JPH04123381A - Cartridge identification system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To identify the contents of a cartridge without loading the cartridge on a recording/reproducing mechanism by reading out the existence of a cartridge and the contents of the cartridge in each cartridge storing position, and recording the obtained information in a table. CONSTITUTION:A magnetic tape device 1 is provided with a microprocessor 2 for controlling the whole device, a magazine mechanism 5 controlled by the microprocessor 2, a recording/reproducing mechanism 6 for recording/ reproducing a cartridge, and an interface circuit 3 for transmitting/receiving data to/from a master device. The information of a cartridge whose selection is instructed from the master device is read out from the table 7 previously recording the information and sent to a host or the like. Thereby a response time can be shortened as compared with a method for loading a cartridge to the device 1, reading out data from an identification block, then sending the cartridge information to the master device. Thereby the contents of the cartridge can be identified without loading the cartridge on the recording/ reproducing mechanism.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] This invention relates to a magnetic tape device that uses a magazine containing a plurality of cartridges to write to and read from these cartridges. In a magnetic tape device that uses a magazine containing multiple cartridges to write to and read from these cartridges, the purpose is to make it possible to identify the contents of a cartridge without loading it into the mechanism. The configuration is such that the presence or absence of a cartridge and the contents of the cartridge are read out for each cartridge housing position, and the information obtained thereby is recorded in a table.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a magnetic tape device that uses a magazine containing i-defective cartridges to write to and read from these cartridges.

(Prior Art) FIG. 1(a) is for explaining the transport state of a cartridge C in a magnetic tape device M, which is the object of the present invention. It is shown that the

In response to a command from a host processor (not shown), etc., this magnetic tape device M selects a cartridge to be accessed under the control of a built-in microprocessor, e.g.
Move the magazine Z up and down to a position where the shelf where it is stored faces the cartridge insertion opening of the recording/playback mechanism P, and then push this cartridge ■ out of the magazine 2 and load it into the recording/playback mechanism P. .

Conversely, when removing a cartridge installed in the recording/playback mechanism P, move the shelf of the magazine Z in which the removed cartridge is to be stored to a position facing the cartridge insertion opening of the recording/playback mechanism P. After that, the cartridge is pushed out from the cartridge insertion opening of the recording/reproducing mechanism P onto this shelf and stored in the magazine 2.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, what kind of data and programs are stored in each of the cartridges ■ to ■ stored in this magazine Z, or whether they are cleaning cartridges, depends on the cartridge select command from the host processor, for example. , these cartridges cannot be identified unless they are loaded into the recording/reproducing mechanism P and read.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to make it possible to identify the contents of a cartridge in response to a cartridge select command or the like without loading the cartridge into a recording/reproducing mechanism.

[Means to solve the problem]

As shown in FIGS. 1(al) and 1(b), in a magnetic tape device that uses a magazine Z containing a plurality of cartridges (■ to ■) to write to and read from these cartridges, after the magazine Z is installed, each Cartridge storage position c
.

[For production]

1 (b), in which information about the cartridge that has been instructed to be selected from the host device is recorded in advance as described above.
) is read from Table T and sent to the host, etc., so instead of loading the cartridge into a magnetic tape device, reading the identification block data, and then sending the cartridge information to the host device as in the past. In comparison, response time can be significantly shortened.

In addition, in the table shown in Figure 1), for the cartridge storage positions C3 and C2, the volume number indicating the content stored in the respective cartridges ■ and ■, etc., and for the cartridge storage position C8, for the cartridge ■, etc. This example shows that no label such as a volume number is attached, that no cartridge is stored in the cartridge storage position C4 as shown by the dotted line, and that a cleaning cartridge ■ is stored in the cartridge storage position C2. This is what I did.

Embodiment C] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a magnetic tape device according to the present invention, and this magnetic tape device 1 includes a microprocessor 2 for controlling the entire device, and a Controlled magazine mechanism 5
, a recording and reproducing mechanism 6 that performs recording/reproducing of the cartridge, and an interface circuit 3 that transmits and receives data to and from a host device.

