iDAF Overview |
  
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iDAF Overview |
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The desire to have more complete information about .DAF audio files was the motivation to create iDAF. This audio file type was originally created by Computer Concepts Corporation, Lenexa, KS, for the its DCS audio delivery system in 1989.
.DAF files are currently used by a number applications, including the original DCS and Maestro systems, XStudio, XChange, XStudio Voice Tracker, XPlay and XStudio Recorder.
iDAF allows you to scan designated hard disk locations, searching for and cataloging all .DAF files found. All information available in the "cart header" is extracted and organized in an easy-to-read tabular display. Displayed cart information can be filtered several ways, including cart numbers, file types and description, to name a few. In fact, all available information about a particular audio file can be used for filtering and grouping of the displayed information. Showing just expired audio carts is a matter of clicking on a button, as is showing only future-dated audio files.
Displayed cart information can be further organized by hiding or showing columns of information on-demand. Thus, if you’re only looking at certain aspects of the audio files, you can remove extraneous information from the display and later restore it on-demand.
Unlike the standard XStudio, DCS or Maestro displayed inventory information, iDAF shows you key information like cart distribution, multi-cut rotation, sample rate, stereo/monaural settings, type of encoding used (PCM, apt-X™, MPEG), number of revisions that have been made to the audio, owner node of the audio, date/time stamp of the file, and even the analog and digital gain trim values.
Once information has been organized in a suitable way, the information can be exported to any of a number of popular file formats, including standard text, XML, HTML, and Excel (XLS) formats for further analysis or to just provide a list of carts to someone who may need to do maintenance on out-of-date audio, etc.
There are times when it’s desirable to copy selected audio files from one location to another, and that feature is provided, too.
Registered users of iDAF (designated as the "Pro" version) gain advanced features like the ability to edit cart header information, including begin and end dates, distribution, description, agency field, multi-cut rotation and audio gain. Edited information is committed safely by initially making a copy of the audio file, modifying the header information, and then creating the finished file.
Pro version users can also delete audio files and print customizable inventory reports, including saving reports as PDF files directly (Windows 2000 and above).