The CreateTapePartition function reformats a tape.
DWORD CreateTapePartition(
| HANDLE hDevice, | // handle to open device |
| DWORD dwPartitionMethod, | // type of new partition |
| DWORD dwCount, | // number of new partitions to create |
| DWORD dwSize | // size of new partition, in megabytes |
| ); |
Parameters
hDevice
Identifies the device where the new partition is to be created. This handle is created by using the CreateFile function.
dwPartitionMethod
Specifies the type of partition to create. To determine what type of partitions your device supports, see the documentation for your hardware. This parameter can have one of the following values:
| Value | Description |
| TAPE_FIXED_PARTITIONS | Partitions the tape based on the device's default definition of partitions. The dwCount and dwSize parameters are ignored. |
| TAPE_INITIATOR_PARTITIONS | Partitions the tape into the number and size of partitions specified by dwCount and dwSize, respectively, except for the last partition. The size of the last partition is the remainder of the tape. |
| TAPE_SELECT_PARTITIONS | Partitions the tape into the number of partitions specified by dwCount. The dwSize parameter is ignored. The size of the partitions is determined by the device's default partition size. For more specific information, refer to the documentation for your tape device. |
dwCount
Specifies the number of partitions to create. The GetTapeParameters function provides the maximum number of partitions a tape can support.
dwSize
Specifies the size, in megabytes, of each partition. This value is ignored if the dwPartitionMethod parameter is TAPE_SELECT_PARTITIONS.
Return Values
If the function succeeds, the return value is NO_ERROR.
If the function fails, it may return one of the following error codes:
| Error | Description |
| ERROR_BEGINNING_OF_MEDIA | An attempt to access data before the beginning-of-medium marker failed. |
| ERROR_BUS_RESET | A reset condition was detected on the bus. |
| ERROR_END_OF_MEDIA | The end-of-tape marker was reached during an operation. |
| ERROR_FILEMARK_DETECTED | A filemark was reached during an operation. |
| ERROR_SETMARK_DETECTED | A setmark was reached during an operation. |
| ERROR_NO_DATA_DETECTED | The end-of-data marker was reached during an operation. |
| ERROR_PARTITION_FAILURE | The tape could not be partitioned. |
| ERROR_INVALID_BLOCK_LENGTH | The block size is incorrect on a new tape in a multivolume partition. |
| ERROR_DEVICE_NOT_PARTITIONED | The partition information could not be found when a tape was being loaded. |
| ERROR_MEDIA_CHANGED | The tape that was in the drive has been replaced or removed. |
| ERROR_NO_MEDIA_IN_DRIVE | There is no media in the drive. |
| ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED | The tape driver does not support a requested function. |
| ERROR_UNABLE_TO_LOCK_MEDIA | An attempt to lock the ejection mechanism failed. |
| ERROR_UNABLE_TO_UNLOAD_MEDIA | An attempt to unload the tape failed. |
| ERROR_WRITE_PROTECT | The media is write protected. |
Remarks
Creating partitions reformats the tape. All previous information recorded on the tape is destroyed.
See Also