Autopick Facility › Introduction

Introduction

The CA VM:Tape Autopick facility enables CA VM:Tape to automatically select a specific scratch tape to satisfy each scratch mount request, then prompt the operator to mount that tape. Use of the Autopick facility reduces operator tasks and is useful at sites that have small tape libraries or that do not maintain a special scratch rack. When necessary, the operator can override the CA VM:Tape selection and manually select scratch tapes.

When the Autopick facility is not configured or has been turned off, CA VM:Tape does not select tapes; it asks the operator to supply any available scratch tape to satisfy each scratch mount request. Many sites prefer to maintain a formal scratch rack that is replenished with scratched volumes after the CA VM:Tape SCRATCH command has run. This approach simplifies the operator’s task of obtaining a scratch volume because it is not necessary to locate a specific volume in the tape library. Generic scratch mounts can save a significant amount of operator time if a site has a remote or particularly large tape library.

The system administrator configures the Autopick facility in the VMTAPE CONFIG file, but the operator can dynamically start or stop Autopick for individual scratch pools using the CA VM:Tape AUTOPICK command.

Note: You cannot use an ACL with the CA VM:Tape Autopick facility. When Autopick is on, CA VM:Tape automatically selects a specific scratch tape to satisfy each scratch mount request. If you were to use this facility with an ACL, CA VM:Tape would load a general scratch tape from the hopper, then eject the tape because it was not the one selected by Autopick. Unless the hopper contained the selected tape, CA VM:Tape would continue loading and ejecting tapes until the ACL was empty.If necessary, see the AUTOPICK Command in the Command Reference Guide for information about turning off the Autopick facility.