Schedule and Media Imports

Schedule Imports

Schedule files (.SCH) can be imported in a few different ways:

1) Manually – directly through the GUI on the Programming tab in Classic view. Select the .SCH file by clicking the File Import “Choose File” button, and selecting “Generic Digital Protocol” from the Format pull down.

2) By transferring one or more .SCH files into the schedule import hot folder, //vol1/import/GDP
This is the location of the HyperCaster’s import hot folder. Any schedule files transferred into this directory will be imported roughly every 5 minutes. .SCH files can be transferred using either SMB or FTP, so the process can be automated if you have an external system that can deliver .SCH files to the HyperCaster.

3) By setting up the HyperCaster to automatically fetch .SCH files from remote server using either SMB or FTP protocol. See CCMS Plus Setup for more details.

Playout Event Imports

When the schedule import process runs, for each Spot ID in the SCH file that does not have a matching media file on the server, the system creates a “TBD” content record.  In the “Content” tab, these items have placeholder thumbnails marked “TBD”.  These are simply empty content records that have no associated media file yet.

The HyperCaster will periodically look on any configured content remote servers for a media file that matches each of its TBD’s. (See CCMS Plus Setup for configuration instructions.)  If found, it is transferred, and the placeholder thumbnail is replaced with a genuine thumbnail. It will also import any content file that has a more recent modified date/time (which can be used to replace or update already transferred content files).

The “Schedule” section of the HyperCaster’s config tab also enables the operator to configure the missing media alarm to generate an e-mail alert for any TBD that is scheduled to playout within a specified time.

Stream Event Imports

CCMS Plus allows you to schedule streaming events via the SCH import:

  1. Click the Stream item in the Config tab on a Child server.
  2. Create a stream with a Spot ID that matches that of stream events in your SCH file.
      • Activating “Include in Guide” will cause the Stream, when scheduled, to show up on the Programming Guide.
      • Activating “Include in Inventory” will cause the Stream’s playouts to log to Verification (VER) files.
  3. From the Parent server, distribute the SCH in the usual manner.

Any stream or feed configured on a HyperCaster can have a “Spot ID” specified. During import of an SCH file, if any row contains a spot ID that matches an available feed’s spot ID, a stream event will be created instead of a regular playout event.