Selector System Setup

Selector™ music scheduling software is a registered trademark of Radio Computing Systems, Inc.

Setup Requirements

The following items are required to be setup in the Selector software system.

1.	Log Format

2.	Song Design

3.	Breaknote Design

4.	Header/Footer Design

5.	Keyword Flags (done within Breaknotes)

Log Format

For the merge process to work properly, it is necessary to provide a separate ASCII file for merging. This ASCII file differs from the normal printed log in that printer control codes, visual printed items, etc., need to be excluded in the ASCII log file. Selector provides for several different Log Formats. Choose one of the unused formats to be solely for the purpose of log exporting in order to be able to use your current formats for printed output.

Within the log format there are several items that must be configured for correct merge operation.

Song Design

Song design will determine the format in which the music records are output in the log file, the fields must be placed exactly as follows for the merge process to locate and process them correctly.

ITEM	LINE	COL	LENGTH	FONT
CUSTOM ADDRESS	1	1	2	P
SONG ID	1	3	7	P
ARTIST	1	10	12	P
TITLE	1	22	12	P
ENDING	1	45	2	P
INTRO 1	1	34	2	P
INTRO 2	1	36	2	P
INTRO 3	1	38	2	P
RUNTIME	1	40	5	P
LOG:AIRTIME HOUR (MILITARY)	1	47	2	P
LOG:EXACT TIME MIN/SEC	1	49	5	P

DO NOT ALTER OR ADD ANY FIELDS FROM ABOVE.

The custom address field should be added to all records in the database. The value to enter is "&&" (no quotes). This provides a unique identification of music records to the merge program. This can be done globally to all records via the mass changer.

Breaknote Design

ITEM	LINE	COL	LENGTH	FONT
TITLE	1	1	30	P
LOG:AIRTIME (MILITARY)	1	31	2	P
LOG:EXACT MIN/SEC	1	33	5	P

DO NOT ALTER OR ADD ANY FIELDS FROM ABOVE.

Header/Footer Design

Header

For versions 12.40 and earlier, the header should read:

STARTHOUR@M@D@Y@LL_@WW_@TTTT (47 T's)

For versions 12.41 and later, the header should read:

STARTHOUR@M@D@Y@8__@WW_@TTTT (47 T's)

Footer

No footer is required.

Log Parameters

Parameter	Data
Format Name	Export Merge Format
PRINT UNSCHED POSITIONS	"NO"
FONT	P
PRINT ANNIV NOTES	0 + 0
PRINT FOOTER	HOUR
ARTIST NOTES	NO ARTIST NOTES
# OF LINES AFTER SONGS	0
PRINT SONG NOTES	"NO"
ROTATE	EVERYWHERE
# OF HOURS PER PAGE	0
BREAKNOTE/LINE DESIGN	SAME DESIGN FOR STOPSET
PRINT CLUSTER HEADER/FOOTER	NON-SONG/SONG
AUTOMATION FILE OUTPUT NAME	PATH\@M@D@Y.ASC (i.e., F:\DCS\@M@D@Y.ASC)

Keyword Flags

The following keyword flags are placed as Breaknotes. Each has a specific function and syntax must be exact. These keywords must be the first elements in their line with no spaces unless shown in the example.

Keyword / Explanation
TRAFFIC MERGE??
	Traffic merge time, where ?? refers to traffic cluster start time in minutes.
CART_VT_????_MMSS
	Direct Cart Call where ???? = Cart Number where MMSS = length of cart (minutes, seconds) Note: Cart numbers can include DCS macro characters, including: % - Day of week (1=Monday, 7=Sunday) ^ - Current hour (1=1 o'clock, C=12 o'clock) ## - Current Voice (01-99)
DIRECTIVE_LR_mm_????_DESCRIPTION (up to 24 characters)
	Load Directive where LR = type of load directive, "LR", "LS", "LP", etc. where mm = minute value where the directive should occur where ???? = minutes and seconds indicating the length of the load DESCRIPTION = user description field. Time approximate can be used by placing a ~ (tilde) character as first element in the description field, time update by placing a $ (dollar sign) character as the first element in the description field.
DIRECTIVE_LW_mm_rr00_DESCRIPTION (up to 24 characters)
	Load Window Directive where mm = minute value where the directive should occur where rr = the relay number of window to load. For Set Voice, use 99 DESCRIPTION = user description field. For Set Voice, use $xx in the description, where xx equals the voice number. For other windows, use $xxxx, where xxxx is the appropriate value for the window contents. Refer to your audio system documentation for more information.
FUNCTION_??_mm_DESCRIPTION (up to 24 characters)
	DCS User Function Call Directive where ?? = DCS function number 01-99 where mm = minute at which to execute function where DESCRIPTION is descriptive only

The time value used in the Breaknote "Traffic Merge" must be the time the commercial break starts on the traffic log. If this value points to a time which does not exist on the traffic log an error will be generated in LogMerge, conversely if the time is beyond the first element LogMerge will miss the preceding spots.

Talent

Several functions of LogMerge are active only during automated time periods. To switch these features in and out we have chosen to use the Talent description as the location for the necessary keywords. By placing the words VOICE TRACK?? on the talent info line, LogMerge will know that hour is automated. Additionally the ?? directly after the word track will represent the announcer voice number and will be inserted anytime LogMerge finds a cart with ## as the last 2 digits. This forms part of the DCS wild card macros and can simplify creation of logs.

Note that LogMerge as a default will convert DCS/Maestro wild card characters only during automated hours. A configuration option of LogMerge will force the conversion in ALL hours.

Additional Wild cards

Although covered in some detail in the DCS operations manual, DCS wild cards are fully supported for cart numbers in LogMerge. The ^ (caret) represents the current hour, % represents the day of week, ## represents the current announcer.

By placing these in your cart number specs LogMerge will replace the wild card values with the correct values and then be able to obtain the correct audio times. By using these wild cards a minimum number of hour formats can be created and copied without having to know the exact cart number. This becomes extremely handy when voice tracking is done. A sample Voice Track grid is included for reference in this manual.

Using Linker to Create a Combined Log for Export and Use by LogMerge

If you use Linker to merge the traffic and music logs prior to using LogMerge, you can configure Linker to include the special characters "^^" for each traffic record. When set up this way, LogMerge can distinguish between music and traffic records and handle them accordingly.

When setting up the Linker traffic record structure, the key traffic log element fields, and their locations in each line of the exported file, are as follows:

1.	Cart Number. Starts at position 3 for 7 characters. Only the first 4 characters are used.

2.	Log Description. Starts at position 10 for 24 characters. Trailing spaces are removed.

3.	Intro. Starts at position 38 for 2 characters.

4.	Length. Starts at position 40 for 5 characters. LogMerge expects the time to be in the format "MM:SS".

5.	Fade. Starts at position 45 for 2 characters.

For more information on troubleshooting when using Linker, see the Selector - Linker TroubleShooting topic.

Summary

If you choose to implement all of the available tools using the Selector export utility, the requirements for the traffic system export are reduced to the commercials (at the correct, synchronized times) and the RTM (return to music) key word. All other material - jingles, liners, voice tracks, direct cart calls, etc., call be controlled directly from the Selector export.