Native CSV Formatting

The Native CSV format can be used to import a schedule via the programming tab or by way of the import/native hot folder on the server. It may also be exported from the server via the programming tab, modified, and re-imported.

Required:

  • Output – The server channel on which the video will be played.
  • Date – Date of event in MM/DD/YYYY format.
  • Time – Time of scheduled event in HH:MM:SS format.
  • Type – Options include PLAYOUT, OVERLAY, STREAM, SWITCH, DEVICE.
  • Source ID – The unique ID of the content that resides on the server. Null this field if you wish to use the Source Name instead.
  • Source Name – The name of the content item on the server.
  • Offset – How far from the beginning of the file you want to start playing in seconds. 0 will start from the beginning of the file.
  • Duration– The length of time you want the playout to run in seconds.

Not Required:

These columns are not necessary for simple file plays. If any other action such as overlays or switch events are used each column should be present in the below order.

  • Output Name – The channel name
  • Program Code – If program codes are used in your workflow, enter a code that distinguishes what program this is. You can search on program codes in combination with a keyword search.
  • Episode Code – If episode codes are used at your installation, enter a code that distinguishes what episode of a program series this is.You can search on episode codes in combination with a keyword search.
  • Program – If this installation does not use program codes, enter the name of the program as it should appear in the Program Guide.
  • Title– Used for overlays.
  • Episode – If this installation does not use episode codes, enter the name of the episode as it should appear in the Program Guide, if applicable.
  • Description –  Enter a detailed description of the content as well as any keywords to be used to search for this content.
  • OSD – On-Screen Display & Emergency Notifications
  • OSD Path – Path to the OSD
  • OSD File – File name of the OSD
  • Include In Guide – If you want the program guide report to display this playout.
  • Track Content Attributes – If true the schedule will use the metadata stored for this content file.
  • Program Number – Use if program is many in a series. Found in the metadata of the file.
  • Switch Command – Example of a switch from source 2 to output 1 is ” B002->001″

Tips on using Excel to help in scheduling

Excel will recognize the date column (B) and time column (C) as date and time values. But when doing any calculations on them, you want them to behave as a combined date-time (so that, for example, you properly roll over any midnight boundaries).

So in each cell you want to do a calculation (for example, the next cell’s date and time cells), you will first combine the two values – just adding them will turn them into a combined date-time object. The duration column (H) is shown in seconds, so to do math with it, use the TIME function, passing in the H column as the third value (seconds).

Thus, to calculate a start date and time exactly after the previous program ends, the formula would look like this (example here assumes current values are in row 2):

=B2+C2+TIME(0,0,H2)

This will at first give you a full date-time (5/24/2011 14:22), but use Excel’s Extract functions to extract just the date (5/24/2011) or just the time with seconds (14:22:30) to match the column types as expected. For the date, use the INT function, and for the time, use the MOD function. If we follow the example above, they would be:
For the date, =INT(B2+C2+TIME(0,0,H2))
For the time, =MOD(B2+C2+TIME(0,0,H2),1)

You will repeat the exact same formula in both the B and C column, and may have to use Excle’s formatting options to display only the date or only the time.

This way, you could create a sheet where each start date and time is calculated from the row before, and you could enter whatever you want for the duration in each row.

Remember to empty the Source ID column if it does have values, as you want the import to match on filename, which it will do if Source ID is blank.