To
start Content Depot Monitor, click on the Start CDM and DBOX desktop icon. The Content Depot Monitor Application
The Content Depot Monitor [CDM] program is an application that will watch for update audio files sent from NPR. When an audio file has been downloaded by the ContentDepot receiver, the CDM application will run through a series of checks before passing the file to DropBox. DropBox will then inject the file into DAD for playback.
Both Content Depot and DropBox are part of the basic automation package. Information about DropBox can be found here.
Starting Content Depot Monitor
To
start Content Depot Monitor, click on the Start CDM and DBOX desktop icon.
This will also start the DropBox program.
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IMPORTANT: The desktop icon runs a BAT file that start both Content Depot Monitor and DropBox. This BAT file will also attempt to map a drive to the Content Depot Storage Reciever. To modify or change this mapping, right click on the icon and select EDIT. This will open the BAT file in Notepad. Near the top of the file there are two lines: : This line is used to map this workstation to the Content Depot Storage
Receiver The @net use line performs the mapping routine. If the Content Depot Storage Receiver is not connected, turned on or configured properly the mapping will not occur. |
Overview of Content Depot Monitor
Content Depot Monitor is a 'set and forget' type application. It does not require normal user interaction. With that said, users should verify that the program is running and enabled for scanning.
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NOTE: ContentDepot Monitor has been pre-configured to operate with the Basic Automation system. An existing ENCO client might find the need to change some settings with ContentDepot to account for Cut Number ranges, Audio Format / Sample Rate and IP Address and/or Drive mappings. |
An overview of the Content Depot Monitor application and it button function is below.
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|
Feature |
Default |
Description |
|
A |
Status
Log
button |
|
Pressing
this button will open the current day's log for work that has been done. |
|
B |
Error
Log button |
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Pressing
this button will open the current day's Error log. |
|
C |
Archive Alert [CLEAR] | Not displayed unless an audio cut is passed to the CDArchive directory | This will display when an audio cut is picked up that is older than 'today'. Depending upon INI file configuration, CDM can move the file to the CDArchive directory. When it does, it will display this message. Pressing CLEAR will remove the message from the screen. |
|
D |
Status
display |
|
General
information relating to files scanned and other messages are displayed
here. |
|
E |
Errors
display |
|
An
errors in scanning are display within this area. |
|
F |
Scan,
Interval and Scanning directory path fields |
Scan:
R Interval:
20 Scanning:
<default> Alternate:
<blank> |
The Scan
check box enables the scanning process. Interval
allows the user to set the scanning frequency. Scanning
holds the
drive mapping path to the location of the Content Depot Receiver Alternate
can contain
another drive mapping path which will be scanned for audio files |
|
G |
Save
Changes button |
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Pressing
this button will save any changes made to the Config.INI file. |
|
H |
Config
button
Verbose c |
|
Opens
and displays the Configuration INI file When Verbose is checked, more details about the checks for Start / Kill dates are given. |
|
I |
Programs
button |
|
This
opens the Program List screen. Here users can force the download Programs
to another |
General Setup and operation
Setup
Users should verify the drive path for the Content Depot receiver along with the Alternate directory if need. If an Alternate directory is not needed, clear the Alternate field.
Entering a time value in seconds into the Interval field will cause this application to scan the directories in the amount of time given.
Verify the CONFIG file settings. Here one should verify the folder for both DropBox and the Archive directory. It is also important to verify the DAD Data path.
If the default PRSS cut numbers need to be changed, one will add the show via the Programs List. [see more info below]
Save Changes
Configuration
Pressing the Config button will open the Config.INI file. This file contains the information found onscreen along with directory options for DropBox and an Archive directory. An explanation of the INI file is below.
|
Variable |
Value |
Reason |
|
[General] |
|
|
|
Interval |
10 |
The
amount of scan time in seconds. |
|
Scan
Directory |
P: |
The
drive mapping for the primary Content Depot storage receiver. |
|
Alt
Scan Directory |
C:\NPR2 |
The
alternate directory one wants CDM to scan. This could be the second
Content Depot receiver. |
|
Scanning |
TRUE |
TRUE
= Enables scanning. FALSE
= Disable scanning. |
| DAD Data | F:\DAD\FILES | This should be set to the location of the DAD Library Database. On most systems, this will be F:\DAD\FILES |
| LibLoc | F: |
This is for use with Multi-Libraries in DAD.
One would enter the Drive letter for the location of the Multi-Library
database.
