The capture program does more than simply capture the data from the old magnetic media. We also want to capture any information that the operator can provide regarding the old tapes and any information from the paper dump logs. The capture program has a mechanism for collecting some of that sort of data, such as the operator who performed the original dump and the dump title. We are fortunate to have Ms. Berman, who wrote many of these tapes, doing the labor to convert the tapes to TCFS format. We don't want to miss any opportunity to capture additional information by paying attention only to the media without regard for the human element. We may eventually have a better idea of what additional information to capture from the operator as she continues to use the system.
After the raw bits are read from the backup tapes, they are written in a temporary format onto a hard disk, which acts as a buffer for the next stage.