Graphics

Hello,
I'm trying to use XPression's XML Take Item List to generate an auto-updating playlist of graphics.

I've noticed that whenever the cursor is on an item in the sequencer, and that item is not being played out, if I update that item by saving XML in the watch folder, the cursor loses its place (it goes to the beginning of the playlist). Is there any way to avoid this?

Also, unrelated, but I noticed there's a "GWID" field. Is it possible to specify this in the XML and update graphics using the GWID instead of the Take ID?

I'm using XPression v6.1 build 3437.

-Jeff

Does the XML you are placing in the watchfolder contain several items, or it only contains the single item you are trying to update? We can't promise anything, but we can look to see if we can prevent the cursor from moving. If possible, it could be added to Version 6.7 of XPression (the next major release).

You can't currently update them based on GWID (normally that field is only used in very special MOS workflows). What advantage would you have by using that instead of Take ID?

#XPression

There are other methods for creating items in the sequence as well; such as CII (Intelligent Interface) and we have a full .NET SDK as well. If you want additional info on any of these, send me a private message.
#XPression

Does the XML you are placing in the watchfolder contain several items, or it only contains the single item you are trying to update?

It doesn't seem to matter. The XML can have multiple items, or just a single item, but so long as one of the items being updated is the item that the cursor is currently on, then the cursor will be lost.

Sometimes, the cursor goes to the top of the sequence. Other times, it disappears, and if you press the up or down arrow keys, it reappears.

You can't currently update them based on GWID (normally that field is only used in very special MOS workflows). What advantage would you have by using that instead of Take ID?

It would be nice, but I suppose there wouldn't be that big of an advantage to using a GWID to update an item, vs a take item ID.

However, if items in the sequence had unique, alpha-numeric GWID's, then I imagine it would be easier for the XPression to reliably render state after changes.

I found what would appear to be another bug that illustrates this point. Say I have a sequence like this:

1000 - "Jeff"
1001 - "Brad" -- online
1002 - "David"

...and items 1001 and 1002 need to trade spots so that the playlist looks like this:

1000 - "Jeff"
1001 - "David"
1002 - "Brad"

So I send the XML to swap the items, basically updating 1001 and 1002. The problem is that the XPression seems to remember "1001 is online", and so after the update, it incorrectly renders state like this:

1000 - "Jeff"
1001 - "David" -- online
1002 - "Brad"

It should look like:

1000 - "Jeff"
1001 - "David"
1002 - "Brad" -- online

If there were GWID's associated with each item, you could use that to determine which items are online, instead of Take Item IDs. If GWID's were not available, then you could simply fallback to the Take Item ID.
#XPression

Ok, we looked into the cursor focus issue and can resolve it such that the cursor will remain on the same Take ID number after the import as it was on before the import.
This will be available in the next beta version of 6.7.

Your second issue with the rundown ordering is a little different than what you describe.

When you have 1001 online, and then you send a new XML that tries to reorder them, you aren't infact reordering them but instead you are changing the data contained within the items.
For example, using the items you describe in your example:

When you first send the XML, Item 1001 contains the text "BRAD". This item is placed on-air:
1000 - "Jeff"
1001 - "Brad" -- online
1002 - "David"

Then you send new XML like this:
1000 - "Jeff"
1001 - "David" (1001 still shows as online)
1002 - "Brad"

This isn't moving the Brad item to the bottom of the list. What it has done is taken Item 1001 which is Online, and changed the text in it from "Brad" to "David". It also changed the text of item 1002 from "David" to "Brad". The text won't change immediately on-air (because we don't autoupdate what is on air), but if you hit Enter on item 1001 (which is still online), you will see the text change from Brad to David.

I think you should work with this a bit differently. When an item is added to your "rundown creator" rundown, you can assign a fixed take ID number to that item. For example, Item 1001 should always be the "Brad" item, unless the user in your tool changes it (example, fixes a spelling mistake and it should be "Brady".)
If that item should be moved to the end of the rundown (after 1002/David), then you should re-send the XML but put the XML in this order:
1000 - "Jeff"
1002 - "David"
1001 - "Brad" (still online)

Make sure that in the XML Watch folder preferences for XPression you turn off the option to "Sort" the imported items based on their Take ID (or else the order in your XML file will be ignored).

Does that make sense?


#XPression

Yes, that makes sense.

If we treat the Take ID as a unique ID and disable sorting, how would we insert an item between two items already in the list? If we sent just the diff, then it would be added at the end. Should we clear the playlist and resend the entire thing?
#XPression

OK, so assign a unique ID for the Take Item ID, and send all items (not just the diffs) for reordering, adding, etc?
#XPression

I played around with that a little bit...

It works, but I have to disable deletion of online items, sort by name, and have "name" start with an integer used for sorting so things don't get messed up when a change happens.

i.e.

Take Item ID Name State
1000 "0001 Jeff"
1001 "0002 David"
1002 "0003 Brad" (online)

If I don't disable deletion of online items, then whenever I update the playlist with "clear" and "create" commands, whatever is online gets taken offline.

If I do disable deletion of online items, and don't sort by name (using a name that starts with an integer), then whatever is online gets bumped to the top of the sequence whenever I update the playlist.

It would be rad if there were another field in the XML that could be used for sorting. order="1" or something like that. Then, the "Name" value wouldn't have to be polluted in this scenario.

But I think this gets the job done. Thank you for your help!
#XPression