Add "SCHEDULER_SET_FILE" control-command

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Maartenvn
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Joined: 21 Aug 2022 19:47
Add "SCHEDULER_SET_FILE" control-command

Post by Maartenvn »

I am working for a radio with 2 stations, running 2 Proppfrexx instances on 2 different computers.
We have one studio for livestreaming on both stations. This studio contains another PC running Proppfrexx. In order to use the scheduler of one of the 2 Proppfrexx instances we have to manually change the scheduler path in order to have the correct programs running.

This flow could be automated by introducting a "SCHEDULER_SET_FILE" control-command which takes the path of a calendar file as argument and updates the scheduler on-demand.

There is already a "SCHEDULER_GET_FILE" available to get the current path, so a set control-command would be a great addition :)

This command is the only thing missing to fully automate our workflow as we already have software to automatically go live on the correct station.

Thank you in advance!
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radio42
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Re: Add "SCHEDULER_SET_FILE" control-command

Post by radio42 »

I can take a look at it.
But I still don’t fully understand your use case.
This other PC also runs ProppFrexx (next to the 2 stations you are talking about)?

So on this other PC you need to change the scheduler. Ie. you switch from one scheduler to the other scheduler.
What is the background/reason for doing that?

You could theoretically also use two instances of ProppFrexx and then you would not need to change or switch schedulers.
The only issue I see is, that you could not switch the scheduler in the background, while it is actively used or edited - how can we/you ensure this?
Maartenvn
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Joined: 21 Aug 2022 19:47
Re: Add "SCHEDULER_SET_FILE" control-command

Post by Maartenvn »

The 2 station PC's are stored in a server room and are used for non-stop music playback. The third Proppfrexx instance is for livestreams with a live presenter (running on a PC in a studio that outputs to the mixer instead).

In order to have all the playlists & overlays, created those non-stop servers, on the studio PC the calendar file is stored on a centralised storage location.
If a presenter does a livestream for Station A and the next presenter (eg: the next hour) wants to do a livestream on Station B someone of the technical team must change the scheduler path in order to load the correct playlists/overlays for Station B.

Running two instances of Proppfrexx is not really possible here as the mixer channels are assigned using USB audio output, which only supports output from 1 device.
The only issue I see is, that you could not switch the scheduler in the background, while it is actively used or edited - how can we/you ensure this?
In our use-case we would have custom software to temporary disable the scheduler (using a control-command), change the path (using "SCHEDULER_SET_FILE"), and re-enable the scheduler (using a control-command).

"SCHEDULER_SET_FILE" could potentially give an error if the scheduler is enabled or ideally would just simulate disabling/enabling the scheduler instead.
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radio42
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Re: Add "SCHEDULER_SET_FILE" control-command

Post by radio42 »

Now I got your use case. Ie. as you are using this 3rd PC only in a live environment, it might work, as executing all events at all times might not be 100% guaranteed (eg. assume a new overlay or program is just about to start, but just disabled by this new command beforehand- and after switching time, it might not start, as it is already late).
If this scenario is not critical for you, I can try to implement it into the next version.
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radio42
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Re: Add "SCHEDULER_SET_FILE" control-command

Post by radio42 »

The new v4.3.2.0 contains the requested control-commands.
Maartenvn
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Re: Add "SCHEDULER_SET_FILE" control-command

Post by Maartenvn »

Thank you for the quick response and implementation! :)

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