The 10th edition of IBM Jargon, a semi-official publication edited by Mike Cowlishaw, contains the definition:
<begin extract> APAR (ay-parr). 1. n. Authorized Program Analysis Report. This is an official report to IBM of an error in a program. The acronym is used so often that most people don't know what it stands for. This is one of the many acronyms whose expansion and meaning has changed with time. The group in Poughkeepsie th at wrote the early System/360 systems programs (compilers, sorts, etc.) were called "Applied Programming" or "Application Programming", hence a request for assistance was called an "Applied Programming Assistance Request." In the period between the demise of the 'Applied Programming" organisation and the determination that "AP" could mean "Authorized Program" the acronym was interpreted as "Always Process As Rush", [This actually got printed on some forms.] 2, verb. To make such a report. Note that only programs (and not microcode) can be APARed. 3, n. A specific fix for a reported problem [an incorrect usage]. "I've applied all the APARs, but it still crashes." <end extract/> IT clarifies a recent thread here; and, in doing so, it also provides a neat illustration of IBM's practice of jacking up acronyms to stick something new under them. Some historical perspective is of course needed. Acronyms often turn themselves into words, and confusion about their etymology is often the result. I discovered recently that none of my young-genius students knew that 'cadaver' had been an acronym: CAro DAta VERminibus, flesh given to the worms ==> CADAVER. John Gilmore, Ashland, MA 01721 - USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
