magtape device naming conventions

[Ricky Palmer]

How about the following?

/dev/{n,r}mt{0,...,N}{l,m,h}

where {n,r} is the usual norewind and/or raw prefix, N is some upper
bound whatever that happens to be and is just a count of units on the
system, while {l,m,h} is "l"ow, "m"edium, or "h"igh density depending
on make and model of the drive. The mnemonics would "float" for
different devices, i.e., on, say, an 800-1600 drive there would only be
a low and high density, on a 1600-6250 drive there would still only be
a low and high density, on an 800-1600-6250 drive there would be a low,
medium, and, high density, but there would only be three "partition"
labels, "l", "m", and "h". For unit 0 on a system you would have:

/dev/rmt0l
/dev/rmt0m
/dev/rmt0h
/dev/nrmt0l
/dev/nrmt0m
/dev/nrmt0h

and so forth, assuming a triple density drive. On a single density drive
"h" would be the only letter used. In fact, you would always be assured
of having "/dev/{n}rmt0h" regardless of type.

	Ultimately, whatever is enunciated in the P1003.2 standardization
effort would probably be the best choice for names.

					Ricky Palmer
					DEC - Ultrix