Stefan G. Weichinger wrote:

Could you point us to the spot where this is explained in the docs?
I suppose there is some reason to make this function with ANY string.

From "man amanda":

  amrecover_changer "string"
     Default: ’’.  Amrecover will use the changer if you use ’settape
     <STRING>’  and  that string is the same as the amrecover_changer
     setting.


From "man amrecover":

  settape [[server]:][tapedev|default]
     [...]
     If  you  want amrecover to use your changer, the tapedev must be
     equal to the amrecover_changer setting on the server.


The "string" is just a name for your changer.  Something different
than /dev/rmt0.  A changer can also be of type chg-multi, grouping
a few physical drives together, or chg-disk without any tapedrive
involved.  With this string you name the group.

And you can get silly and name your newborn son "Sue" and your
changer device "/dev/null".

--
Paul @ Home