The TapeTrack Sync uses, in its minimum format, uses an executable TMSS10Sync, an input file containing the information to synchronize and a definition file (ttidef) containing the information on how to read, or translate, the information in the input file.

Imagine a Customer going to a bank to deposit cash into their account, a common task for most people. The problem for this customer is they only speak Spanish and the bank staff only speak English.

The solution to this problem is the implementation of a translator who speaks both languages. The customer talks to the translator, who passes the information to the teller in English so the money can be placed into the correct account.

This is similar to the situation faced by TapeTrack Sync when importing information into the database. A text or CSV input file can contain Volume information in many formats so direct import is not possible in the raw format.

Introduce a translator between the input file and TapeTrack Sync and the information can be read from the input file and passed to TapeTrack in the correct format. This TapeTrack translator is called a definition file, a text file with a .ttidef extension.

Using a text editor, such as Notepad, create a definition file. This file:

• Has a file extension of .ttidef
• Should have a descriptive name, default.ttidef will load into Sync process if no parameter is set when TMSS10Sync is called.

The first step to writing the definition file is to decide what information you wish to synchronize, or import, into the Tapetrack database.

Sample CSV File - sample.csv
This file can be found in your Sync installation directory at TapeTrack\TapeTrack Sync\var\sample.csv

GZB0001,LTO5,Full System Backup
GZB0002,LTO4,GL Backup
GZB0003,LTO2,Exchange Server Backup
GZB0004,LTO5,Full System Backup
GZB0005,LTO4,GL Backup
GZB0006,LTO2,Exchange Server Backup
GZB0007,LTO5,Full System Backup
GZB0008,LTO4,GL Backup
GZB0009,LTO2,Exchange Server Backup
GZB0010,LTO5,Full System Backup

In this comma delimited CSV file we can see the fields that we need to extract:

• Volume-ID in column 1
• Media-ID in column 2
• Volume Description in column 3

Missing from the CSV file is the Customer-IDand Media-ID, which will set directly from within the definition file.

Lines in the definition file that start with #, or midline after the #, are comments for explanation and are not read by the Sync engine.

Sample Definition File - default.ttidef
This file can be found in your Sync installation directory at TapeTrack\TapeTrack Sync\etc\sample.ttidef

#
# Object Type: TapeTrack Sync Definition File                                                  
# Description: Sample minimal template                                       
#      System: TapeTrack                                                            
#    SecLevel: Proprietary                                                         
#   Copyright: (c) 2016 GazillaByte LLC                        
#
SetLiteral(CUSTOMER, "0001");         # Set the Customer-ID to a literal value of 0001
SetLiteral(MEDIA, "LTO");             # Set the Media-ID to a literal value of LTO
SetCSVDelimiter(",");                 # Instruct the parser that we have a CSV file and the file is delimited with commas
Extract(VOLUME, 1, 7, 0);             # Extract the Volume-ID from the 1st column of the CSV with a length of 7 bytes
Extract(USER1, 2, 10, 0);             # Extract a user field for translation
Extract(DESCRIPTION, 3, 40, 0);       # Extract the Description field
RemoveSpaces(DESCRIPTION);            # Remove any white space from the LHS of the description
#
# Add L suffixes to the Volume-ID based on Media Generation
#
AddTranslation2(VOLUME, USER1, "LTO1", "*L1");
AddTranslation2(VOLUME, USER1, "LTO2", "*L2");
AddTranslation2(VOLUME, USER1, "LTO3", "*L3");
AddTranslation2(VOLUME, USER1, "LTO4", "*L4");
AddTranslation2(VOLUME, USER1, "LTO5", "*L5");
AddTranslation2(VOLUME, USER1, "LTO6", "*L6");
AddTranslation2(VOLUME, USER1, "LTO7", "*L7");