The magnetic tape device 1 is operated not only by control from a host device but also by operation commands from an operator panel 4 provided in the magnetic tape device 1.

Further, according to the present invention, the RA of the microprocessor 2
Table 7 is provided in the Mf+1 area.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing by the microprocessor 2 for recording cartridge information in the table T according to the present invention. The load key of the operator panel 4 is turned on.The microprocessor 2 takes step [1]
Or, if it is determined in [2], the process moves to step [3].

In this step [3], the microprocessor 2 sets the value of n corresponding to the storage position of the cartridge to 1 in an arbitrary register (not shown), and operates the magazine mechanism 5 according to the value of this register to correspond to this value n. The magazine Z is moved to a position where the cartridge storage position CI faces the cartridge insertion opening of the magnetic tape device P. (
Step [4]) The magazine mechanism 5 allows a magazine containing a plurality of cartridges to be moved, for example, in the vertical direction so that a desired cartridge faces the recording/reproducing mechanism 6. A cartridge transfer mechanism is provided for transferring the cartridge to and from the front loading mechanism.

In the next step [5], this cartridge storage position C0
It is determined whether or not a cartridge is housed in the recording/reproducing mechanism 6 or the detection output of a sensor provided on the magazine side.

If the cartridge is stored in this storage position C+,
In the next step [6], this cartridge is inserted into the recording/playback mechanism 6. When it is determined that the loading is completed in step [7], the volume number etc. are read from the identification block recorded on the magnetic tape in the cartridge in step [8], and the read result is transferred to the next step. In step [9], the data is recorded in the table TOn-th address as in the example shown in the first figure.

By the way, if it is determined in the above step [5] that no cartridge is stored in this storage position C1, then in step [13], "vacant" is recorded in the address corresponding to this storage position in the table 7, and then the process will be described later. step [11
].

In step [10], the cartridge that has been read in step [8] is returned to the magazine, and in step [11], "1" is added to the value of n corresponding to the storage position of the cartridge, and the value of n indicating this storage position is added. It is determined whether the value exists as an actual storage position of magazine Z by comparing it with the number N of existing storage positions, and if it is an actual storage position C0, return to step [4] and store the next cartridge. The same process as that for the storage position C1 is performed for the position C2.

When the identification data for all cartridge storage positions are stored in the table in this way, step [14
], the host is notified of the fact that the magnetic tape device is now available for use, and the cartridge information recording process is completed.

Note that following step [14] above, the contents of this table can be transferred to a host or the like that may use the information recorded in this table.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the process when a cartridge select command arrives from a higher-level device such as a host, and the magnetic tape device waits for a command to arrive from the higher-level device as shown in step [21]. When a command arrives, it is determined whether the incoming command is a cartridge select command in step [22], and if it is a cartridge select command, the cartridge information is recorded as described above in step [23]. The information regarding the cartridge specified by this command is read from the table T stored in the table T, the information regarding the cartridge is reported to the host device, and after waiting for the completion in step [25], the process returns to step [21] and executes the next command. stand by.

This allows the host device to determine whether or not the scheduled data or program is stored in the cartridge for which selection has been instructed, and then, for example, sends out a read command to instruct reading of the cartridge, and In response to the arrival of this command, the device moves from step [22] to step [26] and reads from this cartridge.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, information about a cartridge that is instructed to be selected by a host device is read from a table and sent to the host device, so that the cartridge is loaded into a magnetic tape device and the data of the identification block is read out as in the conventional case. A special effect is achieved in that the response time can be significantly shortened compared to when the cartridge information is sent to the host device after the processing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of cartridge information recording processing, and Fig. 4 is a diagram showing cartridge select command response processing. 3 is a flowchart showing an example. Example Fig. 2 Magnetic chip 1 Device principle diagram Fig. 3 Power-tripsy select command) Response processing diagram

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a magnetic tape device that uses a magazine containing a plurality of cartridges to write to and read from these cartridges, after the magazine is installed, the presence or absence of a cartridge and the contents of the cartridge are read for each cartridge storage position, and the information obtained by this is obtained. A cartridge identification method characterized by recording information on a table.