diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog index ad7622c9..f3e9247b 100644 --- a/ChangeLog +++ b/ChangeLog @@ -24516,3 +24516,6 @@ 2023-12-05 Fred Gleason * Reduced the minimum size of rdairplay(1) to 1280x870 so as to fit on a 1280x1024 display. +2023-12-05 Fred Gleason + * Rewrote and expanded the 'Events' section of the 'RDLogManager' + chapter of the Operations Guide. diff --git a/docs/opsguide/Makefile.am b/docs/opsguide/Makefile.am index bea2eecb..8498c15f 100644 --- a/docs/opsguide/Makefile.am +++ b/docs/opsguide/Makefile.am @@ -285,6 +285,10 @@ OPSGUIDE_IMAGES = appendix.library_searches.full_list.png\ rdlogmanager.edit_event_assignment_dialog.png\ rdlogmanager.edit_grid_dialog.png\ rdlogmanager.editing_event.png\ + rdlogmanager.events.importation_parameters.png\ + rdlogmanager.events.post_import_events.png\ + rdlogmanager.events.pre_import_events.png\ + rdlogmanager.events.scheduling_parameters.png\ rdlogmanager.generate_log_dialog.png\ rdlogmanager.generate_log_dialog_fully_merged.png\ rdlogmanager.generate_log_dialog_music_merge_required.png\ diff --git a/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.events.importation_parameters.png b/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.events.importation_parameters.png new file mode 100644 index 00000000..6dccd17c Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.events.importation_parameters.png differ diff --git a/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.events.post_import_events.png b/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.events.post_import_events.png new file mode 100644 index 00000000..7779aedf Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.events.post_import_events.png differ diff --git a/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.events.pre_import_events.png b/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.events.pre_import_events.png new file mode 100644 index 00000000..c32c2623 Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.events.pre_import_events.png differ diff --git a/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.events.scheduling_parameters.png b/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.events.scheduling_parameters.png new file mode 100644 index 00000000..d7de65fa Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.events.scheduling_parameters.png differ diff --git a/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.xml b/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.xml index 91f5b1cc..86dff79a 100644 --- a/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.xml +++ b/docs/opsguide/rdlogmanager.xml @@ -243,13 +243,14 @@ Events - An RDLogManager event is a set of rules that define a series of log + An RDLogManager event is a set of rules that define a series of zero + or more log elements (audio carts, macro carts, markers, etc) that should be inserted into a log, along with the appropriate log event parameters - (transition type, time type, etc) that should be associated with them. + (transition type, time type, etc) to be associated with them. The actual elements to be inserted can be specified directly within the event itself, or imported from a data file generated by an - external scheduling system. Up to two such external scheduling + external scheduling system. Up to two such external scheduling sources can be defined for each service. While for convenience sake these are designated as 'Traffic' and 'Music' within RDLogManager, they can each be used anywhere a means of importing external @@ -289,89 +290,233 @@ - The Edit Event dialog consists of two main parts: a Library cart + The Editing Event dialog consists of two main parts: a Library cart picker widget on the left side, and an area showing the various event parameters on the right. Audio contained within audio carts can be - sampled by selecting the desired cart and then touching the - Play - button. Programming an event basically consists of specifying four - things: its log parameters (transition and time types), the list of - Pre-Import events, the event import - (if any) and the list of - Post-Import events. - The first matter to be decided is if the event - should have a hard start time: if so, then the - Use hard start time - check box in the TIMED START section should be ticked. Ticking this box - will enable all of the usual hard start parameters to be specified. - If an automatic timed start is not desired, then it is possible to - check the Cue to this event checkbox - in the PREPOSITION LOG section. - This will cause RDLogManager to place a hard time with a 'Make Next' - attribute on the first item of the event – effectively, causing the - event to be automatically “cued up” at the scheduled time – something - that can be particularly handy for keeping spot breaks in sync when - "overscheduling" music. + auditioned by selecting the desired cart and then touching the + Play button. - Next, if it is desired to have RDLogManager try to insert - material automatically from the Autofill List to ensure that the event - has the length indicated by its parent clock, the - Use Autofill box in - the ENFORCING LENGTH section - should be checked. (Configuring the - Autofill List is covered in detail in the Rivendell Technical and - Administration Guide). If Autofill is enabled, it is also possible - to tick the - Warn if fill is under or over checkbox - to have RDLogManager - generate a warning if it was unable to properly fill the event when - the log was generated. - - - Next, the list of log events (if any) to be inserted before the data - import should be placed in the - PRE-IMPORT CARTS list. For audio or - macro carts, these can be simply dragged and dropped from the Library - cart list on the left-hand side of the dialog. Meta events can be - inserted by right-clicking on the list and selecting the desired - element. It is also possible to edit or delete elements and set the - transition type of each element through the right-click menu. - - - The IMPORT section then defines - which (if any) source will be used - for importing external scheduling events into the log. Either - Music, - Traffic or - None can be selected. If - Music or - Traffic is selected, - then RDLogManager will import any events from those sources that fall - within the start and end times of the event (as supplied by the - parent clock). These start and end times can be further broadened by - means of 'slop factors' entered into the Import carts scheduled - controls (this is sometimes necessary to get the import to work - properly with certain external scheduler systems). The transition - types to be used for the first and subsequent imported elements can - be specified with the First cart has a - and Imported carts have a - controls. If Music has been selected - as the import source, it is - also possible to specify the event to use to import traffic breaks - embedded in the music log with the - Import inline traffic with the - control. (Configuration of the actual parser parameters for data - importation is covered in the Rivendell Technical and Administration - Guide). - - - Finally, the list of log events (if any) to be inserted after the - data import should be placed in the - POST-IMPORT CARTS list. - Configuration of the events works very similarly to that of the - PRE-IMPORT CARTS list. + Programming an event basically consists of specifying four + things: + + + + Scheduling parameters (transition and time types) + + + + + Pre-import events + + + + + Importation parameters + + + + + Post-import events + + + + + Scheduling Parameters + + Scheduling parameters are set in the + PRE-POSITION LOG, + TIMED START, + TRANSITIONS and + ENFORCING LENGTH sections of the + dialog. + + + + + + + Scheduling Parameters + + + + If the event is to have a hard start time, then the + Use hard start time + check box in the TIMED START + section should be ticked; enabling + all of the usual hard start parameters to be specified. + (For details on hard start time parameters see + ). + + + If an automatic timed start is not desired, then it is possible to + check the Cue to this event checkbox + in the PRE-POSITION LOG section; + thus causing RDLogManager to place a hard time with a 'Make Next' + attribute on the first item of the event – effectively, causing the + event to be automatically “cued up” at the scheduled time – something + that can be particularly handy for keeping spot breaks in sync when + "overscheduling" music. + + + If it is desired to have RDLogManager try to insert + material automatically from the Autofill List to ensure that the event + has the length indicated by its parent clock, the + Use Autofill box in + the ENFORCING LENGTH section + should be checked. (See + + for details). + If the Use Autofill checkbox is + ticked, then it is also possible to tick the + Warn if fill is under or over checkbox + to have RDLogManager generate a warning if it was unable to properly + fill the event when the log was merged. + + + Autofill is for cases where one wants to generate an event insertion in + the log (typically spots from the traffic system) of a given fixed + length. The classic use is for filling a break in a satellite-fed + program. One way to do that is to ensure that the traffic system always + provides events that add up to the correct duration, but that can be + tedious to do in certain traffic systems, so ‘Autofill’ is a way to + have Rivendell automatically make up any shortfall when filling breaks. + + + There are a few basic caveats: + + + + + Each Rivendell Service has a list of carts to be used for autofill + purposes (see + + for details). The algorithm used to do the autofill is fairly + basic (essentially, "use the + longest cart in the list that will fit until no more will + fit"), so a good strategy is to create one + cart for each ’standard’ length (:60, :30, :10, :05, :02, etc) and + load up each with lots of "filler" material of the + appropriate length. + + + + + If the traffic system provides too many spots + in a break, it will overflow and the break will run long. This is + where the ‘Warn if fill is over/under…’ checkbox becomes especially + useful. Ticking that will cause a warning to be generated in the + Exception Report generated when importing the schedule. + + + + + The autofill happens when the log import happens, + not at log play-out time! Once a log is fully produced (generated, + merged and voice-tracked), autofill is done; “baked in” as it were. + + + + + + Pre-Import Events + + Pre-import event parameters are set in the + PRE-IMPORT EVENTS section of the + dialog. + + + + + + + Pre-Import Event List + + + + Pre-import events are a list of log events to be inserted + before any events are imported from an external schedule. For audio or + macro carts, these can be simply dragged and dropped from the Library + cart list on the left-hand side of the dialog. Meta events + (such as log notes or voice tracker markers) can be + inserted by right-clicking on the list and selecting the desired + type of element. It is also possible to edit or delete elements and + set the transition type of each element by doing a right-click on the + respective item in the list. + + + + Importation Parameters + + Importation parameters are set in the + IMPORT section of the dialog. + + + + + + + Importation Parameters + + + + This section is used to specify which (if any) source will be used + for importing external scheduling events into the log. Either + None, + From Traffic, + From Music or + Select from can be selected. + If Traffic or + Music is selected, + then RDLogManager will import any events from those sources that fall + within the start and end times of the event (as supplied by the + parent clock) inclusive. These start and end times can be further + broadened by + means of 'slop factors' entered into the + + Import carts scheduled <X> prior to the start of this event. + + and + + Import carts scheduled <X> after the end of this event. + + controls (this is sometimes necessary to get the import to work + properly with certain external scheduler systems). The transition + types to be used for the first and subsequent imported elements can + be specified with the First cart has a + and Imported carts have a + controls. If Music has been selected + as the import source, it is + also possible to specify the event to use to import traffic breaks + embedded in the music log with the + Import inline traffic with the + control. (For details on configuring inline traffic breaks, see + ). + + + Selecting Select from will cause + RDLogManager to use Rivendell's built-in music scheduler to + import one cart, in accordance with the Group, separations and + Schedule Codes configured. + + + + Post-Import Events + + Post-import event parameters are set in the + POST-IMPORT EVENTS section of the + dialog. + + + + + + + Post-Import Event List + + + The color of the event (as seen in the Edit Clock dialog) can be set by touching the Color button.