RadioBOSS 7.2 [beta]

[djsoft]

When displaying the teaser, two timers are shown in this way

Thank you, will be fixed.

When moving through the Outro in the pre-production bar, instead of showing the word OUTRO, it displays “INTRO.” It should correctly display whether the marker is Intro or Outro. Even if it is combined, it should show Intro or Outro depending on where the position bar is located.

It doesn't really "know" what part is playing as it only calculates the entire time. And when crossfading (tracks overlap) it's both Intro and Outro. The word is there to show that it's no a track elapsed time but Intro/outro part of the music. You can see on the bar what it is exactly.

The Played, Now, and Next icons are all working perfectly. The only thing I would like is for the “” icon to blink. Everything else is fine.

This will probably be added in the future.

The timers in the pre-production bar do not look bad, but they appear above the mix markers and take up too much space when the font size is large, reducing the visibility of the waveform.

Timers are above everything else because otherwise they would be unreadable.
You can change the bar size to Large (View > Workspace > Configure) to fit larger fonts.

 

[djsoft]

That means that, for example, if today is Thursday and I select Sunday at 00:00 as the start date and time, will it work?

If you have set the start time, it's what is used by the Playlist Generator for dayparting, etc.

Although yesterday I tested it and experienced incorrect behavior when generating the playlist, since almost no songs were selected, leaving the list nearly empty with only IDs.

Please click Settings > Open Settings Folder, navigate to Log folder and open playlistgenerator.log file - it will show how many tracks are loaded, and what rules prevent tracks from being selected.

 

[Guillaume]

Can you please provide more information on what tracks are not included? With no start time specified, the Daypart and Same-time repeat protections are simply skipped.

Here's an example (Playlist Generator is open from RadioBOSS):

Folder (Library – Track Tool):

• 1980: 992 Tracks
• Dayparting: 982 Tracks can be played before 1:00 PM – 10 Tracks can be played after 1:00 PM

Creating a category (Playlist Generator)

• Name: Test1980
• Duration: 1 Track
• Source: a folder (992 Tracks)
• Filter Tags: one exclusion (32 Tracks)
• No priority, the protections against repetition are selected to use the general values, no constraints.

Rotation (Playlist Generator)

• The playlist is 20 minutes long.

Settings (Playlist Generator)

• Do not repeat the artist: 60 minutes (nothing is checked for other repetitions)
• The "Yesterday" function is checked with durations set to 90 minutes
• Previously played tracks: checked
• Tracks included in the playlist: checked (Tracks to consider: 15 – Maximum duration: 30 minutes – Scheduled broadcast time: checked)

Playlist (the player)

• It is 1:48 PM
• 8 tracks are in the playlist
• 5 of them are scheduled tracks
• 3 of them are among the tracks allowed to play after 1:00 PM. They were placed manually.

The result I expect:
Estimation: 6 out of 10 allowed tracks should appear when exporting or saving the playlist.

I click "Generate" (5 times):​

All 5 playlists contain tracks that are allowed to play before 1 PM.​

So, this is not at all what I expected. But that's normal (for me: not normal at all), as you explained earlier.​

​

I click on "Generate Multiple Playlist" > select the test playlist > Start time: today at 1:52 PM > Generate (5 times – 5 different numbers):​

1 playlist is correct, and 4 playlists contain 1 to 3 tracks that were already in the playlist.​

So, a 20% chance of getting a playlist that meets my expectations.​

I'm sorry: the tests are inconclusive. The feeling I expressed is legitimate.
In this Beta version, I don't see the point of the "Generate" buttons for saving and exporting playlists.

I'm not questioning the improvements and the work done, especially since they meet user expectations

 

[Levine66]

1. These Icons for Now playing, next, previous... I thought they would override the file type icons but they are just crowded up in the poor column

2. The new timers inside the players are perfect. Good work.

3. Duration of the containers please.

Thank you

 

[Guillaume]

There's no option for this because it's configured to always ignore those. So I think more information is needed:

• What database do you use (SQLite or MySQL)
• What is the search string
• What tracks it finds/fails to find.

The option to ignore accents and diacritics is in the advanced settings:

Settings > Advanced > Search – Ignore accent/diacritic characters​

The value I had was: False (I don't know if it was set by default).

Setting it to True allows you to search for letters like "a," "e," and "n" .
The results will be: "a", "à" and "e", "é", "è", "ê" and "n", "ñ," etc.

It works

And some time ago, there was a request that the search function be able to take accents into account to avoid the numerous possible results. Perhaps we should revert to "True" as the default value?

 

[box26609]

1. These Icons for Now playing, next, previous... I thought they would override the file type icons but they are just crowded up in the poor column

In my opinion they'd look much better and easier to see if they had their own column.

