Manual Events stops the main playlist?

[DjBurba]

Hello, Radiodj 2.0.0.6 here

I have a situation where i have all day an automated rotation, and sometimes i have a pre-recorded long show to play.

When a show starts, i made 2 manual events that go before and after that show, so that disables and enables an event category (my "automation" category, so radiodj doesnt activate unwanted automations during the show). I need them to trigger when the show starts, so that's why i tried loading them before and after the show.

Problem is that i tried various ways to load the manual event in the main playlist: once by a silent file and using the trigger event in the track properties, once by loading the manual events by using playlists, but i dont know why when the event triggers it stops my main playlist, even if it's always on autodj (on) and automated (on).

Inside these manual events there is only the "disable event category" command, no pause or play commands. I even tried putting a play just after the disable events, but it doesnt play the next track.

How can i solve this problem? Is that made to work like that or not?

[Vanlen]

Haven't used that version of RadioDJ in quite a few years now but it sounds like it should work.

Does that version have the Manual Event Cart Wall Plugin from the Disabled Folder?

Is this long show an Audio File or a Live Feed?

If the later use a manual event call it as you wish with Disable AutoDj/Clear Playlist/ Load your Show File/Enable AutoDJ in the event actions and save event.

Then when the show is over a Manual Event with actions Clear Playlist/ Enable Auto DJ and save event. If Rotations are changed and jingle categories need to be enabled goes their as well.

To Automate the entire process use the Silence file you mentioned, or better yet, a Jingle or Intro with the Manual Events In the Other Properties of the Jingle/Silence File for the start and stop times should work too.

Just an FYI   
All of my Manual Events are in the Category "Default".

Jingles, IDs Station Imaging etc are assigned Event categories like Morning Jingles, Afternoon, Overnight etc. 

Since Manual Events are "Default category" I don't actually turn on and off things as they are different than Default which happened to me before I figured it out:hihi:

Hope this gets you going.

Cheers

[DjBurba]

Manual Event Cart Wall Plugin is active and working

the show can be 15min to 2 hours, depends on the show (the problem acts when the event is triggered and has nothing to do with the show itself...)

i tried changing the silent file to an audio fx, change its file format, change its cue points to have the next with the fx, but the problem is right when the event automatically triggers: you can see it on the playlist, and when the file now playing finishes RDJ runs the event (it disappears from the playlist) and stops (nothing more in the player, and the playlist stopped), you hit play and the system restarts without any problem.

if i call these manual events manually from the events cart wall, they are executed correctly without affecting the player or the main playlist.

[Vanlen]

  That is strange

How are you getting the Show into the Main Playout?   Can you upload a pic of the event details?

[DjBurba]

this is an example of a 60 min. show i have stored, in this case i have to stop the automatic event that occours every half hour, so if the show is (for example) 48 min long i will not have the half hour events triggered (and the relative files like ads and jingles), because they are disabled until the show finishes. This gives me flexibility as this radio is used as a "school" so i always have the risk that shows could be longer or shorter than what i expect.

This is an example with playlists (in the playlist there is only the event that disable the half hour event category), but you can replace them with load track (single) and the silent track that triggers the same event.

Before i used to clear the playlist everytime i have this automatic event so i always never have leftovers from older events, but my friends forced me this way to always have an entire hour of generated playlist from rotation with half hour promos when there is no pre recorded show going.

The screenshot -> https://ibb.co/prbC8c6 (i couldnt upload it here for some reasons)

[Vanlen]

Okay, I was thinking your situation was different than picture....

So it's Not "Rotation" Automation but PLAYLISTS you've Created and you aren't using a MANUAL event but a Regular Event at ONE Specific Time each day with Playlist top/the show/and then a playlist at the end within it to attempt this.

First your Playlist does it's thing at the top followed by the show loading at the bottom then right after the show loads you also have a playlist that goes to the top replacing everything at the top of the main playout could be the problem as they FIRE ONE AFTER THE OTHER with no wait times.  Hope that makes sense.

Not knowing what's in your Playlist Event Triggers to Disable and Enable Things.

I can only suggest the following

In the Scheduled Event

Disable AutoDJ
Clear Playlist
Load Category "YOUR SHOW" Top
Enable Auto DJ


That would make the show  play.

Now what you could do is put in the Show Audio OTHER TAB  a MANUAL Event to then load
your enabling of the regular playlists perhaps?

Maybe do a test of the above and see how it goes.

