You are no doubt aware that Db2 development transitioned to continuous delivery of new features and capabilities with the release of Db2 12 in 2016, and Db2 development has continued this approach with the release of Db2 13. The Db2 function levels that enable many new capabilities tend to get a lot of the attention in continuous delivery, but they are not the only way that we make new capabilities available in Db2 continuous delivery. Many new-function APARs make their enhancements available immediately when you apply the PTFs. Here’s a quick survey of new function APARs that we’ve delivered so far in the first half of 2023. 

New-function APARs for Db2 13 for z/OS

With APAR PH54129 (June 2023), you can issue the DSN FREE PACKAGE command to free inactive packages for native REST services. For more information, see Freeing inactive packages for native REST services.

With APAR PH52482 (April 2023), you can run a batch process to avoid working the Db2 installation CLIST panels in interactive mode when you need to generate tailored JCL jobs and input files for migrating to Db2 13 or activating Db2 13 function levels. This APAR introduces a new JCL job named DSNTIJBC, which you can run with current and valid input files to generate the required JCL jobs and input files. To use this batch job, you must customize a supplied parameter override file and provide a current and valid DSNTIDXx defaults input member for your Db2 subsystem, and the DSNTIDXA member for target Db2 release. For more information see Generating tailored Db2 migration or function level activation jobs in the background.

APAR PH48764 and APAR PH53182 (April 2023) introduce capabilities for discovering and enforcing the use of approved authentication and encryption methods by Db2 clients. It introduces a set of actions that you can specify in the DSN_PROFILE_ATTRIBUTES_TABLE.KEYWORDS column. For more information, see Discovery and granular control for secure TLS security.

APAR PH51892 (February 2023) introduces a new vector prefetch capability and improves the existing built-in scalar AI_SEMANTIC_CLUSTER function, which together with other optimizations, delivers significant functional and performance improvements for SQL Data Insights (SQL DI). For more information, see New vector prefetch capability and improved built-in scalar functions of SQL Data Insights and download the whitepaper: Enhancing Db2 AI queries with the vector prefetch capability of SQL Data Insights.

With APAR PH51469 (February 2023) you can activate Db2 13 function level V13R1M503. Function level 503 introduces the following new capabilities:

• Improved default behavior for added ROW CHANGE TIMESTAMP columns in existing rows (PH51185)
• Accelerator-only support for queries with IN-list predicates with more than 32K elements with IBM Db2 Analytics Accelerator V7 for z/OS (PH50756)
• optimize-clause support for SELECT INTO statements (PH50010)

For more information about these new capabilities and how to activate them in Db2 13, see Function level 503.

APAR PH51565 (January 2023) improves how Db2 13 reports index traverse count information in the TRAV. COUNT field of message DSNT380I when you issue a DISPLAY STATS command with the INDEXTRAVERSECOUNT keyword. It also adds a new FTB FACTOR field in DSNT380I, which returns a calculated value that Db2 uses to identify indexes that might benefit from the fast index traversal (FTB) capability. For more information, see Improved index traverse count information in DISPLAY STATS output.

For the complete list for Db2 13, see New-function APARs for Db2 13.

New-function APARs for Db2 12 for z/OS and later

The PTFs for the following APARs take effect in Db2 12 or Db2 13:

APAR PH50072 (June 2023 enables can determine whether your Db2 12 data sharing group or standalone Db2 subsystem is ready for migration to Db2 13 by issuing a DISPLAY GROUP command with the DETAIL keyword. The new migration readiness report in the DISPLAY GROUP output now indicates whether your environment is ready for migration to the next Db2 release. If Db2 is not ready for migration, the report also includes reason information. For more information, see Migration readiness reported in DISPLAY GROUP command output.

APAR PH52852 (April 2023) enhances the SQLDA for a REXX application that issues a PREPARE INTO statement that includes a LOB column or distinct type. If USING BOTH is specified and the column is defined with labels, Db2 now correctly doubles the SQLD value in the SQLDA, and returns previously missing information, including the CCSID of a LOB column and the name for a distinct type. For more information, see Enhanced SQLDA output for LOBs and distinct types in REXX applications.

With APAR PH50704 (March 2023) you can  specify the APPLCOMPAT and PLANMGMT bind options when you bind or rebind packages for Db2-supplied routines by running job DSNTIJRT, which executes the DSNTRIN program. For more information, see APPLCOMPAT and PLANMGMT support in DSNTIJRT/DSNTRIN for bind or rebind of packages for Db2-supplied routines.

APAR PH48053 (January 2023) updates several installation and migration jobs to support converting EXPLAIN tables to a new format that is supported in Db2 12 at function level 501 or higher. The new EXPLAIN table columns (APAR PH44421) support integration of EXPLAIN table data with data used by IBM Db2 AI for z/OS (Db2ZAI) to support the SQL optimization capabilities of Db2ZAI. For more information, see Installation and migration changes to support new EXPLAIN columns.

APAR PH50729 (January 2023), Db2 resets IFCID 402 statistics counters immediately if the warning or exception threshold for the associated profiles is changed when you issue a START PROFILE command. For more information, see Improved IFCID 0402 reset behavior.

For the complete list for Db2 12, see New-function APARs for Db2 12.

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