 

[IvanVK]

RadioBOSS 7.2.0.3 beta

Changes

• Changed track countdown timers design
• Style: custom icons can be set for current/next/played tracks
• Track Tool: "Do not ask" option for Detect command
• Virtual Mixer: improved UI and fixed dark theme issues
• Waveform is shown in the Last Played bar
• Minor UI improvements and bugs fixed

Download
x86 https://dl.djsoft.net/beta/radioboss_setup_7.2.0.3.exe
x64 https://dl.djsoft.net/beta/radioboss_setup_7.2.0.3_x64.exe

I have to admit that I find the option with the countdown timer in version 2.7.0.2 (beta) much more acceptable and clearer, with the option to decide where it will be located. I hope I'm not the only one with that opinion.

 

[djsoft]

I click on "Generate Multiple Playlist" > select the test playlist > Start time: today at 1:52 PM > Generate (5 times – 5 different numbers):1 playlist is correct, and 4 playlists contain 1 to 3 tracks that were already in the playlist.So, a 20% chance of getting a playlist that meets my expectations.

So, out of all 992 tracks, only 10 can be selected because of dayparting, right? And out of those 10 tracks some/all of them can be excluded due to other rules.
I think you should check the logs from those tests to see if any errors are logged there - Settings > Open Settings Folder, navigate to Log folder and open playlistgenerator.log file.
Check those 5 playlist generations and see if they are different.

I think the problem is that the Playlist Generator makes a limited number of attempts to select a track and if a lot of them are unsuccessful, it gives up (to prevent very long times to create a playlist). This will be logged.

1 playlist is correct, and 4 playlists contain 1 to 3 tracks that were already in the playlist.So, a 20% chance of getting a playlist that meets my expectations.

What rule is violated, is it repeat protection or is it dayparting? If repeat protection, the "Check tracks in the playlist" only checks tracks after the playing track.

 

[djsoft]

1. These Icons for Now playing, next, previous... I thought they would override the file type icons but they are just crowded up in the poor column

I think this can actually be added as an option, as some people would not want to lose the file type-specific icon, and a second icon makes it more prominent.

2. The new timers inside the players are perfect. Good work.

Thank you!

3. Duration of the containers please.

Where possible, it will calculate it, can you please provide some more information?

 

[djsoft]

The value I had was: False (I don't know if it was set by default).

This is the default. It was True for some time, but "bugs" were reported about accents being ignored.

And some time ago, there was a request that the search function be able to take accents into account to avoid the numerous possible results. Perhaps we should revert to "True" as the default value?

This is still a question. Probably a better solution is to move this option out of the Advanced section for easier access.

 

[tomimatko]

I like this solution for the countdown timers design. It’s simple, clear, and logical — without looking messy or cluttered.
I would only suggest moving them slightly away from the very edge, so that the waveform at the beginning and the end remains visible.
Those are the most important parts of the track - the start, the end, fade-in, fade-out, intro, outro, mix start, etc. - so it would be better if those markers and lines were not covered.

 

[Levine66]

Where possible, it will calculate it, can you please provide some more information?

I think it's helpful to see the total duration of the container for purposes of live radio. When the container of the adverts comes... It has no duration. If it has, its good for the presenter to actually know the amount of time to use in and out of breaks.

 

[Guillaume]

So, out of all 992 tracks, only 10 can be selected because of dayparting, right? And out of those 10 tracks some/all of them can be excluded due to other rules.
I think you should check the logs from those tests to see if any errors are logged there - Settings > Open Settings Folder, navigate to Log folder and open playlistgenerator.log file.

Yes, 10 tracks can be selected because they can be played at the time of generation.
There are no exclusion rules among these 10 tracks.
They can all be added to the playlist.
There are no error messages in the log for these 5 playlists generated from "Generate Multiple Playlist".

I think the problem is that the Playlist Generator makes a limited number of attempts to select a track and if a lot of them are unsuccessful, it gives up (to prevent very long times to create a playlist). This will be logged.

What rule is violated, is it repeat protection or is it dayparting? If repeat protection, the "Check tracks in the playlist" only checks tracks after the playing track.

In this case, no rules are violated, there are no repetition issues, and all 5 playlists contain a selection of 10 tracks (6 tracks in general – only the playback order differs).
The problem lies with the tracks within the playlist (the reader): they are not being taken into account (3 allowed tracks are waiting to be played – see the configuration above).
"Repeat protection with consideration for tracks in the playlist window" is checked.
4 playlists contained 1 to 3 of these tracks.

I performed about ten similar tests. Same result.

I can send you screenshots of all the playlists and the log.
(Feel free to move this topic elsewhere to avoid cluttering this discussion.)

 

[Guillaume]

This is the default. It was True for some time, but "bugs" were reported about accents being ignored.

This is still a question. Probably a better solution is to move this option out of the Advanced section for easier access.

Yes, that seems simpler to avoid repeated requests in the future. Perhaps we can do it once the reported "bugs" are fixed.

 

[djsoft]

In my opinion they'd look much better and easier to see if they had their own column.

