rpw3@fortune.UUCP (03/16/84)
#R:sri-arpa:-1746100:fortune:11600073:000:1088 fortune!rpw3 Mar 16 02:15:00 1984 ANSI labels for tapes correspond to super-blocks for disks. They do NOT have to change your idea of a "file", if you don't want that. You can make tapes that look IDENTICAL to "naked" UNIX character-device tapes but still have full ANSI labels. Some folks would like that; some wouldn't. But it's possible. (Go read the spec.) In the TOPS-10/TOPS-20 implementations (at least the early ones), there were no changes to user programs required when a site went to labeled tapes. (Of course, like any other feature, if you WANT to know about the labels you have to change the program.) Under UNIX, you could do the whole thing with "mount/umount"-style commands. (Syntax shown as example only, NOT as proposal!) Unlabeled or Implicit Labels Explicitly Labeled ---------------------------- ------------------ mount -tape /dev/rmt0 -vol_id "mytape" tar xvf /dev/rmt0 tar xvf /dev/rmt0 umount -tape /dev/rmt0 Rob Warnock UUCP: {sri-unix,amd70,hpda,harpo,ihnp4,allegra}!fortune!rpw3 DDD: (415)595-8444 USPS: Fortune Systems Corp, 101 Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood City, CA 94065