Ignite-UX Reference (March 2010, B3921-90005)
ANSITAPE(1M) Merlin ANSITAPE(1M)
NAME
ansitape − ANSI-standard magtape label program
SYNOPSIS
ansitape txrcpuA[vqfaei3][mt=device][vo=volume-name][wo=output_file][rs=
[r|recordsize]] [bs=blocksize][rf=[v|f]] [cc=[i|f|e]] filename1 filename2...
DESCRIPTION
Ansitape reads, writes, and creates magtapes conforming to the ANSI standard for magtape labelling.
Primarily, this is useful to exchange tapes with VAX/VMS, which makes this kind of tape by default.
Ansitape is controlled by a function key letter (t, x, c,orr). Various options modify the format of
the output tape.
Writing ANSI Tapes
The list of files on the command line is written to the tape. A full Unix pathname may be specified, how-
ev er, only the last pathname component (everything after the last /) is used as the filename on the tape.
Normally, regular text files are to be exchanged. ansitape reads the files one line at a time and transfers
them to the tape. The newline character at the end of each line is removed, and the file is written in a vari-
able-length record format. Variable-format files have the length of the longest record specified in a file
header. Therefore, ansitape will read each input file from disk before it goes on to tape, to determine
the maximum record size. The read is skipped if the file is more than 100,000 bytes long. The default car-
riage control (implied) instructs the other host to restore the newline character before printing the record.
If ansitape thinks that the input file is a Unix text file (Fortran or implied carriage control), it will auto-
matically strip the the Unix newline from the end of each record. No strip is done with embedded carriage
control files, or with any file using a fixed-length record format.
For binary files, fixed-length records should be used. VAX/VMS normally uses a record length of 512
bytes for things like directories and executable files, but data files may have any record length. Binary files
should be flagged for embedded (rf=e) carriage control.
Reading ANSI Tapes
When reading, the input file list is presumed to be the names of files to be extracted from the tape. The
shell wildcard characters asterisk (*) and question-mark (?) may be used. Of course,
they must be quoted to prevent the shell from interpreting them before
ansitape sees them.
None of the options for record format or carriage control need be specified when reading files. Ansitape
will automatically pick up this information from the header records on the tape, and do the right thing. If
you can’t get just what you want from ansitape, the resulting files may be run through dd(1).
FUNCTION LETTERS
These function letters describe the overall operation desired. One of them must be specified in the first
argument to ansitape. For lexically rigorous Unix fans, a minus sign (-) is allowed, but
optional, to introduce the first keyword option set.
r Write the named files on the end of the tape. This requires that the tape have been previously ini-
tialized with an ANSI volume header.
c Create a new magtape. The tape is initialized with a new ANSI volume header. All files previously
on the tape are destroyed. This option implies r.
p This option is used with option c or r to create ANSI labels for Ignite-UX recovery tape only. It
requires a non rewind tape device file.
x Extract all files from the tape. Files are placed in the current directory. Protection is r/w to every-
one, modified by the current umask(2).
t List all of the names on the tape.
u This option is used to write an ANSI label UHL3EFIAUX header for an Ignite-UX recovery tape.
AICenter 23 June 1986 1