Event Scheduler

The Event Scheduler runs actions automatically at predefined times. Typical uses are:

• Loading the playlist for the next hour from the database shortly before the top of the hour.
• Inserting the news, a time announcement or a live stream at a fixed time.
• Switching the automation or the streaming encoder on or off at certain times of the day.
• Starting and stopping recordings.

Each event consists of a schedule (when it runs), a scope (under which conditions it runs), and a list of actions (what it does). The available actions are described in the Actions reference.

The Event List

To open the Event Scheduler, click the Events button in the main toolbar of the playout window. It can also be opened through the remote control command EVENTSCHEDULER SHOW.

The window lists all events with the following columns:

• Next Execution: When the event will run next. Disabled and expired events show no next execution.
• Last Execution: When the event was last run.
• Description: The description entered in the event editor.
• Actions: A summary of the event’s actions.

Each event has a checkbox in front of it. Uncheck it to disable the event temporarily, without deleting it.

The toolbar provides the following commands:

• Add: Creates a new event and opens it in the event editor.
• Edit: Opens the selected event in the event editor. You can also double-click an event.
• Delete: Deletes the selected events.
• Run: Runs the actions of the selected event immediately, after a confirmation prompt. The scope settings of the event are ignored in this case. This is useful for testing a new event.
• Import and Export: Load events from, or save the event list to, an event list file (*.mle), e.g. to transfer events to another computer.

The event list is saved automatically when you close the window.

Editing Events

The event editor contains the following groups of settings.

Date

Select on which days the event should run:

• each day: The event runs every day.
• only once, on: The event runs on the selected date only.
• each: The event runs on the checked weekdays only, e.g. Monday to Friday.
• user defined: Enter the days of the month, months and weekdays in the respective fields (see User-Defined Values below). The event runs on days that match all three fields.

Time

Select at which times of the day the event should run:

• each hour, at: The event runs every hour, at the specified minute and second. For example, enter 58 minutes and 30 seconds to run the event at 0:58:30, 1:58:30 etc.
• only once, at: The event runs once a day, at the specified time.
• user defined: Enter the hours, minutes and seconds in the respective fields (see below). The event runs at all combinations of the values.

User-Defined Values

In the user-defined fields, you can enter:

• A single number, e.g. 5.
• A comma-separated list of numbers, e.g. 0,15,30,45.
• A range of numbers, e.g. 6-18.
• A combination of both, e.g. 1-5,7.

The following values are valid:

For example, hours 6-18, minutes 0,30 and seconds 0 will run the event every half hour between 6:00 and 18:30. An event with an invalid or empty field will never run.

Expiration

Check Event expires at and enter a date and time to disable the event automatically after that point in time. This is useful for temporary events, e.g. for a special programme. Expired events remain in the list, but will not run anymore.

Scope

The scope determines under which conditions the event is actually executed when its time has come:

• Automation and Assist: Whether the event should run when the selected playlist is in AUTO mode, in ASSIST mode, or both. By default, events only run in AUTO mode. This way, an event that loads the next hour’s playlist does not interfere with a live show.
• Playlist: The playlist whose mode is checked. This playlist is also the default target for the event’s actions (see Affected Playlist in the Actions reference).
• ON AIR and OFF AIR: Whether the event should run while mAirList is in ON AIR mode, OFF AIR mode, or both.
• Disable Log: If checked, the execution of the event is not recorded in the System Log. This is useful for events that run very frequently.

An event is only executed if both conditions are met: the playlist mode (Automation/Assist) and the ON AIR/OFF AIR state.

Description

A text describing the event. It is displayed in the event list and in the System Log, and in screen objects that show the next event.

Actions

The list of actions to be run by the event. Click Add… to add an action. The actions are grouped by category in the menu. Select an action and click Configure (or double-click it) to change its settings, or Remove to delete it. Drag the actions with the mouse to change their order.

The actions are executed one after the other, in the order of the list. If an action fails, the remaining actions are skipped, unless the failed action has the Ignore errors option set. See Error Handling for details.

The action list can be saved to a file (*.mla) and loaded again through the Save and Load buttons, to reuse it in other events.

Examples

Loading the next hour from the database: Create an event that runs each hour, at minute 55. Add the action Database → Load database playlist, and enable the option Load the playlist for the next hour. Additionally, enable Set fixed time on first element, so that the first item of the new hour starts exactly at the top of the hour.

News at the top of the hour: Create an event that runs each hour, at minute 0, and add the action File → Play file with the news file. Use logging variables in the filename (and enable Enable substitution of variables on the Options tab) if the file name contains the current date or hour.

Daylight Saving Time

Events are scheduled according to the local time of the computer. Times that do not exist because of the switch to daylight saving time (e.g. 2:30 on the night of the switch) are skipped.

When switching back to standard time, the hour between 2:00 and 3:00 occurs twice, so events in this hour would run twice. To prevent this, enable the option Do not execute any events during switch to standard time in the miscellaneous options.

Next Event in the Playout Window

The Time of Next Event and Countdown to Next Event screen objects display the next upcoming event in the playout window.