Getting started with FATS and FATAR

FATS is used to perform several basic functions with one or more tapes:

• Certify the usability of cartridge tapes
• Label tapes
• Erase tapes
• Invoke the companion product FATAR (if licensed) to perform detailed data analysis and copy one or more tapes.

FATAR is a multi-purpose tape utility to:

• Examine the labels and data on a tape (ANALYZE function)
• Verify that specified fields on a tape contain valid data
• Copy one tape to another. Copies can:
  • Be an exact bit-for-bit copy, including the volume serial number (IMAGE copy)
  • Use a different label type (such as AL-to-SL copy)
  • Use a different block size on the output tape (REBLOCK function)
  • Use different names for the output data sets (RENAME function)
• Copy a tape with I/O errors to another tape, applying user-specified modifications to alter or drop data blocks that caused those errors

FATSCOPY is a full-featured tape copy utility to:

• Automate the stacking of data sets by copying files from several underutilized or smaller volumes onto a smaller number of output tapes
• Migrate data sets from one device type to another
• Select (by volser or data set name mask) data sets to be copied, and apply additional filtering to limit the data sets selected by criteria such as job name, creation date, expiration date, etc. (unlike FATAR, where you must always directly specify which volsers to process)
• Make image (exact bit-for-bit) copies of volumes
• Use a different block size on the output tape (REBLOCK function)
• Use different names for the output data sets (RENAME function)
• Copy tapes from some proprietary products, such as ABR Archive backups and HSM ML backups, that maintain information about the location of data sets in external data bases
• Set the expiration dates of input data sets after they have been copied so they will be expired by your tape management system
• Update the tape management information for the output data sets, copying information from the tape management records for the input data sets

The following additional documentation is available at the Support Center:

•  How-To-Build-A-Job space — a step-by-step tutorial for learning how to use FATSCOPY. This PDF document asks you a series of questions about your copy task, and by clicking on the links corresponding to your answers you are shown what statements should be added to a batch job.
•  Quick Start space — a simple description of how to get started with FATSCOPY by using the ISPF panels.
• FATSCOPY concepts and facilities space
• FATSCOPY Product Demo