A control apparatus and method, in which a format for a particular instance of recording is designated or set, as by instructions from a host computer, or from an operator via a keyboard, and that desired format is used or not, according to whether the necessary information for that format is present in a memory (preferably non-volatile). If the necessary format information is present in the memory, the desired format is used for recording, while otherwise, a default format is used instead or the information for the desired format is supplied to the memory.