4. Nutzungsschnittstellen

Backup versus Archive

ISP offers two fundamentally different methods of bringing data into the archive and backup system (sic!). A detailed description of the differences can be found here.

For data backup the backup function is used (see 5. Backup and Restore) for long-term storage the archive interface is used (6. Archive and Retrieve).

Attention: The archive interface is NOT suitable for data backup!

The graphical interface of ISP

For almost all client platforms there is also the possibility to use a graphical interface. This interface is similar to the "Explorer" known from Windows.
Under Unix the interface is started by calling the command: dsmj. Under Windows by double-clicking on the corresponding icon or calling it from the start menu.
Since the selection of both the files to be archived/saved and the files to be restored can be made with the mouse, using the graphical interface is often more convenient than specifying the desired files in the command line.
A detailed description of the operation of the largely self-explanatory graphical interface is omitted here. All essential functions are explained via corresponding context menus.

The command interface of ISP

All functions of ISP can also be called with commands. Therefore they can be used directly from shells or in scripts under Unix and in batch files under Windows.
You can use one of the two following modes:

One uses the shell command "dsmc" and gives it all other information as parameters, e.g. (the first ">" is the prompt from the shell):
```
>dsmc query archive "*"
```
One calls the command "dsmc" once without parameters and is then asked for the subcommands, e.g.
```
>dsmc
 dsmc> query archive "*" dsmc> quit
```

The two possibilities look very similar, but they are not: in the first case the shell interprets the command and therefore replaces shell variables, in the second case TSM interprets the command and does not provide this service.

So in many cases the first variant is more convenient to use. Therefore it is always assumed in the following examples.
The second option is advantageous if a large number of commands are to be issued, since otherwise a separate connection to the server is established for each call of "dsmc".

Each command starts with a command name (in the example above "query"), sometimes followed by an object (above "archive"). This may be followed by further parameters (e.g. the names of the files to be processed) and options;
the latter are marked with an introductory minus sign, in contrast to the object. Command name, object and options can be abbreviated;
in the following, in this description but not in the examples, capital letters are used for the part of the word that must be specified. For example, "Query ARchive" stands for "q ar" or "que arc", but not for "query a".

Where filenames are required, simple wildcards may be used: "*" stands for any substring (unlike in Unix, there is no special rule for filenames starting with ".") and "?" for single characters.
In this case, the whole parameter must always be enclosed in double quotes. Unlike in Unix, wildcards are only allowed at the very end of the file name, but not in the names of the directories.