+@cindex format 2, snapshot file
+@cindex snapshot file, format 2
+@item
+@FIXME{}
+ A snapshot file begins with a format identifier, as described for
+version 1, e.g.:
+
+@smallexample
+GNU tar-@value{VERSION}-2
+@end smallexample
+
+ This line is followed by newline. Rest of file consists of
+records, separated by null (@acronym{ASCII} 0)
+characters. Thus, in contrast to the previous formats, format 2
+snapshot is a binary file.
+
+ First two records are decimal numbers, representing the
+time of the last backup. First number is the number of seconds, the
+second one is the number of nanoseconds, since the beginning of the
+epoch. These are followed by arbitrary number of directory records.
+
+ Each @dfn{directory record} contains a set of metadata describing a
+particular directory. Parts of a directory record are delimited with
+@acronym{ASCII} 0 characters. The following table describes each
+part. The @dfn{Number} type in this table stands for a decimal number
+in @acronym{ASCII} notation.
+
+@multitable @columnfractions 0.2 0.2 0.6
+@headitem Field @tab Type @tab Description
+@item nfs @tab Character @tab @samp{1} if the directory is located on
+an @acronym{NFS}-mounted partition, or @samp{0} otherwise;
+@item mtime-sec @tab Number @tab Modification time, seconds;
+@item mtime-nano @tab Number @tab Modification time, nanoseconds;
+@item dev-no @tab Number @tab Device number;
+@item i-no @tab Number @tab I-node number;
+@item name @tab String @tab Directory name; In contrast to the
+previous versions it is not quoted.
+@item contents @tab Dumpdir @tab Contents of the directory;
+@xref{Dumpdir}, for a description of its format.
+@item
+@end multitable
+
+ Dumpdirs stored in snapshot files contain only records of types
+@samp{Y}, @samp{N} and @samp{D}.
+
+@end enumerate