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.\" @(#)rmt.8 6.5 (Berkeley) 3/16/91
.Nd remote magtape protocol module
is a program used by the remote dump and restore programs
in manipulating a magnetic tape drive through an interprocess
communication connection.
is normally started up with an
program accepts requests specific to the manipulation of
magnetic tapes, performs the commands, then responds with
a status indication. All responses are in
Successful commands have responses of:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
representation of a decimal number.
Unsuccessful commands are responded to with:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
is one of the possible error
is the corresponding error string as printed
The protocol is comprised of the
following commands, which are sent as indicated - no spaces are supplied
between the command and its arguments, or between its arguments, and
indicates that a newline should be supplied:
representation of a decimal
number suitable for passing to
If a device had already been opened, it is
closed before a new open is performed.
.It Xo Sy C Ar device No \en
Close the currently open device. The
operation using the specified parameters.
The response value is that returned from the
Write data onto the open device.
bytes from the connection, aborting if
a premature end-of-file is encountered.
The response value is that returned from
bytes of data from the open device.
exceeds the size of the data buffer (10 kilobytes), it is
truncated to the data buffer size.
then performs the requested
.Sy A Ar count-read No \en
successful; otherwise an error in the
standard format is returned. If the read
was successful, the data read is then sent.
command using the specified parameters.
The parameters are interpreted as the
representations of the decimal values
fields of the structure used in the
call. The return value is the
parameter when the operation is successful.
Return the status of the open device, as
call. If the operation was successful,
an ``ack'' is sent with the size of the
status buffer, then the status buffer is
All responses are of the form described above.
People tempted to use this for a remote file access protocol