After selecting a station and date to reconcile, ezSuite will load the audit and log files, make a comparison, and display the results.
Initially, all data is shown when you create a new reconcile report. You can then "slice and dice" the information to narrow down what you're looking at. As you change settings, the displayed data information is immediately updated. If desired, you can then print the displayed data or save the displayed data to a file.
The majority of the report window is taken up by the data display. You can navigate in the data display using the horizontal and vertical scroll bars or with keystrokes. See the topic on keyboard shortcuts for details on keystrokes you can use to quickly navigate the report display.
The status bar at the bottom of the display provides basic information about the report you are viewing, including the total number of records, the displayed number records, and the total number of discrepancies.
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An item is considered a discrepancy if it appeared on the original log and was not found in the audit data, is a logged item from a different day, or is a logged item that did not play properly. |
Display Columns
As with most reporting tools, reconcile report data is displayed in columnar format. Here's a brief description of the information displayed, by column:
Column Name |
Description |
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Type |
This column describes the data type - possible values are: Logged (it appeared on the original source log), Non-Log (an item played but not on the original source log), or Wrong Day (an item that may have played, but was logged for another day). |
Log Time |
If an event came from the broadcast log, the log scheduled time appears here. |
Real Time |
The actual time the event occurred, if applicable. |
Status |
The status of the event. For more information on status codes, see the topic on Status Codes. |
Cart No |
The number of the cart (audio file) played. |
Description |
Description of item. If the item is a cart, the text is the description from the XStudio, DCS, or Maestro system. If the item is a switcher action, it is a description of what the action was. |
Log Length |
The scheduled length of the item, taken from the original source log. |
Actual Length |
The actual playback length of a cart, expressed as minutes, seconds and hundredths of a second. |
Cust No |
The customer number associated with the cart, if originally present on the broadcast log. |
Product Code |
The product code associated with the cart, if originally present on the broadcast log. |
Agency |
The agency description field from the host XStudio, DCS, or Maestro. |
Ch (Channel) |
The audio channel on which the cart played. |
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You can sort displayed data by column by clicking on the column text. The first time a column is sorted, it is in ascending order. The second time, it is sorted in descending order. A small graphic in the column heading indicates the sorted column and whether it's ascending or descending. |
Filtering Data
You can reduce the number of items displayed by "filtering" the information. You can elect to show only certain types of information, certain cart numbers and originally logged items only. When you change filtering, the effects are immediately reflected in the displayed data.
1.Data Views. The Data View is a way to change how the report information is displayed. You can group information by hour, show only logged items and group logged items by hour in addition to the standard view of the information. Select the Data View combo box on the main report display to change the view style. There are standard views to group data by hour, display only discrepancies, logged discrepancies only and non-log discrepancies to name a few. Experiment with changing the data view until you are seeing just the information you need - changing the view does not affect the underlying information.
2.Cart Filters. You can report only certain cart numbers or ranges of cart numbers. Selection of a filter is made from the main report display. For information on setting up cart filters, see the section in Preferences on Setting Up Cart Filters.
Proximity Matching
The reconcile process tries to match the log's original scheduled time with the audit data's record of the scheduled log time. This should not be confused with the actual air-play time, rather, the reconcile wants to match perfectly log and audit data items based on the scheduled air-play time.
Occasionally, the program log may "change" sometime after the item is played and before a reconcile report is generated. Generally, the changes are the result of someone modifying the log external to the on-air delivery system and then saving it - and the updated log included changes to log times prior to when an item was actually played by the on-air system. The effect of this is that the scheduled log time in the audit data will no longer match the updated log's scheduled time, resulting in a discrepancy when a reconcile is run.
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Specific to XStudio, operators can edit the log in the control room. If the log is not subsequently saved by the operator, a larger-than-usual number of discrepancies can occur when a reconcile report is generated. |
ezSuite's reconcile process can be changed to account for this sort of problem, using the Proximity Matching controls, located adjacent to the Cart Filters in the reconcile window.
Proximity matches can be based on either minutes or log positions. These methods provide a means to more accurately reconcile a log when the original logged time of an item was changed but the original source log does not reflect the changed time. If one of the proximity search options is enabled, the reconcile process will look back and look forward from the logged time in an attempt to find a matching audit record, based on the log time. The search "window" is set by the user, allowing flexibility in how "close" the item must be before a "match" is declared.
Proximity Match Options
There are three proximity match options - None (the default), Time, and Position.
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As you change proximity match options, the reconcile will automatically reprocess the data. You can also force reprocessing - [Right-Click] on the report, then select the pop-up menu item "Redo Reconcile with Current Settings". |
1.None. When the default match option is set, no additional record matching is done if the scheduled log time and the audit data's scheduled log time do not match
2.Time. ezSuite will look for a matching audit record that falls within the user-selected number of minutes (plus or minus) of the log's scheduled time. Maximum range is +/- 30 minutes.
3.Position. ezSuite will look for a matching audit record that falls within the user-selected number log positions (plus or minus) of the log's scheduled time position. Maximum range is +/- 20 log positions.
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When you have either Time or Position proximity-matching selected, ezSuite does not automatically refresh the report when you change the Range setting. This is deliberate - to avoid excessive reprocessing of the data for each "tick" in the range as the slider is moved. You can manually reprocess the data after changing the range setting by selecting the "Redo Reconcile with Current Settings" pop-up menu item. |
ezSuite saves your proximity matching options when you close the reconcile window and restores them the next time you do a reconciliation. In addition to the selected proximity type, the time and position range values are stored whether or not you actually used them.
