ini files…
I was saying those text files you posted are actually ini files. Very easy to handle actually. I’m just waiting for Cad asking to enable Delphi’s ini file features in the scripting system 
They are ‘sort of’ INI files; I’d call them ‘text files in INI-style format.’ standard INI file handling processes wouldn’t work because the key names are not unique. The files are plainly designed to be read in full by a text file handler (so don’t panic, Torben ;)).
Incidentally, it looks like the info IS also stored in the tags of MP3 files and WMAs; but only in the ‘INI file’ for WAVs. (Note to MIGY: not all WMAs can be played in mAirList [ask Torben]).
I can’t quite believe that people actually write formatted values with commas in them into INI-style files, but hey ho.
I think the best way to convert these into MMDs would be with an external VBscript or JavaScript ‘program,’ and not a mAirList script. Migy: if you don’t have anyone ‘local’ to help you, I could write the ‘guts’ of it in VBscript; but any decent programmer should be able to at the very least to write the ‘extract the values from RPP’ part. I can’t guarantee when I would have the time to help personally, so it might be a week or two.
Hope that helps.
BFN
CAD
Perfect Cad, take the time you need, 2 weeks is fine.
Tnx a lot.
M.
I’ll need to know several more things before working on a conversion program. Some of these questions may seem strange, but please answer them anyway!
[ul][li]Do you have any MS Office programs (such as Word) installed on a PC which can access all your ‘tagged’ audio files?[/li]
[li]Can you give me a list of ALL the cue point-related information items in RPP? Can you describe each one in terms of mAirList cue points?[/li]
[li]Are ‘outro’ times in RPP what I would call a FadeOut point (or mixpoint)? Are they ‘relative’ to the track length (e.g track is 6s, outro is 1s: does that mean it ‘mixes’ at 5s, or not)?[/li][/ul]
Thanks in advance.
BFN
CAD
The first question is already answered if you look at the lists in a few attachment (the rest will be placed in another messsage). Otherwise, I don’t understand the question.
Second:
In mAir: Cue In = InStart in RPP
Ramp = Intro
Hook doesn’t exist in RPP
Outro = Outro in RPP (Question 3: The time to talk-over at the end of a song for example. The time left to end the song, not the file.
Start Next = Mix
Fade Out = OutStart
Cue Out = comparable with OutLength, although is more the fade time, not like the end of the song. E.g: You adjust the fade start with what they call ‘Set stop fade start time’, then it passes normally the mixpoint, which you do with the ‘Set mix start’-button, after that you adjust the end of the song with ‘Set stop fade stop time’.
Extra: Volume in RPP, gives you the possibility to adjust the volume of each song.
Grtz,
M.
Base 2.txt (99.7 KB)
Base 3.txt (17.3 KB)
I was asking whether you had MS Office (Word or Excel, for example) on a PC which can access your audio files. If you do, I will write a conversion program in Office VBA, which is a much nicer programming environment than bare naked VBscript and easier to debug. Further, if you have Excel, I can create a ‘database’ of processed items as a spreadsheet: something you might find useful anyway? 
If you don’t have Office, I will need to write the program as a VBscript, possibly with an HTA wrapper.
Many thanks for the info. about setting cues up in RPP. Is there any significance in the ‘MixType’ I see in some of your TXT files?
BFN
CAD
I have Word and Excel but I don’t understand what you mean with ‘access to the audio files with Word or Excel’.
Cad means if your MS Office PC can “see” the studio PC - is it the same one or is the PC with the audio files on your LAN or in another building ? Unless you’re running a radio station from your office/bedroom - you generally wouldn’t have MS Office installed on a playout machine
Yes: sorry if I wasn’t clear, let’s try again!
If I write a converter program to run on your ‘Office’ PC, I want to be sure that the program can open your audio files and the ‘database’ text files.
Probably your audio is stored on your playout PC (if not, please let us know!).
On your ‘Word and Excel’ PC, can you display the drives and files on your playout PC? One way to check if you’re not sure would be to open a Media Player (WINAMP, WMP, QCD, MPC, whatever) on your ‘Office’ PC and attempt to play one of your audio files. If you can’t navigate to the drive with your audio on it ‘from’ your ‘Office’ PC, I’ll need to know that in advance.