If one is NOT using Multi-Libraries then this entry is left blank. |
| LibName | NPRCUTS |
One would enter the Multi-Library database
name.
If one is NOT using Multi-Libraries then this entry is left blank. |
|
Start/Kill Check |
TRUE |
TRUE = (this is the default) Enables CDM to check for Start / Kill dates embedded by the Producer. This can be used in conjunction with the Override option. FALSE = Disable scanning of Start / Kill dates. When set to False, all cuts will be passed to DropBox regardless of their Start dates. |
| Start/Kill Check Date Override |
<value in days>
Example: = 2 |
This allows for controlling how many days get used in comparing Dates within the audio files provided and Today's date. This is useful when receiving updated files from earlier time zones (west coast updates a file at 11:30pm being sent out by NPR on the 'next day' east coast time). Dates can be different by as much as the offset and still get processed normally instead of getting archived. |
|
DropBox
Directory |
C:\DropBox |
Content
Depot Monitor will place the scanned audio file into this directory.
DropBox will pick up that file, convert it if necessary and inject it into
DAD. |
|
Archive
Directory |
C:\Archive |
If
Content Depot Monitor finds an audio file that has already been ingested
or is older than the present Start date, it will be moved to the Archive
directory. |
Programs List
|
Content Depot Monitors primary function is to watch for new audio files on the Content Depot receiver and transfer them into DAD for playback. These audio files will contain a predetermined cut number in the Cart Chunk header of the audio file. Most facilities will use the number designated by PRSS as the cut number in DAD. Please see Cut Numbering below for more details on PRSS's use of Cut Numbers. Some stations however need to renumber this cut to a different range. This can be done via the Programs button. Pressing the Programs button will open the Programs List screen.
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To have a program renumbered, press the New button. Here one enters the name of the show in the Program Name field. Next enter the name of the audio file
sent from PRSS (see note below) and the starting cut number you wish this
program to use. Once all the information has been entered, press SAVE. This entry will now display in the Program List screen. The ALT Week Number option is not a working function at this time. |
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. NOTE:
All audio files sent from PRSS will be named with the following standard. |
FILENAME_EP#_TYPE##.wav
Whereas:
FileName will be an eight character name for the program. I.e.: WorldCaf for World Café.
EP# will be the episode number for the show. I.e.: 003 for episode three.
TYPE##
will be the type and number. The type can vary based upon the content of the file. Most will be segments for the Program being downloaded. In example: SGMT03
for Segment three.
PRSS will be sending audio files with an embedded cut number in the Cart Chunk header. A station can use the default cut numbers is desired. If a station wishes to change the cut number, they can do so via the Programs option within the application. Stations should allow for NPR to use all of the cut between 60000 and 90000.
Some basic notes about the cut numbers from PRSS:
Errors
If the program encounters any errors with an audio file, it will be listed in a daily log file. Pressing Errors will display that days error log.
Log Entries
The program keeps track of all work it has done in a daily log file. Pressing Log will display that days log. Here one can see what cuts were picked up from a scan, their filename along with cut number, length and scheduled start date
For example:
Mar.15.05 14:03:29 [File: CAR-TALK_001_SGMT01.WAV] [Cut: 66000] [Length: 90.44] [Start Date: 03/15/05]
Mar.15.05 14:03:29 CAR-TALK_001_SGMT01.WAV moved to c:\DropBox\75000.wav for ingestion
Cuts being moved to CDArchive
The only time cuts would be pushed to the CDArchive directory is if they are older than the current date. This could happen with cuts that were updated late West-coast time (11:30pm for example) by a show Producer. At that time, it would be after midnight East-coast time and the 'next' day. In this situation Content Depot Monitor will check the current date on the workstation and again the START DATE embedded into the cut by the producer. If the Start Date is older, then the cut will be places into the CDArchive folder. One can override this by using the INI option: START/KILL CHECK DATE OVERRIDE. This allows the station to set a number of days (typically 2) that will be used when checking to see if the cut should be passed to DropBox or sent to the CDArchive folder.
Start/Kill Check = TRUE
Start/Kill Check Date Override = 2
Show segments having a Start Date that is within the past two days will be passed to DropBox for ingestion into DAD.
Cuts that are older than two days will be passed to CDArchive.
The only time one would have a show sent to the C:\CDArchive folder is when the file has a START DATE given by the producer that is older then the current date and is beyond the number of days in the new Start/Kill Check Date Override.
