Rivergate Software Inc. - makers of DVDAfterEdit

The Tape Tools window contains a tape selection popup, a function popup, a size or option popup, and an execute button. You select a tape drive, select a function, if that function has an option, select the option, and then hit the execute button to do the function.

The tape functions are:

Check Ready

Checks if the tape drive is ready, which means that there is a tape loaded and ready to read or write.

Load

This will load a tape if there is a tape in the drive and the handle is closed. If it is already loaded it has no effect. The loading process always takes at least a few moments, and can be quite lengthy if the drive has trouble recognizing the data on the tape, such as when it was written by a higher-density tape drive, or was just degaussed.

Unload

This will unload a tape if there is one loaded, and release the handle so that the tape can be removed. This takes a moment, but is much faster than loading a tape. If there is no tape loaded, it has no effect.

Rewind

If there is a tape loaded, it will make sure that the tape is rewound. It also serves as a Reset command, so any density or block length setting is lost. If the tape is already rewound, it has no other effect.

Read Buffer

This will read the number of bytes specified in the size popup into a local buffer, and display the first up to 80 bytes as ascii characters. The DDP format uses only a few tape block and tape record sizes, so the choices are limited.

Write Buffer

This writes the number of bytes specified in the size popup to the tape. The data written is the ascii character set in sequence, repeated. Again, the choices of record sizes to be written is limited.

Write Filemark

This writes a Filemark to the tape. Filemarks are used to indicate when there are no more records of the current block length and record length on the tape, and usually trigger a switch to reading or writing records of a different length or type.

Mode Sense

This command reads a relatively small number of tape drive parameters stored in its firmware, and does not require a tape to be loaded. These are mostly transient parameters, rather than drive preferences. Of particular interest are the tape cartridge type and whether or not it is write-protected.

Set Compression

This command sets or clears automatic tape compression. The built-in tape drive compression is geared towards text data, is useless for DVD data, and must always be turned off for DLT submissions.

Set Density

This command allows a higher-capacity tape drive to write tapes that can be read by lower-capacity drives. So far it doesn't work, but we haven't given up yet.

Set Block Length

This sets a block length so that the tape drive can transfer larger blocks of data, efficiently, as long as they are multiples of the given block length. Again, the block lengths are limited to those useful in the DDP format, except that 1K blocks may be specified.

Inquiry

The Inquiry command returns information about the drive. It can be executed even if the drive is not ready.

Text Mode Sense

This command reads a huge text string of all the drive preference settings. Each preference has a text name, a current value, a default value, a minimum value, and a maximum value. Some of these settings can prevent desired operation if they are set inappropriately. This command can be executed even if he drive is not ready.

Erase

Be careful! This command takes a very long time, and can't be stopped except by turning off the drive. The Tape Emulator version just erases the data in the disk file.