Management of warranty information in vital product data for replaceable units of data handling systems

A data handling system comprising:

• at least one frame configured to support at least one replaceable unit;
• memory configured to store vital product data relating to said at least one replaceable unit, said vital product data comprising at least a date of first use and a device state field, said device state field comprising an identifier representing one of the states:
• “new”, “recertified”, and, “in-use”;
• and
• a management control configured to, in response to newly sensing a replaceable unit, detect a device state field of said sensed replaceable unit, and
• if the detected replaceable unit device state field is set to said “new” state, reset said replaceable unit device state field to said “in-use” state, set the date of first use to a current date, and store said device state field and date of first use for said replaceable unit in said memory;
• and
• if the detected replaceable unit device state field is set to said “recertified” state, reset said replaceable unit device state field to said “in-use” state, and set the replaceable unit date of first use of said replaceable unit to the date of first use stored in said memory for the previous replaceable unit at the same location.

A method for handling vital product data relating to at least one replaceable unit of a data handling system;

• said method comprising the steps of:
• storing said vital product data relating to at least one replaceable unit of a data handling system, said vital product data comprising at least a date of first use and a device state field, said device state field comprising an identifier representing one of the states:
• “new”, “recertified”, and, “in-use”;
• in response to newly sensing a replaceable unit, detecting a device state field of said sensed replaceable unit,
• if the detected replaceable unit device state field is set to said “new” state, resetting said replaceable unit device state field to said “in-use” state, setting the date of first use to a current date, and storing for said data handling system, said device state field said date of first use for replaceable unit, and
• if the detected replaceable unit device state field is set to said “recertified” state, resetting said replaceable unit device state field to said “in-use” state, and setting the replaceable unit date of first use of said replaceable unit to the date of first use stored by said data handling system for the previous replaceable unit at the same location.

A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer useable program code tangibly embodied therein for operating at least one computer processor for handling vital product data relating to at least one replaceable unit of a data handling system, said computer useable program code configured to, when executed on said at least one computer processor, cause said at least one computer processor to:

• store said vital product data relating to at least one replaceable unit of a data handling system, said vital product data comprising at least a date of first use and a device state field, said device state field comprising an identifier representing one of the states:
• “new”, “recertified”, and, “in-use”;
• in response to newly sensing a replaceable unit, detect a device state field of said sensed replaceable unit,
• if the detected replaceable unit device state field is set to said “new” state, reset said replaceable unit device state field to said “in-use” state, set the date of first use to a current date, and store for said data handling system, said device state field and date of first use for said replaceable unit;
• and
• if the detected replaceable unit device state field is set to said “recertified” state, reset said replaceable unit device state field to said “in-use” state, and set the replaceable unit date of first use of said replaceable unit to the date of first use stored by aid data handling system for the previous replaceable unit at the same location.