Probably, and this was one of the options we considered here as well. I think we should wait and see other opinions.

I have to admit that I find the option with the countdown timer in version 2.7.0.2 (beta) much more acceptable and clearer, with the option to decide where it will be located. I hope I'm not the only one with that opinion.

Cleaner is how it's now because each block (Now playing, Next, Previous) is a single block containing all the information, without additional things floating around

 

[djsoft]

I would only suggest moving them slightly away from the very edge, so that the waveform at the beginning and the end remains visible.

It was tried here, but if the timers are not in the corner they look weird and out of place, like there's some bug with placement calculation. With the default settings, more then 2/3rd of the waveform is seen, and if you enable "Large" option it's even better.

One of the solutions we explore now is to allow custom sizes for the top panel instead of pre-set Normal/Large/Minimal, to make it possible resizing the top panels as needed to find good balance between size and usability.

I think it's helpful to see the total duration of the container for purposes of live radio. When the container of the adverts comes... It has no duration. If it has, its good for the presenter to actually know the amount of time to use in and out of breaks.

Yes, one of the next updates will display the total duration in the playlist as well as in the Edit window (where you can edit the contents of the container).

 

[djsoft]

Yes, 10 tracks can be selected because they can be played at the time of generation.
There are no exclusion rules among these 10 tracks.
They can all be added to the playlist.
There are no error messages in the log for these 5 playlists generated from "Generate Multiple Playlist".

Looks like it had selected all the required tracks, so now we need to determine what rule is violated? Is it one of the repeat protection rules (artist) or dayparting? For now I don't see how daypart rules can be broken, it's covered by so many tests and all of them pass

The problem lies with the tracks within the playlist (the reader): they are not being taken into account (3 allowed tracks are waiting to be played – see the configuration above).

This, too, is unlikely to have any issues. In the logs, do you see that tracks from the playlist were loaded? If so, how many? There's another thing (and possibly the one has the bugs) that it will consider tracks start time as well as playlist start time - may be it "thinks" that those playlist tracks are far away (in time) than the generated playlist. I'll add this as a possible bug to check.

Yes, that seems simpler to avoid repeated requests in the future. Perhaps we can do it once the reported "bugs" are fixed.

For this accented search, I think no good default is possible as it seems to be like 50/50% of people who want to ignore it and who do not want so.

 

[tomimatko]

I’m not sure if I’ve asked this before. I searched the forum but couldn’t find it, so just in case — here it is again. I honestly believe this would be a very useful improvement.

I think the “Start generate commands earlier” option should be moved from Settings > Scheduler to Scheduler Wizard > Generate a playlist, and it should be configurable per event.

Currently, in the Generate window, there is a question mark tooltip explaining what “earlier” means.
Instead of that question mark, it would be much more logical to directly place a numeric field there - where you can define the number of minutes for that specific event.

Not every playlist requires the same amount of pre-generation time.
Because of complexity, some playlists may need only 1 minute, while others may require 20 minutes or more.

Right now, this setting is global and applies to all generate events - both simple and complex ones - which limits flexibility.
If the “earlier” value were defined individually inside each Generate event, with the minutes visible directly in the window, the workflow would become much cleaner, simpler, and more intuitive.

This would also reduce the need to use Generate to file + Load playlist as a workaround. In many cases, “Generate to file” would almost lose its purpose.


And one more suggestion regarding Generate:
Would it be possible to add a log entry when the playlist has actually finished generating?

Currently, the log shows when the command is sent, but it would be very useful to receive confirmation when the generation process is completed simply as feedback that everything worked successfully.

 

[xzsaimon16]

I was running a general test of the generate command in order to use dayparting, and I used it this way:


run PlaylistGeneratorPro.exe "-preset=PATRON 1" "-out=D:\PARA RADIO\Data Base Radio Boss\PLAYLIST\PLAYLIST.m3u8" "-starttime=00:00:00" "-startday=0"


I used it for my 3 playlists, which are generated once every hour throughout the day, every day (24/7).


I ran into a problem: it seems to ignore the no-repeat rule, since some songs had already been played, for example, 2 hours earlier—some even just a few minutes before. This happens even though the protection time to prevent them from being selected is set to 10 hours, 12 hours, etc.


I'm not sure how to make this work properly for my case. It shouldn’t affect my workflow this way.

Probably, and this was one of the options we considered here as well. I think we should wait and see other opinions.

I think it would also be good to display the icons in separate columns (The best option for us is this one, but only if you want to keep the file type icons.). It would also make sense to replace the “file type” icons with the played icons.


However, I agree that having both icons in a single column looks cluttered.

--------
Another thing is that we need an option that was previously mentioned: “double-click to mark as next track.” It helps us a lot by allowing a faster and more dynamic selection compared to using the queue.


We need to avoid managing the queue list and be able to do it simply with a double-click, especially when working live.