  Remote BACKUP corrupts RMS file? 
 The Question is:
 
I recently moved some Isamed data files from our Vax 4000 over to a NT server
 to back the files up to tape.
 
I retrieved some files from the NT backup tape and found the file type changed
 from "indexed" to "sequential". I am unable to convert the file back to isamed
 because the record format was changed to "stream" instead of "fixed length".
 
Is there a solution? Is there always a problem moving files from a VMS system
 to NTs NTFS?
 
 The Answer is:
 
  You have now learned why any BACKUP strategy should be completely
  tested -- and tested before it is needed.
 
  The OpenVMS file system differs from those of the various Microsoft
  platforms, from those of UNIX, Apple MacOS, and of other operating
  systems.
 
  When transferring files across heterogenoous platforms via FTP,
  NTDS, NFS, DECnet or other mechanism, some information may be lost
  in the conversion.
 
  To save OpenVMS structured files to another system, you must ensure
  that the file attribute metadata associated with the file is also saved.
  One method would be to use ANALYZE/RMS/FDL to generate the FDL for the
  source file.  CONVERT the file to a known format that is compatible with
  the target platform, then store BOTH files.  Restoring involves CONVERTing
  the file back to its original format using the FDL.
 
  Another (and more common) approach involves packing the files into a
  BACKUP saveset or into a zipfile using the zip tool, and storing the
  saveset or zipfile.  (You can also zip a BACKUP saveset, and this can
  potentially compress the saveset.)  OpenVMS versions of zip tend to
  support the "-V" option, which will preserve the OpenVMS file attributes
  metadata.
 
  If you can determine the FDL for the original indexed RMS file, you may
  be able to recover the file from your existing sequential stream version
  using the CONVERT/FDL utility.
 
  For a DCL command procedure that will restore the attributes of a
  corrupted BACKUP saveset, please see the OpenVMS FAQ.
 
