Provided by: dar_2.7.10-2_amd64 bug

NAME

       dar_split - dar helper to split an archive over several tapes

SYNOPSIS

       dar_split  [-b  <bytes>]  [-r  <rate>]  {  [-c  <count>] split_input | [-s] split_output }
       <filename>

       dar_split -V

       dar_split -h

DESCRIPTION

       dar_split is to be used with dar to read or write a  large  archive  from  or  to  several
       tapes.

COMMANDS

       dar_split has two modes of operation: split_input and split_output

       split_input         in  this  mode,  dar_split  copies  <filename> to its standard output.
                           <filename> may be a special device like /dev/tape or any  other  inode
                           that  has  the  ability  to  access  removable volumes. When dar_split
                           reaches the end of <filename> it suspends and waits for  the  user  to
                           press  the  return key in order to continue. In the meanwhile the user
                           can rewind and change the tape. When dar_split  is  awaken  again,  it
                           reopens  <filename> and sends its content to its standard output as if
                           it was the continuation of what was read so far  before  reaching  the
                           end of file.

       split_output        in  this  mode  dar_split  copies  its  standard  input to <filename>.
                           However if <filename> is full, dar_split suspends and  waits  for  the
                           user  to  press the return key in order to continue. In the meanwhile,
                           the user can rewind and change the  tape.  When  dar_split  is  awaken
                           again,  it reopens <filename> and continues to copy to <filename> what
                           was not yet written previously. Pay attention to the fact that if  you
                           don't  change the destination media, the continuation of data copy may
                           erase what was written so far depending on the type of media.

OPTIONS

       -s                  this option is only available in split_output mode an leads  dar_split
                           to  perform  sync  writes  in  place  of  normal  writes. This has the
                           drawback to drastically reduce performances but may be necessary under
                           certain circumstances where the operating system cache reports a write
                           operation as successful while the cache underlying medium  is  already
                           full.

       -b <bytes>          this  option  makes read and write system call not exceeding the given
                           amount of bytes instead of by default using  the  maximum  amount  the
                           system  permits.  This  may  reduce  performances  as  it will require
                           dar_split to make more system call to achieve the same operation,  but
                           can  cope  this  way with some devices that accept only limited buffer
                           size per system call.

       -r <rate>           this option limits the transfer rate to the given value in  bytes  per
                           second.

       -c <count>          this option limit the number of tape dar_split will read data from. If
                           you know by advance this number, this avoid you having to stop by hand
                           dar_split  once the archive has been fully read. It will stop once the
                           end of file of the <count> last file will be reached. This  option  is
                           of course only available in split_input mode.

EXAMPLES OF USE

       creating an archive over several tapes

              dar -c - ...possibily other dar options... | dar_split split_output /dev/tape

       Here  dar  generates  the  archive  to  its standard output which is read by dar_split and
       copied to /dev/tape. When the tape reaches its send, dar_split asks for the  user  to  hit
       return to continue.

       reading an archive splitted over several tapes

              dar_split split_input /dev/tape | dar -t - --sequential-read ...possibily other dar
              options...

       Here dar_split reads /dev/tape and sends its content  to  dar  which  *must*  be  used  in
       --senquential-read  mode  in  order to read an archive from its standard input without the
       help of dar_slave. When the tape reaches its end, dar_split  asks  for  the  user  to  hit
       return to continue.

       Note that dar_split can also be used with tar for the same purpose as with dar:

              tar -cz ... | dar_split split_output /dev/tape

       without  -f  option  nor  TAPE  environment variable, tar sends the tar archive to stdout,
       which get fet to dar_split for slicing

              dar_split split_input /dev/tape | tar -tz

       without -f option nor TAPE environement variable, tar read the  tar  archive  from  stdin,
       however  you  must  specify  the  correct  option corresponding to the compression used at
       archive creation time.

       The advantage here is to be able to save a huge dar or tar archive on several  tapes  that
       could be either partially filled or having different sizes, without having to calculate in
       advance the size of slices to specify.  The  drawback  is  that  this  implies  sequential
       reading for dar (for tar also, but tar cannot do else).

With or without filesystem

       You  can  use  dar_split  with  floppies,  zip/jazz  disks or usb key too, but it has many
       disadvantages compared to the normal way of using this media: doing that  way  avoids  you
       relying  on  a  filesystem, thus you cannot have direct access to file contents, which dar
       knows how to take advantage of, and you are instead  stuck  with  sequential  read  access
       which is long as it requires reading the whole archive (same way as tar does).

       When  instead  using dar alone in normal mode (non sequential reading mode using filenames
       instead of standard input/output), you have the  opportunity  to  create  redundancy  data
       beside  dar  slices  thanks  to  par2,  which  is  not  possible  without a filesystem. At
       restoration time, thanks to dar archive's catalog, dar can directly  seek  to  the  file's
       data     you     want     to    restore,    which    is    very    quick    compared    to
       reading/unciphering/uncompressing the whole archive...

       Note that copying tape contents generated by dar_split to different files which name would
       correspond  to  dar  slices,  does not make a valid multi-sliced archive because the slice
       header is missing in slices (except in the first). You can  however  concatenate  all  the
       pieces  of data generated by dar_split and have a valid single sliced dar archive that you
       can use in direct access mode. However attention must be paied not to add any  extra  data
       after  data  generated  by  dar  through dar_split (in particular if the last tape was not
       full), in that case you can only read the archive with --sequential-read mode.

EXIT CODES

       dar_split exists with the following codes:

       0         upon normal execution

       1         syntax error on command-line

       2         could not open source or destination files

SIGNALS

       Any signal sent to dar_split except SIG_PIPE will abort the program immediately

SEE ALSO

       dar(1), dar_xform(1), dar_manager(1), dar_slave(1), dar_cp(1)

KNOWN BUGS

       http://sourceforge.net/p/dar/bugs/

AUTHOR

       http://dar.linux.free.fr/
       Denis Corbin
       France
       Europe