ISO/ANSI labels

This chapter describes the organization, format, and processing of labels designed according to the specifications of the following industry standards as understood and interpreted by IBM:

Level 4 of ANSI X3.27-1978, American National Standard Magnetic Tape Labels and File Structure for Information Interchange
Level 4 of ISO 1001-1979, Information Processing: Magnetic Tape Labeling and File Structure for Information Interchange
Level 4 of FIPS 79
Level 4 of ANSI X3.27-1987, American National Standard Magnetic Tape Labels and File Structure for Information Interchange
Level 4 of ISO 1001-1986(E), Information Processing: Magnetic Tape Labeling and File Structure for Information Interchange

In this book, the term Version 4 is used when referring to ANSI X3.27-1987 level 4 and ISO 1001-1986(E) level 4 standards.

In this book, the term Version 3 is used when referring to ANSI X3.27-1978, ISO 1001-1979 and FIPS 79 standards.

The term Version 1 is used when referring to the previous ISO 1001-1967 and ANSI X3.27-1969 standards.

Only volumes with Version 3 or Version 4 labels will be created by the system. Volumes with Version 1 labels will be accepted for input, but Version 3 or Version 4 checking will not occur.

ISO/ANSI support executes on a processor with a magnetic tape device that supports the specifications in:

Information Processing: 9 - Track, 12.7mm (0.5in) Wide Magnetic Tape for Information Interchange, 32rpmm (800rpi), ISO 1863.
Information Processing: 9 - Track, 12.7mm (0.5in) Wide Magnetic Tape for Information Interchange, 8 and 32rpmm (200 and 800rpi) NRZI, and 63rpmm (1600rpi), Phase Encoded, ISO 1864.
Information Processing: 9 - Track, 12.7mm (0.5in) Wide Magnetic Tape for Information Interchange, 63rpmm (1600rpi), Phase Encoded, ISO 3788.
American National Standard Recorded Magnetic Tape for Information Interchange, 800cpi, NRZI, X3.22-1973.
American National Standard Recorded Magnetic Tape for Information Interchange, 1600cpi, PE, X3.39-1973.
American National Standard Recorded Magnetic Tape for Information Interchange, 6250cpi, Group-Coding, X3.54-1976.

Both Information Processing: 9 -Track, 12.7mm (0.5in) Wide Magnetic Tape for Information Interchange, 8rpmm (200rpi), ISO 1862, and American National Standard Recorded Magnetic Tape for Information Interchange, 200cpi, NRZI, X3.13-1973, require a magnetic tape device not supported by z/OS. Tapes written according to those standards are not supported.

All data on a tape with Version 3 labels must be recorded in the 128 characters of basic ASCII. Also, all the data in a Version 4 tape label must be recorded in the 128 characters of basic ASCII. Do not use Version 3 or Version 4 volumes to contain raw binary, floating point, or packed decimal data. See ASCII conversion for more information. Unlabeled tapes recorded in ASCII can be processed, as explained in Unlabeled tapes.