ANSIMT Utility ANSIMT is a TOPS-20 tape utility whose function is to transfer 7-bit ascii files between disk storage and 9-track magnetic tape. ANSIMT supports fixed formatted tape files on 800/1600/6250 bpi ANSI labelled tapes. It is invoked by giving the ANSIMT command when you see the "@" prompt at TOPS-20 executive command level. ANSIMT will prompt for a command, which will have the fol- lowing format: ANSIMT>command arguments ANSIMT Commands DEFAULT option [argument] Sets user default for the given option. The options for this DEFAULT command are actually switches for other commands. Once the default is set for an option, it is assumed to be the value of its corresponding command switch unless the default is reset or a switch is added to the command. For example ANSIMT>DEFAULT RECORD-LENGTH 76 will set the default record length to be 76 ANSIMT>STORE (DISK FILE) FILEA.PAS (AS) FILEA.PAS will store FILEA.PAS to the defined tape device with a record length of 76, but ANSIMT>STORE (DISK FILE) FILEA.PAS (AS) FILEA.PAS /RECORD-LENGTH:20 will override the default setting of 76 and store FILEA.PAS to the defined tape device with a record length of 20, while still keeping the default as 76. Options for the DEFAULT command are: BLOCKING-FACTOR n -- sets the default blocking factor to n. The blocking factor is the number of records per block. The block size (blocking factor X record length) limit for ANSIMT is 32760. This affects only the STORE command. [NO] PAD-TABS [n] -- sets the default to pad (or don't pad if you type NO) tab characters with blanks while storing to tape. Each tab position is a multiple of n, so if n is 4, the tab positions are 4, 8, 12, etc. The default for n is 8 and if you type NO, n is not expected. This option only effects the STORE command. [NO] STRIP-BLANKS -- sets the default to strip (or don't strip if you type NO) blanks off the end of the record while restoring from tape to disk. Alot of space is save when the STRIP-BLANKS option is used and are how ascii records are usually stored on the DEC-20. This option only affects only the RESTORE command. [NO] WARNING-MESSAGES -- sets the default to print (or don't print if you type NO) warning messages. RECORD-LENGTH n -- sets the default record length to n. The record length is the number of bytes per record and is only significant for the STORE command. ANSIMT supports records with record lengths between 18 and 2048 inclusively. The initial defaults are: BLOCKING-FACTOR 1 PAD-TABS 8 RECORD-LENGTH 80 STRIP-BLANKS WARNING-MESSAGES DIRECTORY (OF TAPE) [switch] Prints to your terminal a directory listing of your tape. This command must be preceded by the TAPE command to first define your tape. This command automatically rewinds to the beginning of tape and list each file with its information until an end of tape is reached. After the directory is listed, the tape is left at the end of tape mark. Switches for the DIRECTORY command are: /FULL -- gives the same information as the short form (/SHORT) except this switch lists the number of records in each file and the estimated number of pages it will take up on the disk. Be aware that listing the number of records uses up a considerable amount of CPU time and should be used only when necessary. /SHORT -- each file on tape will list the following information: the sequence number, the filename, the volume ID, the format it was written, the record length, the blocking factor, the date it was created, and the date it expires. EOT (END OF TAPE) This command positions the tape to the EOT (end of tape) position. This command must be preceded by the TAPE command to first define your tape. Issuing this command when the tape is already at EOT will give this warning %Already at EOT EXIT (TO MONITOR) Exits immediately to TOPS-20 command level. HELP Prints this help message to your terminal. RESTORE (TAPE FILES) source (TO) destination [switches] Restores the magnetic tape source file(s) from your tape to disk, the given destination specification. This command must be preceded by the TAPE command to first define your tape which will be the assumed tape device for the source. If you do not type a destination specification, ANSIMT assumes it is the same as the source speci- fication. When ANSIMT begins restoring a file to a directory, it prints the message source => destination and ends with the confirming message [n records] where n is the number of records transferred. If you are restoring a file to a directory other than your own, you must specify that directory in the destination file specifi- cation. If the source contains wildcards in it, you must specify a directory as the destination where the files will be restored (the current directory is the default). Switches for the RESTORE command are: /NO-STRIP-BLANKS -- restores records exactly how they are from tape to disk. /STRIP-BLANKS -- strips the trailing blanks off the records from tape before being written to disk. NOTES: * Restoring a file with more than one period ('.') in its filename may be done by typing a control V (^V) before periods succeeding the first. * While restoring files off EBCDIC tape, certain filenames may not be recognized by ANSIMT. The cause of this problem has not been determined. There may be ways to get around this problem, which are not currently documented. REWIND (TO THE BEGINNING OF TAPE) This command positions the tape to the BOT (beginning of tape) position. This command must be preceded by the TAPE command to first define your tape. Issuing this command when the tape is already at BOT will give this warning %Already at beginning of tape SKIP (NUMBER OF FILES) [-]n Positions the tape past n logical files. A negative value for n backspaces over n logical files, and a value of zero does nothing. This command must be preceded by the TAPE command to first define your tape. A skip past the end of tape mark will give the error message ?Logical end of tape encountered and a skip past the beginning of tape mark will give the error ?Beginning of tape encountered STORE (DISK FILES) source [(AS) destination] [switches] Stores the disk source file(s) onto your magnetic tape. This command must be preceded by the TAPE command to first define your tape which will be the tape device to store to. If the destination file specification is not given, ANSIMT will try to fit as many charac- ters as possible from the source specification into the 17 charac- ter tape file limit. When ANSIMT begins storing a file to tape, it prints the message source => destination and ends with the confirming message [n records] where n is the number of records transferred. If the source contains wildcards, the destination is not necessary (the tape specified by the TAPE command is assumed). Switches for the STORE command are: /BLOCKING-FACTOR:n -- sets the blocking factor to n. The blocking factor is the number of records per block. The maximum block size (blocking factor X record length) ANSIMT supports is 32760. /NO-PAD-TABS -- does not pad tab characters with blanks while storing to tape. /PAD-TABS:n -- pads tab characters with blanks while storing to tape. Each tab position is a multiple of n, so if n is 4, the tab positions are 4, 8, 12, etc. The default for n is 8. /RECORD-LENGTH:n -- sets the default record length to n. The record length is the number of bytes per record. ANSIMT supports records with record lengths between 18 and 2048 inclusively. TAPE (DEVICE) tapespec Defines the tape device to be used for file transfers. This command must be done prior to any reading or writing to tape. The tapespec is either a physical tape drive (MTAn:), a logical tape device (MTn:), or a logical name of a tape device. The tape must be an ANSI labelled tape or this error will be printed ?Tape must be ANSI labelled If the device is not a tape device, ANSIMT prints the error ?Not a magtape device and if the device not available to your job, ANSIMT prints this error ?Device already assigned to another job REFERENCES See also HELP for the following: ANSIMT BATCH SUBMIT TAPES [End of HLP:ANSIMT.HLP 21-MAY-85]