Tape labels are identifiers given to volumes of magnetic tape.
There are two kinds of tape labels. The first is a label applied to the exterior of tape cartridge or reel. The second is data recorded on the tape itself.
The labels have evolved to have barcodes that can be read by tape libraries. Reading the barcode label is often much faster than mounting the tape volume and reading the identification information written on the media. To read the bar code, the tape library need only position the volume in front of the bar code reader.
Magnetic labelsedit
Originally, 7- and 9-track data tapes only had human readable labels on them (i.e. as far as the operating system was concerned they were unlabeled). Somebody wishing to use a particular tape would ask the operator to mount that tape; the operator would look at the human readable label, mount it on a tape drive, and then tell the operating system which drive contained the tape of interest. That had some drawbacks: the operator might mount the wrong tape by mistake, or he might type in the wrong identification.
A solution was to record some tape identification information on the tape itself in a standard format. This metadata allowed the operating system to quickly recognize a volume and assign it to the program that wanted to use it. The operating system would notice that a tape drive came online, so it would try to read the first block of information on the tape. If that was a volume label, then the operating system could determine what to do with it.
Some computer systems used similar labels on other serial media, for example punched card decks and sometimes line printer output.
IBM tape labelsedit
IBM tape labels with VOL/HDR/EOV/EOF records.[1] IBM tape labels on 9-track tapes use EBCDIC character encoding; 7-track tapes (now obsolete) used BCD encoding.[2]
ANSI tape labelsedit
ANSI/ISO/ECMA tape labels are similar to IBM tape labels but use the ASCII character set on 9-track tape. When originally defined in the mid-1960s, they used BCD on 7-track tape.
Burroughs tape labelsedit
The Burroughs MCP running on the B5000 was one of the earliest systems to automatically read tape labels. When designed in 1961 it used a proprietary format coded in BCD (strictly, Burroughs Interchange Code or BIC), but was later able to read standard 7-track ANSI (then styled USASI) labels.
RFID tagsedit
Some tapes (e.g., later versions of Linear Tape-Open and Advanced Intelligent Tape) are using RFID tags.[3] Often these RFID tags include tape metadata such as data locations, number of tape errors encountered, number of times the entire tape was read or written, etc.[4]
tape, label, identifiers, given, volumes, magnetic, tape, there, kinds, tape, labels, first, label, applied, exterior, tape, cartridge, reel, second, data, recorded, tape, itself, contents, visual, labels, magnetic, labels, tape, labels, ansi, tape, labels, bu. Tape labels are identifiers given to volumes of magnetic tape There are two kinds of tape labels The first is a label applied to the exterior of tape cartridge or reel The second is data recorded on the tape itself Contents 1 Visual labels 2 Magnetic labels 2 1 IBM tape labels 2 2 ANSI tape labels 2 3 Burroughs tape labels 3 RFID tags 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksVisual labels editVisual labels are human readable The labels have evolved to have barcodes that can be read by tape libraries Reading the barcode label is often much faster than mounting the tape volume and reading the identification information written on the media To read the bar code the tape library need only position the volume in front of the bar code reader Magnetic labels editOriginally 7 and 9 track data tapes only had human readable labels on them i e as far as the operating system was concerned they were unlabeled Somebody wishing to use a particular tape would ask the operator to mount that tape the operator would look at the human readable label mount it on a tape drive and then tell the operating system which drive contained the tape of interest That had some drawbacks the operator might mount the wrong tape by mistake or he might type in the wrong identification A solution was to record some tape identification information on the tape itself in a standard format This metadata allowed the operating system to quickly recognize a volume and assign it to the program that wanted to use it The operating system would notice that a tape drive came online so it would try to read the first block of information on the tape If that was a volume label then the operating system could determine what to do with it Some computer systems used similar labels on other serial media for example punched card decks and sometimes line printer output IBM tape labels edit IBM tape labels with VOL HDR EOV EOF records 1 IBM tape labels on 9 track tapes use EBCDIC character encoding 7 track tapes now obsolete used BCD encoding 2 ANSI tape labels edit ANSI ISO ECMA tape labels are similar to IBM tape labels but use the ASCII character set on 9 track tape When originally defined in the mid 1960s they used BCD on 7 track tape Burroughs tape labels edit The Burroughs MCP running on the B5000 was one of the earliest systems to automatically read tape labels When designed in 1961 it used a proprietary format coded in BCD strictly Burroughs Interchange Code or BIC but was later able to read standard 7 track ANSI then styled USASI labels RFID tags editSome tapes e g later versions of Linear Tape Open and Advanced Intelligent Tape are using RFID tags 3 Often these RFID tags include tape metadata such as data locations number of tape errors encountered number of times the entire tape was read or written etc 4 See also editMicrosoft Tape FormatReferences edit End of service documentation IBM Docs Barcode Label Specification for use with 3592 Tape Media 8 June 2009 Included as standard with all Ultrium tape cartridges LTO CM Cartridge Memory Fujitsu Global www fujitsu com Archived from the original on 2015 11 17 External links editECMA 13 File Structure and Labelling of Magnetic Tapes for Information Interchange 4th ed December 1985 http publib boulder ibm com infocenter iseries v5r4 index jsp topic rzatb vdefn htm http techpubs sgi com library tpl cgi bin getdoc cgi coll linux amp db bks amp fname SGI EndUser TMF UG ch02 html https it dep fio ds web cern ch it dep fio ds Documentation tapedrive labels html Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tape label amp oldid 1156219269, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
