Aggregate Content for IBM Z Products With IBM Doc Buddy V2
IBM Doc Buddy is a mobile app that enables you to search error messages of IBM Z software products.
IBM Doc Buddy is a mobile app that enables you to search error messages of IBM Z software products. IBM Doc Buddy V2 can be a perfect replacement for LookAt, a z/OS message tool for which support is no longer available. The app is available in both Apple App Store and Google Play.
After you install the app on your smartphone or tablet, you can search for the explanation of IBM Z product messages within seconds. Apart from z/OS, z/VSE and z/VM, IBM Doc Buddy integrates the messages from products such as WebSphere MQ, z/TPF, CICS, IMS and Db2 for z/OS.
The app supports both online and offline search, and you can use the app to bookmark frequently used messages (see Figure 1).
You can:
- Get instant search results if you are connected to the internet. Online search is the default setting.
- Download the message content to your device to look it up later without having to connect to the internet
- Tap the icon on the upper right corner of a message to bookmark it for future reference
Red Alerts, Support Portals and More
At the end of each message, you can find cross-references to the relevant Support Portal pages to help with the troubleshooting tasks. You can save IBM Support or your colleagues’ contact information in the app so that you can easily get further assistance when you need it.
On the Account tab, IBM Doc Buddy provides Red Alerts notifications. When you tap on a Red Alert title, you are directed to detailed information in the Red Alerts subscription service website.
In V2, IBM Doc Buddy is also aggregating more content from IBM Z products:
- Mainframe events and announcements: From the new Home tab, you can browse important mainframe information in the Top news section under the message search bar
- Videos and blogs: Subscribe to the columns about the products that you are working with to view selected blogs and videos to help with your daily work. The content is classified into product basics and new features to facilitate navigation. Figure 2 shows the content of a product column.
- Opinions and tips: Technical and business leaders from the mainframe area are invited to create personal columns for the app. Do you want to hear from IBM Senior Technical Staff Members and executives? Subscribe to their personal columns to hear their thoughts and learn some tips and tricks for your product.
Benefits
IBM Doc Buddy V2 has several benefits for clients. It helps new IBM Z users to understand a product fast by providing product overviews and product basics information. The new version provides easy access to the most frequently used IBM Z technical documentation. And it lets users know about new product announcements.
Mary Fetterman contributed to the technical and editorial review of this article.