Initialize tapes

Learn the process and steps you should follow when initializing tapes.

Before you begin using tape files, you must initialize all tapes. Use the Initialize Tape (INZTAP) command to initialize tapes, with or without labels. Sometimes you use the Initialize Tape (INZTAP) command to clear all data on the tape.

Note: If the CLEAR(*YES) parameter is specified, the operation can take several hours. The program erases the tape from the beginning-of-tape to the end-of-tape.

The following example initializes the tape volume that is loaded on device TAP01 to standard label format.

INZTAP  DEV(TAP01) NEWVOL(BACKUP)
DENSITY(*FMT3490E)

To initialize the tape volume with the volume ID BACKUP, you specify the character code EBCDIC(by default) and set the tape format to *FMT3490E.

The examples shown below are converting from one character set to another:

EBCDIC to ASCII
ASCII to EDCDIC

The iSeries™ system can convert data with a user-specified conversion table, or with user-specified from and to CCSID values. If no conversion table or CCSID values are specified, the system uses a default data conversion table derived from the American National Standards Institute, Inc, Document ANSI X3.26-1970.