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Disappointed with IBM's new APAR search engine

For those of you who may not know this, IBM recently changed the way
this site worked:
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data...ort/apars.html

It used to be a relatively straighforward list of all types of APARs.
I was able to navigate between various APAR lists and understand what
a specific FixPak would or would not fix.

The problem I'm facing now is that the open APARs are impossible to
see. There are two links to open APARs on the URL mentioned above, but
both take the user to a malfunctioning search engine. For example,
clicking on the link marked "DB2 UDB Version 8 Open APARs" takes the
browser to a search engine page with several fields primed for what
appears to be an open APAR search for V8. However, that particular
search does not return any results. I've even tried using different
browsers in case they were causing the problem. Adjusting the fields
on the search and re-submitting produces wildly unpredictable results.

This site is a significant step backward from the old APAR search
site. I certainly hope that APAR searches do not become the next
victim of what others have referred to as IBM's info-maze.

Fred
Nov 12 '05 #1
13 4453
I passed your post on internally. Did you use the feedback back?

Cheers
Serge
Nov 12 '05 #2
Serge Rielau <sr*****@ca.eye-bee-em.com> wrote in message news:<Mj*********************@news01.bloor.is.net. cable.rogers.com>...
I passed your post on internally. Did you use the feedback back?


Thanks again, Serge. You, as always, are one of the good ones. The URL
for listing open APARs appears to be fixed. Should I have opened a PMR
instead of griping to the newsgroup?

I didn't see a feedback option in the immediate vicinity of that page.
Which one should I have used?

Thanks
Nov 12 '05 #3
All IBM webpages have a "Contact-IBM" button in the bottom black stripe
(scroll to the very bottom of any page).
This gets you here:
http://www.ibm.com/contact/us
Click on email-IBM:
https://www.ibm.com/contact/us/en/query
"Please send us your non-technical questions, concerns or feedback."

I would recommend to do both:
1. Submit feedback (being a good web citizen)
2. Rant to this newsgroup for good measure.

Cheers
Serge
Nov 12 '05 #4
"Serge Rielau" <sr*****@ca.eye-bee-em.com> wrote in message
news:41********@news3.prserv.net...
All IBM webpages have a "Contact-IBM" button in the bottom black stripe
(scroll to the very bottom of any page).
This gets you here:
http://www.ibm.com/contact/us
Click on email-IBM:
https://www.ibm.com/contact/us/en/query
"Please send us your non-technical questions, concerns or feedback."


Two points here, Serge.

1. The Contact Us site, with its range of 1-800 numbers, is a red rag to the
bull of some of us who live in that insignificant little region called "Rest
of the world" :-)
2. I have never, ever, ever - and I'm interested to hear others'
experience - ever, ever, ever had even so much as an acknowledgement, let
alone a reply, from having sent IBM an email through this medium. In the
past month alone I have sent several, one pointing out that the search
function of "Find a Business Partner" is not (or was not working); and on
several occaisons concerning broken links or no response on various pages
around the site.
Nov 12 '05 #5
Neil Truby wrote:
Two points here, Serge.

1. The Contact Us site, with its range of 1-800 numbers, is a red rag to the
bull of some of us who live in that insignificant little region called "Rest
of the world" :-) Well, in general the email goes to whomever owns the webpages.
So www.ibm.de:
https://www-5.ibm.com/webutils/sendm..._form--contact
and so on.
I am utterly clueless whether the APAR DB is mirrored in other
countries. It would be interesting to know how other global companies
operate.
Let me comment one little thing though: When I'm in Europe I buy myself
a 5Eur phonecard and I can call Americas until my ears fall off.
10 years ago I would have agreed that it's an issue.
Nowadays, I'm not so sure. Just the same as: "I use dial up" is not an
excuse in an industrialized country anymore for IT Professionals. 2. I have never, ever, ever - and I'm interested to hear others'
experience - ever, ever, ever had even so much as an acknowledgement, let
alone a reply, from having sent IBM an email through this medium. In the
past month alone I have sent several, one pointing out that the search
function of "Find a Business Partner" is not (or was not working); and on
several occaisons concerning broken links or no response on various pages
around the site.

