Script Editor

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Step Types

Automation Steps can be any of the following types:

• Play - Plays a Sound Item.
• Delay - Adds a time delay time between two sequential Steps.
• Run Script - Runs another Script. The script can run inside the parent scripts thread or it can spawn a new, separate thread. (See Run Script - Spawns New Thread for details.)
• Stop Script - Stops a Script that is currently running. If the target Script was started internally by a Run-Script Step in the parent Script, it will also be stopped.
• Pause Script - Pauses a Script that is currently running. If a Script pauses itself with a Pause Script Step, it will effectively freeze itself (since no steps will execute while it is paused). Thus it won't be able to resume itself.
• Resume Script - Resumes a Script that is currently Paused.
• Start External Program - Starts an External Program and passes any variables (parameters) specified in the Step. When the Start External Program Step executes in automation, the Automator does not wait for the external program to complete its operation. It starts the External Program then goes on to execute the next automation Step immediately.
• Clear Announcements - Removes announcements currently executing and optionally announcements already scheduled for a later time. See the Clear Announcements section for more details.
• Scheduler - Start, Stop, Pause or Resume the Scheduler. Warning: If a script running under the Scheduler executes a Scheduler(Pause) step, then the Scheduler will be effectively frozen -- nothing gets executed in the Scheduler while it is paused, not even timed steps. You will have to resume it manually by button click or have an external script execute a Scheduler(Resume) step.
• Stop All Scripts - All Scripts currently running are stopped. This also may or may not stop the Scheduler and its running Scripts, depending on the option chosen in the Automation Options.

If you click Pause while a Delay Step is in effect, the delay time will suspend (stop draining) until Resume is clicked. So for example, consider a 20 second Delay. If you click Pause after 5 seconds of the delay has expired, there will be 15 seconds of delay remaining once you click Resume.

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Special Processing

Iteration Controls

• Loop continously - The Script will run continously until it is stopped by pressing the Stop button or by some other stop method. Loop behaves just like Repeat except there is no end to the repeating. Repeat after Offset Time also works with this setting.
• Repeat - Specifies how many times a Script should run when it is started (1 = run one time only, 2 = run 2 times, etc.). After the last Step finishes, the Script restarts at the first Step.
• Repeat after Offset Time - When checked, the Script runs will repeat after the Offset Time has expired. For example, if Offset Time is 5 minutes, the Script will run every 5 minutes for the specified number of Repeats. The first run occurs immediately when the Script run is started. Useful when you want to time the repeat of a Script.
• Shuffle Steps - When checked, the Steps are randomly shuffled when the Script is run. Useful for music playlists. After all Steps have played, the Steps are reshuffled. You can view the order of shuffled steps by Automator Tools > View Recent Shuffled Script menu.

Process Steps as Announcements - These checkboxes designate that the Script is an Announcement Script and all its Play Steps are treated as Announcements. See the separate page on Announcements with Music Programming.

Figure 1. Special Processing

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Date/Time Scheduling a Script

See Figure 2. Only Scripts that have their Schedule Enabled will be added to the Schedule Plan when the Scheduler is started.

• Schedule Enable - Enables the scheduling of a Script to Run at the specified Current Schedule. This must be checked for the Script to be added to the Schedule Plan.
• Schedule Time picker sets the Time of Day to run the Script. This sets a point in time. If you want to set a time range, use the schedule Schedule Edit button.
• Set to Now button - Set the Schedule Time to current time (a point in time).
• Schedule Edit button - Allows for setting advanced Schedule time range and/or date criteria using the Schedule Editor.
• Anytime 24/7 - Set the Script's Schedule to start the Script Anytime you start the Scheduler (regardless of Time Of Day). This is a quick set button and sets the Schedule to Time Period = 24-Hours.
• Current - This is the Script's Current effective Schedule.

Figure 2. Schedule Section controls

Figure 3. Script Editor

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Script Threads

When you run a script by clicking the Automator Run button, a thread is created for script execution. If the script has Run Script steps (as in Listing 1), the scripts will run inside the parent script's thread. In this case, the master script thread can control both of the spawned scripts and coordinate the announcements with the music playlist.

Listing 1. Master Script

Script Name: Pre-show Music Master

Steps:
1. Run Script (My-Announcements)
2. Run Script (My-Playlist)

Figure 4. Scripts Threads

Run Two Scripts Concurrently

If you want to run two scripts concurrently (at the same time) using Run Script steps, you apply a Timed Offset of zero (:00, see step#1 in Listing 2). However, if both scripts contain Play steps, that can interfere with how steps advance. To prevent interference between the two Scripts, apply the Spawns New Thread attribute to one of the Run Script steps in the Step Editor.

Listing 2. Run Two Scripts Concurrently

Script Name: Run Two Scripts Concurrently
Steps:
1. Run Script (Zone-1 Music Playlist), Offset: :00, Spawns New Thread
2. Run Script (Zone-2 Music Playlist)

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Cautions

1) If you delete a Sound Item from the Sound List and an automation Step references to that Sound Item, the automation Step will not execute. It will also be flagged as an error when you Validate the Script.

2) A Run Script Step cannot run the Script it is contained in. This will be flagged as a 'self reference' error. For example, Script A cannot contain a Step to Run Script A. This would create an infinite loop condition.

3) It is possible to create an infinite loop if you are not careful with Run Script Steps. For example, if Script A contains a Step to Run Script B; and Script B contains a Step to Run Script A. In this case, A and B will run each other infinitely and if not stopped with the Stop button will eventually cause the program to run out of memory.

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March 8, 2023