where file_list is a list of absolute position numbers of files (if input is from tape) to be read with 1 being the first file ( e.g. 1, 3, 5, 50-60 would read from the 1st, 3rd, 5th file plus files 50 through 60 included), and id is an identification prefix of the names of the files created. Tape devices will be rewound if the driver does not maintain the absolute position of the tape. This may take a significant amount of time on some devices. It is easier to read many files from disk (with INTAPE) if their names are constructed with the given prefix, a four digit number and the extension ` .mt'. It is also possible to read a single file from disk by specifying its full name including extension in which case any extension may be given.

The flag is a list of three one character flags which specifies the amount of information listed on the senior terminal and in the log file and the storage format of the data (see help file for full description).