NAME

Format: Causes a file system to initialize itself (V36)

SYNOPSIS

success = Format(file system, volumename, dostype)
D0 D1 D2 D3

BOOL Format(STRPTR, STRPTR, ULONG)

FUNCTION

Interface for initializing new media on a device. This causes the file system to write out an empty disk structure to the media, which should then be ready for use. This assumes the media has been low-level formatted and verified already.

The file system should be inhibited before calling Format() to make sure you don't get an ERROR_OBJECT_IN_USE.

INPUTS

filesystem: Name of device to be formatted. ':' must be supplied, e.g. "DF0:"
volumename: Name for volume (if supported).
dostype: Type of format, if file system supports multiple types.

NOTES

A volume name must not include path separator characters such as ':' or '/'.

RESULT

success: Success/failure indicator.

BUGS

Existed, but was non-functional in V36 dos.library. (The volume name was not converted to a BSTR.) Workaround: require V37, or under V36 convert volumename to a BPTR to a BSTR before calling Format(). Note: a number of printed packet docs for ACTION_FORMAT are wrong as to the arguments.