problem
AA	Description	The Abstract, a brief description of the problem.

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Microsoft Windows and Excel hints and tips

Change default program that is used to open CSV files on your computer

Open CSV files with a program other than the default on your computer

Change the format of the dates (for sorting purposes)

Sort by 2 or 3 columns

Change the alignment of the Compid and Retain release (RRel)

Microsoft Windows hints and tips

Change default program used to open CSV files on your computer

1. Click My Computer
2. Click Tools > Folder Options
3. Click the File Types tab
4. Scroll down to and click on Registered File Type CSV file
5. Click on Change under 'Details for "CSV" extension'
6. Click on the Program that you want to set as your default when opening CSV files (Notepad and Microsoft Excel are recommended)
7. Click OK to set the default you just chose

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Open CSV files with a program other than the default on your computer

1. Save the CSV file onto your computer
2. Go to the folder that you saved the CSV file into
3. Right click on the CSV file
4. Place your mouse over Open with to display the choice of programs
5. Click on the program that you want to open the CSV file with (Notepad and Microsoft Excel are recommended)

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Excel hints and tips

Change the format of the dates (for sorting purposes)

1. Right click on the letter above the column heading. For example, the "Closed" date column. All of the dates in the column should be highlighted.
2. Click Format cells from the drop down.
3. From the Numbers tab, click Category Date. The Type and Locale (location) will display.
4. From the drop down under Locale (location), click on English (United Kingdom).
5. From the drop down under Type, click on 2001-03-14.
6. Click OK and the format of the date will be changed to yyyy-mm-dd.

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Sort by 2 or 3 columns

1. Click a cell in the list you want to sort.
2. On the Data menu, click Sort.
3. If a "Sort Warning" displays, click on Expand the selection and click Sort.
4. In the Sort by and Then by boxes, click the columns you want to sort. For example, Sort by Compid, then by RRel, then by APAR.
5. Select any other sort options you want, and then click OK.

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Change the alignment of the Compid and Retain release (RRel)
You might notice that the alignment of the Compid and RRel shifts from right to left. This is something that Excel is doing. Lotus tends to read all these fields as text, so this does not occur. However, Excel displays numeric and alphanumeric fields differently. If the contents of the field is all numeric, the field is right justified. If the contents of the field is alphanumeric, the field is treated as text and is left justified. For example, compids containing an "E".

It is not possible to include formatting information in a CSV file. However, you can do the following if you want Excel to interpret the data as all text:

1. Right click on the letter above the column heading. For example, the "Compid" column. All of the compids in the column should be highlighted.
2. Click Format cells from the drop down.
3. Click on the Alignment tab.
4. From the drop down under Text alignment: Horizontal, click on Left (indent).
5. Click OK and the contents of text within the column will shift to the left.

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Lotus Symphony hints and tips

Opening a CSV file from within Lotus Symphony

Starting Lotus Symphony when opening a CSV file

Sort by 1 or more columns

Change the alignment of the data in the columns

Opening a CSV file from within Lotus Symphony Start Lotus Symphony. Select File > Open and use the dialog box to navigate to the directory where the CSV file is located. Click on the Files of type drop down and select Text CSV(*.csv). Select the CSV Fix list file and click Open. The "Text Import" box will appear. Select the defaults, including Separated by and Comma. Click OK. Starting Lotus Symphony when opening a CSV file You can open a CSV file in Lotus Symphony directly from Windows Explorer: From Windows Explorer, navigate to the directory where the file is stored. Right click on the CSV Fix list file and move the mouse over Open with. If IBM Lotus Symphony does not display, click on Choose Program to see a list of applications that can handle a CSV file. Click on IBM Lotus Symphony and click OK. The "Text Import" box will appear. Select the defaults, including Separated by and Comma. Click OK. Sort by 1 or more columns Select Data > Sort. From the Sort criteria tab, select the three columns that you want to sort on using the Sort by drop downs. Select Ascending or Descending, as appropriate, From the Options tab, select Range contains column labels and click OK. Change the alignment of the data in the columns When Lotus Symphony opens a CSV file, it tries to determine the alignment from the type of data. In these fix lists, values like the Compid and Release can be a mixture of alpha and numeric characters. If it is all numeric, Lotus Symphony will right align the values. If there is alpha included, it will left align the value. You can correct this with the following: Right click on the column letter at the top, the whole column should be selected and the context menu will display. You can also select more than one column before right clicking. Select Text and Cell Properties and the Text and Cell Properties dialog box opens. Select the Alignment tab and click on the alignment buttons you want. You can select things like Left and Right from the drop down box under Horizontal. Click OK. Back to Top

Lotus 123 hints and tips

Opening a CSV file from within Lotus 123

Starting Lotus 123 when opening a CSV file

Sort by 1 or more columns

Change the alignment of the data in the columns

Opening a CSV file from within Lotus 123

1. Start Lotus 123.
2. Select File > Open and use the dialog box to navigate to the directory where the CSV file is located.
3. Click on the Files of type drop down and select Text (TXT;PRN;CSV:DAT;OUT;ASC).
4. Select the CSV fix list file and click Open. A new dialog box appears where you can select the Text File Options.
5. Select Parse as CSV (comma separated value) file.
6. Click OK.

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Starting Lotus 123 when opening a CSV file

You can open a CSV file in Lotus Symphony directly from Windows Explorer:

1. From Windows Explorer, navigate to the directory where the file is stored.
2. Right click on the file and move the mouse over Open with. A new menu opens with a list of applications that can handle a CSV file.
3. Click on Lotus 123 Application.

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Sort by 1 or more columns

1. Select the entire worksheet including the headings.
2. From the Range menu, select Sort.
3. Using the Sort dialog box, select the columns you want to sort by using the >> button or dragging the columns into the Sort by list. You can select more than one column.
4. Under Sort Order, select an option.
5. Make sure that the Header at top check box is selected.
6. Click OK.

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Change the alignment of the data in the columns

When Lotus 123 opens a CSV file, it tries to determine the alignment from the type of data. In these fix lists, values like the Compid and Release can be a mixture of alpha and numeric characters. If it is all numeric, Lotus 123 will right align the values. If there is alpha included, it will left align the value. You can correct this with the following:

1. Right click on the column letter at the top, the whole column should be selected and the context menu. You can also select more than one column before right clicking.
2. Select Range Properties and the Properties dialog box opens.
3. Select the alignment tab and click on the alignment buttons you want.

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