missing barcode info

[adrianlambert]

Someone in our office has disabled barcode support recently, meaning that we have 4 tapes that don't have a code in the backup set members listing. I'd like to try and get this info back into the list.

 

The tapes were barcoded so I've re-enabled barcode support and re-scanned them in the device configuration window. The barcodes now show up in the device window, but still not in the backup set member window.

 

How do I refresh this info? Do I have to rebuild the catalogue?

 

[rhwalker]

EMC support will have to answer this question for you definitively, but I don't think that a catalog rebuild will solve this. And you also don't want to reset the barcode database, because the result, while detailed in the Knowledgebase article:

Clear Barcode Database

is a bit catastrophic, and it wipes out ALL barcode information. Been there, done that.

 

I've been through this before with EMC, and it appears that I am the only one who cares about this issue. You can search these forums for my suggestions for a "feature enhancement".

 

Here's the problem.

 

The barcode database is not in a human-readable or human-editable format. I've even asked for documentation on the format so that I could write my own barcode database editor (it's only code) but have never gotten a response over the years to these requests.

 

You can wipe out the database and start over (see knowledgebase article link above), that's what we had to do. However, that clears out all barcode information, and you have to let Retrospect relearn what is on each tape. Can take days.

 

I offer a suggestion that may work.

 

Do what did when we had to clear our barcode database when our barcode scheme changed. Run a "Verify" on the tape members that don't have barcode information. You don't have to Verify the entire tape, just get it started so that Retrospect reads the header, then quit the verify on that tape, move to next. Hopefully that will work. Report your results.

 

Russ