You didn't even get the automated response about receipt?

Cheers
Serge
Nov 12 '05 #6
FYI, your complaint has definitely reached the right group by now.
Unfortunately the site isn't owned by DB2, so we are in the same boat:
We're all Customers :-)

Cheers
Serge
Nov 12 '05 #7
"Serge Rielau" <sr*****@ca.eye-bee-em.com> wrote in message
news:bT************@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.roge rs.com...
Neil Truby wrote:
Two points here, Serge.

Let me comment one little thing though: When I'm in Europe I buy myself
a 5Eur phonecard and I can call Americas until my ears fall off.


How do you call a 1-800 number from outside N America?
Nov 12 '05 #8
Neil Truby wrote:
"Serge Rielau" <sr*****@ca.eye-bee-em.com> wrote in message
news:bT************@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.roge rs.com...
Neil Truby wrote:
> Two points here, Serge.
>

Let me comment one little thing though: When I'm in Europe I buy myself
a 5Eur phonecard and I can call Americas until my ears fall off.


How do you call a 1-800 number from outside N America?


In Germany, you dial:

001-800-xxx-xxxx

Then you get a message telling you "The toll free number you have dialed is
not toll free if called from outside the united states. You will be
charged the international dial rates. If you do not wish to be charged,
please hang up now."

(I think that's pretty close to the real wording.)

Stay on the line and you will get connected to the party you have called.

--
Knut Stolze
Information Integration
IBM Germany / University of Jena
Nov 12 '05 #9
Serge Rielau <sr*****@ca.eye-bee-em.com> wrote in message news:<vV*************@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.ro gers.com>...
FYI, your complaint has definitely reached the right group by now.
Unfortunately the site isn't owned by DB2, so we are in the same boat:
We're all Customers :-)

Cheers
Serge


I don't think we are in the same boat. IBM is the one who contracted
someone to run that site for them, and IBM pays the bills. Someone at
IBM has the ability to revoke the contract for non-compliance with the
terms, and the rest of us do not.
Nov 12 '05 #10
I wish you were right.... ;-)
Nov 12 '05 #11
Unfortunately, Serge, about the only way to get a response from IBM (with
some exceptions), is to open a PMR and hope that somebody will handle it
rather than throw it back as "wrong addressee". The other hope is to
mentions something on a newsgroup, like here.

If an issue is not considered a problem, it will get blocked before it ever
hits the lab. Or did you ever receive my attempts to ask for support for
results sets for embedded CALL statements in UDB, to match the DB2 for z/OS
functionality (it's limited to SQL procedures in UDB)? You acknowledged the
requirement here, but told me to take the official channels (open a
requirement).

"Serge Rielau" <sr*****@ca.eye-bee-em.com> wrote in message
news:bT************@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.roge rs.com...
Neil Truby wrote:
Two points here, Serge.

1. The Contact Us site, with its range of 1-800 numbers, is a red rag to the bull of some of us who live in that insignificant little region called "Rest of the world" :-)

Well, in general the email goes to whomever owns the webpages.
So www.ibm.de:
https://www-5.ibm.com/webutils/sendm..._form--contact
and so on.
I am utterly clueless whether the APAR DB is mirrored in other
countries. It would be interesting to know how other global companies
operate.
Let me comment one little thing though: When I'm in Europe I buy myself
a 5Eur phonecard and I can call Americas until my ears fall off.
10 years ago I would have agreed that it's an issue.
Nowadays, I'm not so sure. Just the same as: "I use dial up" is not an
excuse in an industrialized country anymore for IT Professionals.
2. I have never, ever, ever - and I'm interested to hear others'
experience - ever, ever, ever had even so much as an acknowledgement, let alone a reply, from having sent IBM an email through this medium. In the past month alone I have sent several, one pointing out that the search
function of "Find a Business Partner" is not (or was not working); and on several occaisons concerning broken links or no response on various pages around the site.

You didn't even get the automated response about receipt?

Cheers
Serge

Nov 12 '05 #12
Mark,

Do you have a local IBM sales or technical sales rep?

