Here’s another argument for a fixed list: We could replace/extend the current option “only loade items marked as special” by a generic “only load items of the following types” option.
Ok, Build 654 is now available. There’s a new “Type” field in the Item Properties dialog, as well as in the database Sync dialog (so you can set the type right away when you import the items).
The Type is stored as “xxxx” in the XML output (MMD, playlist files, etc.), and also in the database in a colum of its own. That’s why you need to perform a schema upgrade.
To access an item’s type from a script, use the “GetItemType” method on the IPlaylistItem interface, which will - currently - return on of the following enumeration values:
TPlaylistItemType = (
pitUnknown,
pitMusic,
pitVoice,
pitJingle,
pitCommercial,
pitOther,
pitCustom1,
pitCustom2,
pitCustom3,
pitCustom4
);Cad, I had to shorten the “insert into folder” text in the Sync dialog a little, can you please keep that in mind when you update the documentation?
In mAirList 3.0/3.1, the type is only to be used for scripting (this is why I backported it in the first place). In a future release, it will also be possible to use specify icons, colors etc.
Is there any way to mass tag roundabout 1500 music files in mAirListDB with the item “music”?
Depends on your SQL skills. As mentioned earlier, there’s no mass edit function in mAirListDB currently.
Are all of the items located in particular folders or so?
They are all located in D:\Musik.
Does D:\Musik happen to be a storage of its own?
Yes, it is! 
Ok, then it’s very simple.
-
Make a backup of database.db.
-
Get a copy of sqlite3.exe from www.sqlite.org and copy it into the same directory as your database.db file.
-
Open a Windows command window, “cd” into the folder where database.db is.
-
Run “sqlite3.exe database.db”
-
On the SQLite command prompt, first find out the ID of the storage:
SELECT * FROM storages;In my case, the storage “F:\music” has the ID 4:
4|F:\music||F:\music- Then execute the following SQL command, replacing the ID “4” as needed:
UPDATE items SET type='Music' WHERE idx IN (SELECT item FROM item_filenames WHERE storage=4);Done
Sounds well, but one question is left: D:\Musik contains some subfolders like Jingles, SFX etc. Will the files in these folders also be tagged with the music item?
Okay, the answer is of course “yes”. Where can i set up userdefined item types?
See above: Not at all. What types do you think are still missing?
I’m still missing the items “Geräusche” and “Soundeffekte”.
Hm, that would both translate to “SFX” in English… Any suggestions for two separate terms?
Yes, that’s the problem. With regard to this the German language is much more exact.
I’d suggest “sounds” and “sound effects”.
Perhaps one of our native speakers can comment on this?
I would agree with Torben: ‘Sound Effects’ or perhaps just ‘Effects’?
I think you also need:
Trail
Promo
Sponsorship
Sweeper (or perhaps Liner)
Bed
Sweeper is a ‘dry’ jingle with no backing music; bed is ‘talkover music’ as in ‘music bed;’ promo means an item which advertises a ‘station event’ (such as Leith FM’s live sessions or summer cruise) which ‘promotes’ the station.
I’d also say ‘Ad’ or ‘Advertisement’ would be preferable to ‘Commercial.’ (Someone who works in the ad. production industry once told me that the abbreviation ‘Advert.’ is never used ‘in the trade.’ ;))
BFN
CAD
What’s exactly a “Trail”? In Germany, the word “Trailer” is often used as a synonym for “Promo”, but I guess that’s not what you mean here, do you?
Torben
I would guess that the difference is that a ‘promo’ promotes the station in an event and a ‘trail’ or trailer promotes a future program but CAD will no doubt clarify in due course.
Ron.
I’m uploading Build 655 that adds type browsing functionality to the Database Browser and DB management software. I will add the ability to change the type by drag&drop onto a type node soon.
The list of types will be extended as soon as we come to an agreement here
Ron’s correct.
As I said before, promo specifically means an ad. for an off-air event which ‘promotes’ the station and its activities. As I said, we hold a (usually) monthly live gig featuring local bands and artists (the Leith FM Sessions). An ad. for one of those, or any other activity which benefits the station in some way, like our annual summer cruise (just around the river Forth, from Leith to Bass Rock and back) or an event where listeners can ‘meet the DJs,’ is a promo.
A trail (GB English version [as used by the BBC] of the US term ‘trailer’) is specifically an ‘ad.’ for a future show or feature (for example: ‘next weekend is Elvis weekend on Leith FM’).
Sponsorship means a (usually dry) recorded credit for a show or station sponsor (such as: ‘Friday Sports is sponsored by Angelo’s real Italian fish and chip shop and takeaway, at the roundabout on Lochend Road South’) which is played in as appropriate during a show (at the start and end, and every 20 minutes in between).
A sweeper (sometimes called a liner in the USA) is any pre-recorded spoken ‘line’ with a non-musical backing (so it might have a drone or FX backing) which can be played out over the start of a song. It could be as simple as a station ID (‘Leith FM on 98.8 and online at leithfm.co.uk’) or could be an imaging statement like ‘The best music all day, every day, on YOUR community station: Leith FM!’ The lack of music backing is what differentiates a sweeper from a jingle, and it is so named because you can use it to ‘sweep’ directly from one music track to another.
And just for completeness: bed means any music track used for talkovers. It might be a specific bed from your station’s jingle package, or it might be a track from a production library CD, or commercial recording; but it is invariably an instrumental (no vocals) piece of music.
(The descriptions above are excerpts from the forthcoming must-have blockbuster book: “Cad’s Radio Station Imaging 101” 
Only joking!)
Actually … maybe we should also add instrumental as another Item Type? And since the same item could be both an instrumental and a bed (or a jingle and a sweeper), maybe we should allow multiple types per item, in the same way that an item can be in more than one database folder?
BFN
CAD