BFN
CAD
Well, the office PC is the playout PC. So, just 1 workstation for both.
Tnx for explaining it.
Sorry for the delay in getting to work on this project. 
I have now written a converter program in VBA, stored as a Word document. So, you open the document, allow Word to run macros, double-click the button in the document, and the work will be done. I’ve tested the macro here with all your RPP files and it works well … BUT! …
Your main problem is that 80+% of your files are WMA format. mAirList cannot* play WMA files, so you will need to convert them to another format (like MP3 or OGG or WAV) if you want to play them in mAirList.
(*Actually, mAirList could very easily play WMAs, but M$ charge €000s for the licence to do so.)
I can recommend dbPowerAmp (http://www.dbpoweramp.com/) as reliable conversion software. The Free version does all you’ll need (i.e. a one-off conversion), BUT you will need to install the WMA codec after initial install.
SO it is now up to you! Please tell me how you would like the converter to handle RPP information about WMA files:
Option 1: Process them as if their file extension was MP3, and write an MMD file for ‘whatever.mp3’
This will require you to convert the audio files as described above.
Option 2: Ignore all WMA file information.
Meanwhile, I attach a few MMD files produced by the Converter from your SUMMER and JINGLES text files. UnZIP these files into the same folders as the MP3 and WAV files they apply to. Then try opening each file in the mAirList File Tagger. This should ‘pick up’ the MMD file and display all cuepoints, transferred direct from your RPP database files. Please try ALL those files in File Tagger, and ;et me know if anything is wrong or has been put on the ‘wrong’ cue point in mAirList.
Note that RPP Mix points are not converted to a mAirList StartNext if they are later than the FadeOut point; because in mAirList, FadeOut executes a StartNext as well as a fade. 
Also, an MMD file will only be written if RPP has cue point data. If there is no existing cue point data, creating an MMD file which contains just a title, artist, and duration would be pointless, yes?
Let me know how the attached test MMDs work with your audio files in mAirList File Tagger and mAirList itself, also whether you want me to ‘fake’ WMA files as if they were MP3 files (or WAVs if you prefer?) in anticipation of you converting the actual WMA files to another playable format.
BFN
CAD
MIGY-MMDs.zip (2.35 KB)
WMA support is available by downloading the BASSWMA plugin and putting it into the “plugins” folder of mAirList:
http://www.un4seen.com/download.php?basswm24
Same with FLAC:
http://www.un4seen.com/download.php?bassflac24
[quote=“Charlie, post:36, topic:5199”]WMA support is available by downloading the BASSWMA plugin and putting it into the “plugins” folder of mAirList:
http://www.un4seen.com/download.php?basswm24[/quote]
Do you still need to set something in the config? Because I’ve downloaded the above, moved it into the “plugins” folder of mArilist, but when I start the program it still doesn’t recognise WMA files.
Have you put put the extensions into the GUI-Browser-Additional File Extensions ? Mine looks like this:fla lnk m3u mls mpl txt … Or, when you say “doesn’t recognise” - do you mean that you get a Player error when loading a track ? I don’ have the WMA one installed, just the FLAC DLL.
No, I meant that he didn’t recognise any .wma tracks in the browser, but adding wma to the additional file extensions did solve that. However, now I get a player error. Not when i put the track on the playlist, but when I atempt to play it. The error message is: "BuildSource: BASS_StreamCreate*:error 41"
SIGH!< This is an ‘old chestnut,’ guys.
Let me repeat:
In other words, yes you can display WMAs in the Browser—as you can for any file extension—but even if you install the WMA plugin, mAirList cannot play DRM-protected WMAs (even if, say, WMP can play the same files).
This is because of the way BASS is licensed: the BASSWMA plugin will only play DRM-protected WMAs if you (i.e. Torben) own a ‘commercial’ BASS developer’s licence, which would cost an eye-watering €950. (See http://www.un4seen.com/bass.html for more details.)
In practice, this means that any WMAs ripped direct from an audio CD (and thus ‘protected’) will not be playable in mAirList. WMAs created by other non-DRM-protected means (e.g. rip to WAV, convert files to WMA later) are playable in mAirList. You are likely to face this problem (handling DRM-protected WMAs) with many programs, not just mAirList.
BFN
CAD