about dd

From: Javier Aida <jaida_at_gmd.com.pe>
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 1996 16:32:24 -0500

hi
I'm going to receive information from many financial entities, and i'm trying to figure out which is the best way to get it, as there is a jungle of Operating Systems, computers, tape drives and formats. We think to recommend these entities to use a "free format copy", which in UNIX environments is known as "dd", in VMS it would be "mte (mt Exchange)".

Now, we must define a "record length" and a "block size", which as i understand is the "record length" multiplied by a "blocking factor", p.e:
---------------------------------------------------
If:
record length = 576 bytes
blocking factor = 10
Then:
block size = 576 bytes x 10 = 5760 bytes, i.e. : 10 records per block
---------------------------------------------------

The term "block size" is clearly defined in the dd command ("bs" qualifier), but i wonder which one of the qualifiers defines either the blocking factor or the record length. Any hints, ideas ?

Thanks & Regards



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F. Javier Aida Nakamo
Software Engineer - GMD S.A.
jaida_at_gmd.com.pe
Tlf: +51 - 1 - 241-2626 Ext. 254
    FAX: + 51 - 1 - 446-9667
Lima - PERU
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Received on Thu Apr 25 1996 - 00:16:12 NZST

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