GetTapePosition function (winbase.h)

Article
10/13/2021

The GetTapePosition function retrieves the current address of the tape, in logical or absolute blocks.

Syntax

DWORD GetTapePosition(
  [in]  HANDLE  hDevice,
  [in]  DWORD   dwPositionType,
  [out] LPDWORD lpdwPartition,
  [out] LPDWORD lpdwOffsetLow,
  [out] LPDWORD lpdwOffsetHigh
);

Parameters

[in] hDevice

Handle to the device on which to get the tape position. This handle is created by using CreateFile.

[in] dwPositionType

Type of address to obtain. This parameter can be one of the following values.

Value	Meaning
TAPE_ABSOLUTE_POSITION 0L	The lpdwOffsetLow and lpdwOffsetHigh parameters receive the device-specific block address. The dwPartition parameter receives zero.
TAPE_LOGICAL_POSITION 1L	The lpdwOffsetLow and lpdwOffsetHigh parameters receive the logical block address. The dwPartition parameter receives the logical tape partition.

[out] lpdwPartition

Pointer to a variable that receives the number of the current tape partition. Partitions are numbered logically from 1 through n, where 1 is the first partition on the tape and n is the last. When a device-specific block address is retrieved, or if the device supports only one partition, this parameter receives zero.

[out] lpdwOffsetLow

Pointer to a variable that receives the low-order bits of the current tape position.

[out] lpdwOffsetHigh

Pointer to a variable that receives the high-order bits of the current tape position. This parameter can be NULL if the high-order bits are not required.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is NO_ERROR.

If the function fails, it can return one of the following error codes.

Error code	Description
ERROR_BEGINNING_OF_MEDIA 1102L	An attempt to access data before the beginning-of-medium marker failed.
ERROR_BUS_RESET 1111L	A reset condition was detected on the bus.
ERROR_DEVICE_NOT_PARTITIONED 1107L	The partition information could not be found when a tape was being loaded.
ERROR_END_OF_MEDIA 1100L	The end-of-tape marker was reached during an operation.
ERROR_FILEMARK_DETECTED 1101L	A filemark was reached during an operation.
ERROR_INVALID_BLOCK_LENGTH 1106L	The block size is incorrect on a new tape in a multivolume partition.
ERROR_MEDIA_CHANGED 1110L	The tape that was in the drive has been replaced or removed.
ERROR_NO_DATA_DETECTED 1104L	The end-of-data marker was reached during an operation.
ERROR_NO_MEDIA_IN_DRIVE 1112L	There is no media in the drive.
ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED 50L	The tape driver does not support a requested function.
ERROR_PARTITION_FAILURE 1105L	The tape could not be partitioned.
ERROR_SETMARK_DETECTED 1103L	A setmark was reached during an operation.
ERROR_UNABLE_TO_LOCK_MEDIA 1108L	An attempt to lock the ejection mechanism failed.
ERROR_UNABLE_TO_UNLOAD_MEDIA 1109L	An attempt to unload the tape failed.
ERROR_WRITE_PROTECT 19L	The media is write protected.

Remarks

A logical block address is relative to a partition. The first logical block address on each partition is zero.

Call the GetTapeParameters function to obtain information about the status, capabilities, and capacities of tape drives and media.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows XP [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps only]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	winbase.h (include Windows.h)
Library	Kernel32.lib
DLL	Kernel32.dll