As announced, the general availability of Db2 13 for z/OS was May 31, 2022, and I’m excited to announce that the online product documentation for Db2 13 for z/OS was available available at the same time!

As with every Db2 release, there a lot of content, but here are some good places to start:

• Overview of what’s new in Db2 13 summarizes the many new features and capabilities in Db2 13.
• Db2 13 function levels describes the three function levels,, that are available at GA, and when you can start using specific new capabilities in Db2 13.  As we described in a recent blog entry about the migration process, Db2 13 includes three function levels at GA.
• Changes to plan for in Db2 13 provides a concise guide to the new and changed interfaces of Db2 13, and a very short list incompatible chan­­ges in Db2 13.
• If you prefer to read these topics in a PDF format manual, see Db2 13 for z/OS What's New?

More news about PDF manuals

I also have good news for fans of the PDF-format manuals. You can download the full set from PDF format manuals for Db2 13 for z/OS. Even though we focus on the online documentation experience, we know that PDF format offers advantages in certain contexts, especially for sequential reading, and more targeted searching. So, we’ve reversed our previous policy against creating PDF manuals for newer information sets. And some of our newest information sets are now available as PDF manuals for the first time, including:

• SQL Data Insights (all new for Db2 13)
• JSON application development
• REST services
• Troubleshooting for Db2

If you do use the PDF manuals, I always suggest that you download the file from the links in IBM Documentation whenever possible. We update some online documentation topics and the corresponding PDFs just about every week. Also, the URLs of the PDF files generally do not change when we refresh them, so you can bookmark the manuals that you use most often to always access the latest edition.

We also updated our sample script files, which you can use to download the full set of PDFs in one action. The latest version of the script downloads all PDF manuals for Db2 13, Db2 12, or both. We also updated it to download the PDF manuals for the Db2 Accessories Suite and the new PDF manuals mentioned previously. 

New from IBM Rebooks: IBM Db2 13 for z/OS and More

For a different view into the new capabilities in Db2 13, be sure to also check out IBM Db2 13 for z/OS and More. This new IBM Redbooks publication describes the many innovations in Db2 13 and the companion products that comprise the Db2 for z/OS ecosystem. The contents of this book will help application developers, database administrators, and solution architects understand the newest capabilities of Db2 for z/OS and related tools and learn how to leverage them to get the greatest value from your database.