lif.4 (2010 09)
l
lif(4) lif(4)
NAME
lif - logical interchange format description
DESCRIPTION
LIF (Logical Interchange Format) is a Hewlett-Packard standard mass-storage format that can be used
for interchange of files among various HP computer systems. A LIF volume contains a header (identify-
ing it as a LIF volume) and a directory that defines the contents (i.e. files) of the volume. The size of the
directory is fixed when the volume is initialized (see lifinit (1)) and sets an upper bound on the number of
files that can be created on the volume.
HP-UX contains a set of utilities (referred to as lif ∗(1)) that can be used to:
• Initialize a LIF volume (i.e. create a header and an empty directory),
• Copy files to and from LIF volumes,
• List the contents of LIF volumes,
• Remove LIF files,
• Rename LIF files.
The lif ∗(1) utilities are the only utilities within HP-UX where the internal structure of a LIF volume is
known. To the rest of HP-UX, a LIF volume is simply a file containing some unspecified data. The term
LIF volume should in no way be confused with the HP-UX notion of a file system volume or mountable
volume.
LIF utilities on HP-UX currently support three file types, ASCII (1), BINARY (-2) and BIN (-23951).
Three copying modes are associated with these file types:
ASCII If the copying mode is ASCII and an HP-UX file is being copied to a LIF volume, the util-
ity strips the trailing LF (line-feed) character, and inserts two bytes of record length in
front of each record. These records are then written to a LIF-formatted medium. When
copying a LIF ASCII file to HP-UX the two-byte record length is stripped and a trailing
LF is appended. These records are then written to the destination. In this mode of copy-
ing, the length of the file is preserved. The default file type for this mode of copying is
ASCII (1).
BINARY If the copying mode is BINARY, and an HP-UX file is being copied to a LIF volume, the
utility simply inserts two bytes for record length in front of each 1-Kbyte record. A trail-
ing fractional block has a count reflecting the number of bytes in that block. No interpre-
tation is placed on the content of the records. These records are then written to a LIF-
format medium. When copying a LIF file to an HP-UX file in BINARY copying mode, the
record lengths are stripped and the content of records is directly written to the destina-
tion. In this mode of copying, the length of the binary file is preserved. The default file
type for this mode of copying is BINARY (-2).
RAW If the copying mode is RAW, and an HP-UX file is being copied to a LIF volume, the util-
ity simply copies the raw data to the destination. File sizes that are not integer multiples
of 256 bytes are padded with nulls to the next higher multiple. Therefore, file sizes are
not preserved . When copying a LIF file to an HP-UX file in RAW mode, the information
is copied directly without any interpretation placed on the content of the source. The
default file type for this mode of copying is BIN (-23951).
A LIF volume can be created on any HP-UX file (either regular disk file or device special file) that sup-
ports random access via
lseek() (see lseek (2)). Do not mount the special file before using lif ∗(1) utili-
ties . See lifinit (1) for details. Within a LIF volume, individual files are identified by 1- to 10-character
file names. File names can consist of uppercase alphanumeric characters (A through Z, 0 through 9) and
the underscore character (_). The first character of a LIF file name must be a letter (A through Z). The
lif ∗(1) utilities accept any file name (including illegal file names generated on other systems), but can
only create legal names. This means that files whose names contain lowercase letters can be read but not
created.
LIF file names are specified to the lif ∗(1) utilities by concatenating the HP-UX path name for the LIF
volume followed by the LIF file name, separating the two with a colon (
:). For example:
/dev/fd.0:ABC specifies LIF file ABC accessed via HP-UX device special file /dev/fd.0.
myfile:ABC specifies LIF file ABC within HP-UX disk file myfile.
Note that this file-naming convention is applicable only for use as arguments to the lif∗(1) utilities, and
does not constitute valid path naming for any other use within the HP-UX operating system.
HP-UX 11i Version 3: September 2010 − 1 − Hewlett-Packard Company 1