[DjBurba]

i'm sorry but i already do the clear playlist in one other event that triggers 4 seconds before and has 5 seconds of wait (i made some sort of chained events to ease myself script making for shows)... I'm not too good at explaining myself and english isnt my mother language, so i'm sorry for that.

the chain works like this:

one hourly automatic event starts at xx:58:00 (this is my standard hourly event)
-> this event disables autodj, clears playlist, loads saytime, station ids and promos, waits 5 seconds, enables autodj

one weekly automatic event starts at xx:58:04 (this is the show loader)
-> this event adds in playlist (while autodj disabled, remember the 5 secs wait from the other event) a manual event to stop automatic events, the show, and a manual event to restart automatic events

this way i have loaded my hourly block (here simplified with 2 tracks) and the show, with the manual events in playlist in the right places (this method of loading tracks worked well for the last 2 years without the manual events in playlist), so in playlist now i have:

1- saytime
2- station id
3- manual event to stop automatic events
4- show
5- manual event to start automatic events
6- music from rotation
7- music from rotation
8- ...

the playlist goes out automatically like always, so 1 and 2 play, but when track 2 finishes and 3 triggers, the playlist stops (i have now show in 1 and nothing going out) like it's paused, but i think it would be supposed to trigger the event and play the show right away, then trigger the event when the show finishes and continue like nothing happened.

Also, when automatic events are disabled i dont have any other event that could disable autodj or clear playlist, until the manual event reactivates automatic events.
I made it this way so if a 60 min show goes long (for example for 75 minutes) RDJ will not create the hourly block, so it will be always on time.

that's why i need the manual events in playlist, so they trigger when they are meant to.

I tried to put the manual events into the show track itself (edit track, others, the last two rows), and the same method for the silent audio files i mentioned in my other posts, but the result is always the same: when the manual event is triggered, my radio stops.

[Vanlen]

Nice detailed run through of what you are doing.
So many ways to do tasks.

It looks right
If it Stops and doesn't play and their were no other events to cause it to stop then I'm puzzled too.

You say it used to work so maybe all the updates of Windows and the large number of beta updates of RadioDJ since the version that work leads me to wonder if you trying out and testing the latest beta 2.0.3.7 and see if that resolves your issue.

Maybe some other user can chime in with something I'm not seeing.

Cheers

[Kiwi]

If I understand things correctly, it appears you disable events before you load your show - which is an event - so is this why it is not playing?

Have you looked at creating a manual event with the Pause! command. Then you can use track edit of the show and within the "Others" tab go to Start Event and enter the "Pause Event" and the do the same with "End Event". This should pause events before the show starts and reactive events once the show has finished.

Hope I've made this clear to you.

[Vanlen]

Yes @Kiwi I mentioned that earlier but the OP stated it didn't work.

[Kiwi]

Thanks @Vanlen.  In fact, I should have said to use the Disable/Enable Event Category commands.

I believe the issue is with "Pause Events" because @DJBurba says "you hit play and the system restarts without any problem.". To me this means DJ is in the "pause" mode thus the show does not play rather than "Disable" mode.

I tested the following in RadioDJ 2.0.0.6 and it worked.

I used Track edit and in Start event entered "Disable Event Category" and in End Event I entered "Enable Event Category". When using the Disable Event ensure the event category is the same one the Events you don't want to play is selected.

Hope this clarifies things...

EDIT..
I did a little more testing and the following achieved what I believe you are looking for,,,

AutoDJ Disable!
Clear Playlist!
Load Show
Load Saytime
Load Station ID
Disable Events Category
AutoDJ Enable!
Enable Events Category

You may wish to test it. Remember the "Load" actions are in the reverse order of how they play as they get loaded to the top of the playlist.

[Vanlen]

Sure does.  I haven't used 2.0.0.6 in a very long time and glad to know the Manual Events work.  Hopefully that will help  @DjBurba get it working.

[DjBurba]

Ok, this is strange.

I just tried the same way of doing things on my local pc (it's not a clone of the main machine), and it just works... at this point i think there is something going wrong with my main machine, and i can't figure out what... maybe a hidden option, maybe some messed up database?

My local is a maria 5 db on a synology nas, my main machine is a mamp db on the same machine, both with radiodj 2.0.0.6 (installed at the same time... roughly, i just didn't remember i had a local test rig too)

[Vanlen]

Good to know it works and hope you get it sorted out. 

[Kiwi]

Have you tried a Database Repair?