HP-UX Reference (11i v3 07/02) - 4 File Formats (vol 8)

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 (identifying 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 utility
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 copying, 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 trailing
fractional block has a count reflecting the number of bytes in that block. No interpretation
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 destination. 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 utility
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 supports
random access via lseek() (see lseek(2)). Do not mount the special file before using lif∗(1) utilities. 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 under-
score character (_). The first character of a LIF file name must be a letter (A through Z). The lif∗(1) utili-
ties 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.
Do not mount the special file while using lif∗(1) utilities.
216 Hewlett-Packard Company − 1 − HP-UX 11i Version 3: February 2007