Larry Edelstein

Mark Yudkin wrote:
Unfortunately, Serge, about the only way to get a response from IBM (with
some exceptions), is to open a PMR and hope that somebody will handle it
rather than throw it back as "wrong addressee". The other hope is to
mentions something on a newsgroup, like here.

If an issue is not considered a problem, it will get blocked before it ever
hits the lab. Or did you ever receive my attempts to ask for support for
results sets for embedded CALL statements in UDB, to match the DB2 for z/OS
functionality (it's limited to SQL procedures in UDB)? You acknowledged the
requirement here, but told me to take the official channels (open a
requirement).

"Serge Rielau" <sr*****@ca.eye-bee-em.com> wrote in message
news:bT************@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.roge rs.com...
Neil Truby wrote:
Two points here, Serge.

1. The Contact Us site, with its range of 1-800 numbers, is a red rag to
the
bull of some of us who live in that insignificant little region called
"Rest
of the world" :-)


Well, in general the email goes to whomever owns the webpages.
So www.ibm.de:
https://www-5.ibm.com/webutils/sendm..._form--contact
and so on.
I am utterly clueless whether the APAR DB is mirrored in other
countries. It would be interesting to know how other global companies
operate.
Let me comment one little thing though: When I'm in Europe I buy myself
a 5Eur phonecard and I can call Americas until my ears fall off.
10 years ago I would have agreed that it's an issue.
Nowadays, I'm not so sure. Just the same as: "I use dial up" is not an
excuse in an industrialized country anymore for IT Professionals.
2. I have never, ever, ever - and I'm interested to hear others'
experience - ever, ever, ever had even so much as an acknowledgement,
let
alone a reply, from having sent IBM an email through this medium. In
the
past month alone I have sent several, one pointing out that the search
function of "Find a Business Partner" is not (or was not working); and
on
several occaisons concerning broken links or no response on various
pages
around the site.


You didn't even get the automated response about receipt?

Cheers
Serge



Nov 12 '05 #13
Am I to understand that the answer to my question was that development
didn't receive my request?

We didn't submit through (Switzerland) sales, but through support. Perhaps
sales would have been better.

"Larry" <La***@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:Av**********************@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv. net...
Mark,

Do you have a local IBM sales or technical sales rep?

Larry Edelstein

Mark Yudkin wrote:
Unfortunately, Serge, about the only way to get a response from IBM (with some exceptions), is to open a PMR and hope that somebody will handle it
rather than throw it back as "wrong addressee". The other hope is to
mentions something on a newsgroup, like here.

If an issue is not considered a problem, it will get blocked before it ever hits the lab. Or did you ever receive my attempts to ask for support for
results sets for embedded CALL statements in UDB, to match the DB2 for z/OS functionality (it's limited to SQL procedures in UDB)? You acknowledged the requirement here, but told me to take the official channels (open a
requirement).

"Serge Rielau" <sr*****@ca.eye-bee-em.com> wrote in message
news:bT************@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.roge rs.com...
Neil Truby wrote:

Two points here, Serge.

1. The Contact Us site, with its range of 1-800 numbers, is a red rag
to
the
bull of some of us who live in that insignificant little region called


"Rest
of the world" :-)

Well, in general the email goes to whomever owns the webpages.
So www.ibm.de:
https://www-5.ibm.com/webutils/sendm..._form--contact
and so on.
I am utterly clueless whether the APAR DB is mirrored in other
countries. It would be interesting to know how other global companies
operate.
Let me comment one little thing though: When I'm in Europe I buy myself
a 5Eur phonecard and I can call Americas until my ears fall off.
10 years ago I would have agreed that it's an issue.
Nowadays, I'm not so sure. Just the same as: "I use dial up" is not an
excuse in an industrialized country anymore for IT Professionals.

2. I have never, ever, ever - and I'm interested to hear others'
experience - ever, ever, ever had even so much as an acknowledgement,


let
alone a reply, from having sent IBM an email through this medium. In


the
past month alone I have sent several, one pointing out that the search
function of "Find a Business Partner" is not (or was not working); and


on
several occaisons concerning broken links or no response on various


pages
around the site.

You didn't even get the automated response about receipt?

Cheers
Serge


Nov 12 '05 #14

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