Is it possible to get mAirList to play one file from many in a list when it is in the playlist - a bit like a container with a number of files listed but only one of the files in the container is played out when called and not all of them?
The reason for asking is that I am thinking of recording 4 programs but schedule a different one each week through the month so having a ‘container’ with the 4 programs listed and 1 played in sequence every week would allow rotation of the programs within the scheduler.
I seem to recall thinking that it was possible to do this in mAirList but I can’t remember how. Was I dreaming or can this really be done?
Ron: Have you tried creating a new mAirListDB folder named “Ron’s Show” and moving the four shows into that folder, in intended broadcast order, and then (after adding your new folder into the right hour in the main Schedule) running the scheduler to create four weeks’ worth of playlists?
This would definitely schedule all four shows but I don’t know whether the order would be the one you want. That’s why I suggested adding them in intended broadcast order, or does the broadcast order not matter?
I can’t think of any easy way to definitely play each show in the correct order other than by manually editing the generated database playlists within mAirListDB, dragging and dropping each show into the correct slot and tweaking (removing) items around it so that everything fits. Or by using a more powerful external scheduling application, obviously.
I don’t know where I got the idea that this could be done in a container - perhaps it was me misunderstanding what a container was used for in the early days.
I think that incorporating this into a script is probably the way to go as the order (especially part1, part2 etc) is important.
My initial thought is to create a ‘status’ file on the HDD to keep a note of the last index used for each program (so that it will be correct if the program is restarted).
The script could then read the index of the appropriate show, increment it, load the apprpriate file and then save the updated index back to the status file.
The audio files would need to be named accordingly (“Ron’s Show 1”, “Ron’s Show 2” etc) of course and I’m not sure how to handle the parts at the moment but I’m sure something will come to mind. If the file containing the index number is not present then the index reverts to 1 again.
Assuming you use mAirListDB to create hourly database playlists, and an hourly Event to load/play them, and the rest of the affected days/hours have already been generated: it is only four shows, so by far the easiest way would be to manually edit the database playlists for those hours.
Open mAirListDB and in the Playlist tab, navigate to the day/time of your first show and delete every item present (if any) for the duration of your show, saving each hour’s Playlist as you go. Return to the start time of your show and manually drag show 1 from the Library tab and drop it on the Playlist.
Repeat for each of the three other shows, and it’s all done, probably in less time than it took me to type this.
Sometimes, the manual way really is better than bending your mind around more complicated ways to achieve the same final effect.
