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The current handler accepts the format as described in EDOC073.
There exists offline tape and disc versions, and online sort-spy and
TapeServer-spy versions.
All versions accept block lengths of 16k, 32k or 64k.
Eurogam Tape handler ... input and output
The tape uses ANSI format.
It should only be necessary to investigate this format if
tape reading problems arise.
Eurogam Disc handler ... input and output
Automatic de-compression on input is performed for
(a) compressed files written by the DiscCompressed output handler.
(b) standard gzip compressed files.
Eurogam DiscgzCompressed handler .. output only
The data is compressed using the gzip algorithm to create a disc file
that is compatible with g(un)zip, and for input to the Eurogam handler.
Eurogam DiscCompressed handler .. output only (deprecated)
The data is compressed block-by-block for safety, although losing
some compression performance, using the Range Encoder Algorithm.
This is a fast Arithmetic Compression algorithm variant.
Eurogam OnlineTS handler .. input only
Data blocks are retrieved direcctly from the shared memory of a
locally running TapeServer,
on a best-efforts basis. There is no interlocking of blocks
and hence at high rates, some data blocks may be skipped.
The sort program must be re-started, at present, if the local Tape
Server is re-started.
Eurogam RemoteTS handler .. input only
Data blocks are retrieved using TapeServer network access
from a TapeServer which could be running locally (localhost)
or on a different machine,
on a best-efforts basis. There is no interlocking of blocks
and hence at high rates, some data blocks may be skipped.
This handler can be used to receive data blocks instead of a
TapeServer, or from other programs outputting TapeServer protocol
network packets.
This handler accepts any blocks arriving on port 10305 by default,
though the port number can be changed in the Setup window.
The sort program must be re-started, at present, if the TapeServer is re-started.
Eurogam Online (network spy) handler .. input only (deprecated)
Use of this handler is not recommended when spying on tcp packets.
The OnlineTS handler is preferred in this case.
Data blocks are retrieved from the network as they pass from Event
Builder to Tape server,
on a best-efforts basis. There is no interlocking of blocks
and hence at high rates, some data blocks may be skipped.
Requires a sort-spy daemon running as root. The data blocks are then shared
with the sort program via a memory-mapped file.
/MIDAS/MTsort/bin_Linux/sort-spy device event-builder-host tcp/udp nstreams
for example ...
/MIDAS/MTsort/bin_Linux/sort-spy eth1 ppdata_eb tcp 1 &
Tape file details
The runfile details to be provided for the input handler for tape sorts
should be of the form ...
TAPE1 RUN3
TAPE1 RUN4
TAPE2 RUN5
etc.
The first word on each line (tape volume name field) is the ANSI volume name
of the tape. Tapes are expected to have unique volume names, as a name change
in this field provokes a tape change.
The second field (tape file name) is checked against the ANSI file header.
Maintained by Janet Sampson and John Cresswell (University of Liverpool)
Email to support@ns.ph.liv.ac.uk