FCOPY Reference Manual (32212-90008)

Chapter 3 35
FCOPY Applications and Examples
Copying Tapes
Copying Tapes
The general methods for copying tapes described in this chapter apply to unlabeled
magnetic tapes, serial disks, and cartridge tapes. If you need to copy files from or to labeled
tapes, refer to the instructions for using labeled tapes later in this chapter.
NOTE Labeled tapes must be used if the file being written will extend beyond one
reel.
Specifying Tape Files
Use the SKIPEOF function to position an unlabeled tape, cartridge tape, or serial disk at the
beginning of the fromfile or tofile you want to copy. The SKIPEOF function "skips" over a
specified number of end-of-file (EOF) marks to position the tape at the beginning of a
particular file.
You can specify the number of EOF marks to be skipped as either absolute file numbers
(for example, the fifth file on the tape) or relative file numbers (for example, the fifth file
from the tape's current position). A plus (+) or minus (−) sign distinguishes a relative file
number from an absolute file number. A plus sign tells FCOPY to skip forward, and a
minus sign tells FCOPY to skip backward. A comma before the plus or minus sign (for
example, SKIPEOF=,+1) indicates that the file is a tofile; no comma (for example,
SKIPEOF=+1) indicates a fromfile.
The example below tells FCOPY to copy the file three files before TAPEA's current position
and place it in the fifth file on TAPEB.
>FROM=*TAPEA;TO*TAPEB;SKIPEOF=-3,5
NOTE When FCOPY copies files from or to magnetic tapes, it leaves the tape
positioned before the EOF mark for the file it just copied. Thus, if you want to
copy a series of files from or to the same magnetic tape, be sure to include
SKIPEOF=+1 in the commands for copying each file after the first. SKIPEOF=+1
instructs FCOPY to position the tape at the beginning of the next file.
Ignoring Tape Errors
Use the IGNERR function when you want certain file system errors to be ignored during the
process of copying files from magnetic tape. This allows the recovery of as much data as
possible from faulty media. The following errors can be ignored:
21 Data Parity
26 Transmission
27 I/O Timeout
38 Type Parity
Using IGNERR, you can instruct FCOPY to terminate the copy operation after it encounters
a given number of errors. The example below instructs FCOPY to ignore errors, but to