NAME

lif − logical interchange format description

DESCRIPTION

LIF (Logical Interchange Format) is a Hewlett-Packard standard disk format that may be used for interchange of files among various HP computer systems.  A LIF volume contains a header (identifying it as a LIF volume) and a directory that defines the contents (i.e. files) of the volume. The size of the directory is fixed when the volume is initialized (see lifinit(1)) and sets an upper bound on the number of files that may be created on the volume. 

HP-UX contains a set of utilities (referred to as lif∗(1)) that may be used to initialize a LIF volume (i.e. create a header and an empty directory), copy files to and from LIF volumes, list the contents of LIF volumes, remove LIF files, and rename LIF files. 

The lif∗(1) utilities are the only utilities within HP-UX where the internal structure of a LIF volume is known. To the rest of HP-UX, a LIF volume is simply a file containing some unspecified data.  The term ‘LIF volume’ should in no way be confused with the HP-UX notion of a file system volume or mountable volume. 

The LIF utility on HP-UX currently supports three file types, ASCII(1), BINARY(-2) and BIN(-23951). 

There are three copying modes associated with them. 

ASCII If the copying mode is ASCII, and an HP-UX file is being copied to a LIF volume, the utility strips the trailing LF and prepends two bytes of record length to each record. These records are then written to a LIF formatted media. When copying a LIF ASCII file to HP-UX the two byte record length are stripped and a trailing LF is appended. These records are then written to the destination.  In this mode of copying the length of the file is preserved.  The default file type for this mode of copying is ASCII(1). 

BINARY If the copying mode is BINARY, and an HP-UX file is being copied to a LIF volume, the utility simply appends two bytes for record length to each 1K byte record. A trailing fractional block will have a count reflecting the number of bytes in that block.  No interpretation is placed on the content of the records.  These records are then written to a LIF-format media. When copying a LIF file to an HP-UX file in BINARY copying mode, the record lengths are stripped and the content of records is directly written to the destination.  In this mode of copying the length of the binary file is preserved.  The default file type for this mode of copying is BINARY(-2). 

RAW If the copying mode is RAW, and an HP-UX file is being copied to a LIF volume, the utility simply copies the raw data to the destination.  File sizes which are not multiples of 256 bytes will be padded with nulls to the next higher multiple. Therefore, the file sizes are not preserved.  When copying a LIF file to an HP-UX file in RAW mode, the information is directly copied without any interpretation placed on the content of the source.  The default file type for this mode of copying is BIN(-23951). 

A LIF volume may be created on any HP-UX file (either regular disk file or device special file) that supports random access via lseek(2).  Note that you should not mount the special file before using the lif∗(1) routines.  See lifinit(1) for details. Within a LIF volume, individual files are identified by 1 to 10 character file names. File names may consist of upper-case alphanumeric characters (A through Z, 0 through 9) and the underscore character (_). The first character of a LIF file name must be a letter.  The lif∗(1) utilities will accept any file name, including illegal file names generated on other systems, but will only create legal names.  For example, file names containing lower-case letters will be read but not created. 

LIF file names are specified to the lif∗(1) utilities by concatenating the HP-UX path name for the LIF volume with the LIF file name, separating the two with a colon (:).  For example:

/dev/fd.0:ABC specifies LIF file ABC within HP-UX device special file /dev/fd.0. 

myfile:ABC specifies LIF file ABC within HP-UX disk file ‘myfile’. 

Note that this file naming convention is applicable only for use as arguments to the lif∗(1) utilities and do not constitute legal path names for any other use within HP-UX. 

HARDWARE DEPENDENCIES

Series 500
You must use a character special file to access the media.

SEE ALSO

lifcp(1), lifinit(1), lifls(1), lifrename(1), lifrm(1). 

Hewlett-Packard Company  —  Version B.1,  April 12, 1993