ansitape(1)

NAME
     ansitape - ANSI standard tape handler

SYNOPSIS
     ansitape [key] [keyargs] [files]

DESCRIPTION
     ansitape reads and writes magnetic tapes written in ANSI standard format
     (called ``Files-11'' by DEC).  Tapes written by ansitape are labeled with
     the first six characters of the machine name by default.  Actions are
     controlled by the key argument.  The key is a string of characters
     containing at most one function letter.  Other arguments to the command
     are a tape label and filenames specifying which files are to be written
     onto or extracted from the tape.

     Note that this version is designed to work with text files that is, those
     with no more than 2044 bytes without a newline character.  Binary files
     are unlikely to be handled correctly on either creation or extraction.

     The function portion of the key is specified by one of the following
     letters:

     r       The named files are written at the end of the tape.  The c
             function implies this.

     x       The named files are extracted from the tape.  If no file argument
             is given, the entire contents of the tape are extracted.  Note
             that if the tape has duplicated filenames, only the last file of
             a given name can be extracted.

     t       The names of the specified files are listed each time they occur
             on the tape.  If no file argument is given, all files on the tape
             are listed.

     c       Create a new tape; writing begins at the beginning of the tape
             instead of after the last file.  This command implies r.

     The following characters may be used in addition to the letter that
     selects the function desired.

     f       This argument allows the selection of a different tape device.
             The next word in the keyargs list is taken to be the full name of
             a local device on which to write the tape.  The default is
             /dev/tape.

     n       The n option allows the user to specify, as the next argument in
             the keyargs list, a control file containing the names of files to
             put on the tape.  If the filename is '-', the control file will
             instead be read from standard input.  The control file contains
             one line for each file placed on the tape.  Each line has two
             names, the name of the file on the local machine and its name
             when placed on the tape.  This allows for a convenient flattening
             of hierarchies when placing them on tape.  If the second name is
             omitted, the UNIX filename will also be used on the tape.  This
             argument can only be used with the r and c functions.

     l       The l option allows the user to specify the label to be placed on
             the tape.  The next argument in the keyargs list is taken as the
             tape label, which will be space padded or truncated to six
             characters.  This option is meaningless unless c is also
             specified.

     v       Normally ansitape works relatively silently.  The v (verbose)
             option causes it to type information about each file as it
             processes it.

     b       The b option allows the user to select the block size to be used
             for the tape.  By default, ansitape uses the maximum block size
             permitted by the ANSI standard, 2048.  Some systems will permit a
             much larger block size, and if large files are being put on the
             tape, it may be advantageous to do so.  ansitape takes the next
             argument of the keyargs list as the block size for the tape.
             Values below 18 or above 32k will be limited to that range.  The
             standard scale factors b=512 and k=1024 are accepted.

     F       The F flag allows ansitape to write ANSI 'D' format-fixed
             record-length tapes.  The next two keyargs must be the recordsize
             and blocksize, with the same scale factors and range limits as
             the b option.  The files to be written by the F flag must be in
             fixed format on the UNIX end-all lines should be exactly record-
             size bytes long plus a terminating newline (which will be
             discarded).  Note that this is exactly the same format produced
             by ansitape when reading an ANSI 'D' format tape.

     ansitape will not copy directories, character or block special files,
     symbolic links, sockets, or binary executables.  Attempts to put these on
     tape will result in warnings, and they will be skipped completely.

FILES
     /dev/tape default tape drive

DIAGNOSTICS
     A warning message will be generated when a record exceeds the maximum
     record length, and the affected file will be truncated.

BUGS
     ansitape quietly truncates names longer than 17 characters.

     Multivolume tapes can be read (provided no files cross the volume
     boundary) but not written.

SEE ALSO
     vmsprep(1), mtio(7).