LIF(1)              UNIX Programmer's Manual               LIF(1)

NAME
     LIF - Logical Interchange Format description

HP-UX COMPATIBILITY
     Level:    HP-UX/NUCLEUS

     Origin:   HP

DESCRIPTION
     LIF (Logical Interchange Format) is a Hewlett-Packard  stan-
     dard  disc  format that may be used for interchange of files
     among various HP computer systems.  A LIF volume contains  a
     header (identifying it as a LIF volume) and a directory that
     defines the contents (i.e. files) of the volume. The size of
     the  directory  is fixed when the volume is initialized (see
     _l_i_f_i_n_i_t(1)) and sets an upper bound on the number  of  files
     that may be created on the volume.

     HP-UX contains a set of utilities (referred to hereafter  as
     _l_i_f*(1))  that  may be used to initialize a LIF volume (i.e.
     create a header and an empty directory), copy files  to  and
     from  LIF  volumes, list the contents of LIF volumes, remove
     LIF files, and rename LIF files.

     The _l_i_f*(1) utilities are the only  utilities  within  HP-UX
     where  the  internal  contents of a LIF volume are known. To
     the rest of HP-UX a LIF volume is simply a  file  containing
     some  unspecified  data.  The term `LIF volume' should in no
     way be confused with the  HP-UX  notion  of  a  file  system
     volume or mountable volume.

     A LIF volume may be created on any HP-UX file (either  regu-
     lar  disc  file or device special file) that supports random
     access via _l_s_e_e_k(2).  Note that you  should  not  mount  the
     special   file  before  using  the  _l_i_f*(1)  routines.   See
     _l_i_f_i_n_i_t(1) for details.  Within  a  LIF  volume,  individual
     files  are  identified by 1 to 10 character file names. File
     names may consist of upper-case alphanumeric  characters  (A
     through  Z,  0  through 9) and the underscore character (_).
     The first character of a LIF file name  must  be  a  letter.
     The  _l_i_f*(1)  utilities will accept any file name, including
     illegal file names generated on other systems, but will only
     create  legal  names.   For  example,  file names containing
     lower-case letters will be read but not created.

     LIF file names are specified to  the  _l_i_f*(1)  utilities  by
     concatenating  the  HP-UX  path name for the LIF volume with
     the LIF file name, separating the two with a colon (:).  For
     example,

     /dev/fd.0:ABC      specifies LIF file ABC within HP-UX  dev-
                        ice special file /dev/fd.0.

     myfile:ABC         specifies LIF file ABC within HP-UX  disc
                        file `myfile'.

     Note that this file naming convention is applicable only for
     use as arguments to the _l_i_f*(1) utilities and do not consti-
     tute legal path names for any other use within HP-UX.

HARDWARE DEPENDENCIES
     Series 500:
          You must use a character special  file  to  access  the
          media.

SEE ALSO
     lifcp(1), lifinit(1), lifls(1), lifrename(1), lifrm(1).