Advanced Dayparting

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inl_inc
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Advanced Dayparting

Post by inl_inc »

Been using the v4.0 Scripting Restrictions to do simple dayparting. The current set up only allows very limited interaction between the filters (date,day of week, time, month). I'd love to be able to restrict both Month and Day at the same time, such as restrict to December and 11th to 24th. Or time and day of week: Mon-Fri 9pm to 6am and Sat-Sun any time.

I'm not sure if the current Scripting Restrictions can accommodate this. If you are able to expand that screen to implement full control over combinations of date, day, day of the week, month and time restrictions at track level -->the result would be very advanced dayparting control (i don't think even RCS Selector includes all 5 variables).

A real cadillac version would allow the user to define Dayparting Rules (because 99% of the time only a few basic rules are re-used). For example: Weekday Evenings and Weekends (Mon - Fri 9pm to 6 am and Sat-Sun any time), Seasonal - Christmas (December and 11th to 24th). And then link these rules to the tracks. However, i'll take anything that gets me closer to being able to control the clock.

By the way, I do realize that this can already be accomplished in ProppFrexx. However, all solutions that I came up with either required too much manual intervention & maintenance (e.g. creating special scripts and scheduling them in/out, dayparted libraries, etc) or required overly cumbersome code (id use conditional scripting and test Date/Time).

Let me know if this is something that you may consider for a future version. Also can you suggest any other ways to accomplish this already with the current version?
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radio42
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Re: Advanced Dayparting

Post by radio42 »

I guess some more rules and predefined sets can be implemented in a future release ;-)
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radio42
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Re: Advanced Dayparting

Post by radio42 »

I already looked at it. So a next version will allow you to assign a list of "RuleSets" to a track.

A single "RuleSet" itself will be a list containing any number of time range or date range restrictions (Time of Day, Day of Week, Month of Year, Date Range) which describe when it is allowed to play that track.
E.g. RuleSets might be:
XMas: December
WeekdayEvenings: Mon-Fri, 18:00-21:00
...
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radio42
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Re: Advanced Dayparting

Post by radio42 »

A new v4.0.0.26-beta is now available (so “Check for Beta-Versions…”)

It now includes so called "RuleSets" (which can be edited directly from the TAG Editor dialog or from the general settings, MetaData section).

A RuleSet is a list of 'allowance' conditions. Each contition consists of an optional:
- a TimeStart (if 00:00:00 it's not active)
- a TimeEnd (if 00:00:00 it's not active)
- a selection of Week Days
- a selection of Months
- a DateStart (if 00.00.0001 it's not active)
- a DateEnd (if 00.00.0001 it's not active)
- a flag, if the date range should be repeated (the year will then be ignored)

As such, you might define any number of RuleSets - identified by a unique name.
Examples might be: 'Week PeakTime', 'Weekend', 'X-Mas Time' etc.
Note, that the conditions are positive allowance! Meaning the conditions define when it is allowed to play a track!

The RuleSets can now be assigned to a single track - the the TAG Editor's 'Other' tab!
A single track can get multiple RuleSets assigned, e.g. 'Week PeakTime' and 'Weekend'.

If one or more RuleSets are assigned to a track, they are automatically be checked during scripting.

Thus, in contracts to the already existing restrictions, they allow you to define positive matching day parting rules.

But...
... as with every restriction or check, be aware, that non-matching tracks might 'break' your script.
So make sure, that you still have sufficient 'matching' tracks in your media library.
Example:
If a certain script is executed on the weekend, and it wants to execute a certain script-line which accesses a media lib, which mostly or only contains tracks having a week only rule set; this might lead to 'skipping' those script-line ;-)
andrerotgans
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Re: Advanced Dayparting

Post by andrerotgans »

Nice one!
atlantic
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Re: Advanced Dayparting

Post by atlantic »

I think that the Rule Sets button in the Meta Data Editor v4.0.0.26 doesn't work.
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radio42
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Re: Advanced Dayparting

Post by radio42 »

Oh yes, good spot - but that's why it's a beta ;-)
It'll be fix in the next version...
atlantic
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Re: Advanced Dayparting

Post by atlantic »

Is it possible to have a path window. So the ruleset file can be shared with another computer.
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atlantic
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Re: Advanced Dayparting

Post by atlantic »

Thanks for the info, it works. ;)
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radio42
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Re: Advanced Dayparting

Post by radio42 »

The RuleSet file follows the same guidelines like other global config files (e.g. the media- or script-libraries).
Meaning it is stored in the global config folder (which is by default the ProppFrexx AppUserData folder).

Note, that can use the "-globalconfig <path>" command-line option when starting ProppFrexx ONAIR to define another location (e.g. to a global shared drive).
The "-globalconfig <path>" command-line option defines the location of the following config files:

• Additional Media Libraries (file ProppFrexx ONAIR.medialibs)
• Additional Cartwall Libraries (file ProppFrexx ONAIR.cartwalllibs)
• Additional Script Libraries (file ProppFrexx ONAIR.scriptlibs)
• Global Message Center Messages (file ProppFrexx ONAIR.messages)
• Mixing configuration (file ProppFrexx ONAIR.mixing)
• RuleSets configuration (file ProppFrexx ONAIR.rulesets)

By default ProppFrexx ONAIR stores the above mentioned configuration files in the standard configuration directory (which might be either the default Application User Data Folder or the configuration directory as defined by the "-config <path>" command-line option, see above).
By using the "-globalconfig <path>" command-line option you can enforce ProppFrexx ONAIR to retrieve and store the above mentioned configuration files at the given <path> location. This might for example be useful, if you want to share a global and common configuration of your libraries and mixing settings for different ProppFrexx instances (e.g. installed on different machines within a network) at a single central location. When doing so, be careful with making changes to these global config files, as different ProppFrexx instances might overwrite each others changes. To prevent such scenario, make sure to use a single dedicated ProppFrexx instance for making changes to your library collection (add or remove libraries) or for making changes to your mixing settings.

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