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Viz Channel Branding User Guide

Version 5.1 | Published October 26, 2023 ©

Playlist Importer

Playlist Importer (PLI) is the component responsible for reading a schedule file from disk and translating it to orders against Integration Hub's REST API (v2). The Playlist Importer can be run automatically by the Media Sequencer, or by external scripting.

Configuration

For the Playlist Importer to be launched by Media Sequencer, the Enable Automatic Import option must be selected in the Automatic Import Settings section.

IMPORTANT! From Media Sequencer v5.5+ additional steps may be required due to operational security to enable automatic import being launched from a timed interval from Media Sequencer itself.

Playlist Importer Log File

The Playlist Importer (PLI) application writes a log file when executing. The log file is normally written to the directory: %ProgramData%\Vizrt\Viz Channel Branding\Playlist Importer\

Note: %ProgramData% is an environment variable, the fully expanded path will often be C:\ProgramData\Vizrt\Viz Channel Branding\Playlist Importer\

  • The log file is a normal textfile that can be inspected with any text editor. Each time PLI is run, a new log file is created with a timestamp. The verbosity level of the log file is set by the “-loglevel <LEVEL HERE AS NUMBER>” startup parameter.

  • The loglevel should be set in the channel configuration settings found in Settings > Global Settings.

Caution: Care should be taken to delete old log files when they are no longer needed or they will eventually fill up the server hard-drive.

Playlist Importer Startup Parameters

The following parameters may be used during startup of the Play List Importer.

Parameter

Description

Example

-channel

Defines which channels to process within the Integrations Hub/Media Sequencer for the Playlist Importer. Each channel name is bracketed by an ‘@’ sign.

-channel @<channelName1>@<channelName2>@

-loglevel

Specifies the log level of the Playlist Importer. Values range from 0 to 100. Default is 25, 50 is Increased, 75 is Extended, 100 is Debug.

-loglevel 100

-inthub

Host name or IP address for Integrations Hub. When host name is “none” Playlist Importer will read each channel’s information from channels.ini.
When no parameter is provided, Playlist Importer will attempt to connect to localhost.

-inthub none

-inthub 10.11.10.11

-inthub localhost

--refresh

PLI will only refresh current running playlist. It will not import/update the playlist

--refresh

Automatic Import of Files

Files imported automatically by the Playlist Importer are given a timestamp and one of the following suffixes:

  • .done is appended if the file was successfully imported.

  • .fail is appended if the file was not successfully imported.

  • .partial is appended if the file was not fully successfully imported but part of it was.

Troubleshooting

  • Error - Automatic import of Microsoft Excel schedule files fail:
    This error is a known issue with certain Windows installations, particularly when the Media Sequencer is running in Service mode.
    To resolve this issue, create the following directory on your Windows 64-bit system:

    • C:\Windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\Desktop.

    • Set full control permissions for the new directory.