Clocks are created, edited, copied, named and renamed in this window. When you build or edit a Clock, you call for different Clock Elements for each hour, specifying what you want and in what order; this creates a sequence of Clock Entries. Once built, Clocks are allocated to Hours in the Clock Assignment window.
NexGen Users: See the Clocks notes in the NexGen Integration topic for details of how to configure Clocks when using NexGen.
See also these Clock design topics: Clock Constraints, Clock Goals, Exact Time Markers, Artist Blocks, Voice Tracks, Spotsets, Spot Blocks and Breaknotes.
From the Navigation Bar
Click the Clocks tab to open the default Clocks Definition window, similar to the illustration below.
From the Clock Assignment Grid
Select any Clock, and press Enter or double-click to open the Clocks Definition window for the selected Clock.
From the Editor window
Double click on an Hour Header to open that Hour's current Clock in the Clock Definition window. This applies whether a Clock is Active or Archived.
The body of the Clock Definition window has two sets of toolbar buttons, one for each primary pane. The Active Clock name (contents displayed in the Content Pane) is shown above the Content pane. Below the Toolbar buttons are the List and Content panes. In the Content pane, you view the and edit the content of the selected Clock. The List pane displays all Clocks and their assigned status. Select a Clock in the List pane to view and edit its contents in the Content pane. A third, optional, Clock Elements Selection pane displays all Clock Elements; from here you can drag and drop elements directly in to the Clock Content pane or the Mockup pane (see the notes for the Clock Elements pane).
This illustration is reduced in scale to better fit in the help window.
TIP: If you assign global Appearances in the Editor, these are also displayed in the Clock Designer content pane, as shown here. See the notes on using Appearances in this topic. When you first access the Editor window, the Clock Content pane is displayed with Black lettering on a White background. See the notes on Using Color. If you assign field-level Appearances to Category Groups in the Goals Categories window, these will be displayed for Category Groups in the Description field.
Click any area in the image for help
Click any area in the image for help
Optional Clock/Schedule column fields
The leftmost toolbar in the Clock definition window, above the Clock list pane, allows you to add, rename, copy, import or export a Clock, delete unassigned Clock(s), Save or Cancel changes, copy Clocks to other stations, print or preview the Clock and use the Reset button to close the Clock Element Selection pane. Toolbar buttons may vary in color based on the Appearance Style selected.
Pressing the CTRL+F will open the Find option allowing the user to do a "Smart Filter" find. The Finder will search for results as they are typed. To open the Find option click the pane to search and press the CTRL+F keys on the keyboard.
CTRL+F - Invokes the Find Panel.
ESC - Clears the search box. If the search box is empty, pressing ESC closes the Find Panel.
DOWN ARROW - Moves focus from the Find Panel to the grid's data area.
The Clocks List pane on the left lists all the existing Clocks configured for the Station with the Name, Last Edited date and User that edited the clock. Clocks can be sorted in ascending or descending order by the Assigned, Name, Last Edited or User, by clicking on the header of the column. A check in the Assigned field means the Clock has been assigned to at least one hour in an Assignment Grid in the Assignments window.
The toolbar Buttons in the Clock definition window, above the Clock content pane, are used to add a Clock entry at the selected Clock position, or delete a Clock entry, move the selected Clock position up or down in the Clock, apply the familiar cut, copy, and paste functions to any selected position, show the Clock Elements Selection pane or Expand the Clock Content pane. Toolbar buttons may vary in color based on the Appearance Style selected.
The Clock name is displayed in the same row as the toolbars, it displays the name of the Clock selected in the Clock List pane. It cannot be directly edited.
This pane is opened by clicking the Clock Element Selection 
button in the Content Pane toolbar. It opens between the List pane and the Content Pane; it can be opened and closed at any time. It is used to build the Clocks by dragging and dropping Elements into specific positions.
TIP: If you assign Appearances to use in the Editor or Goals Balance windows, these same Appearances are displayed in the Clock Designer in the Content pane, as shown here. See the notes on using Appearances in this topic.
This pane contains a Tree Control, allowing you to access subsections under each heading. For example, if you click the Song node, or click on the Song heading, the control expands to display Song Category Groups, and so on. For more information, see the notes on Navigating in the Clock Element Selection pane.
From this pane, you can select any Clock Element, and drag it to either the Clock Content pane or to the Clock Mockup pane. For more information, see the notes on Adding a Position from the Clock Element Selection pane.
Use the Expand Grid 
button to hide the left pane of the Clock window expanding the Clock Content pane.
Click the Content Filter 
toolbar button or press F6 to switch from the default Clock content view to display any combination of Songs, Links, Spots (including Spotsets and Spot Blocks), or Other Items (Exact Time Markers, Voice Tracks, Controls, or Breaknotes). Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the button, and select the Clock Entry type or types to display. The Content Filter can be used to choose to display all entry types (the default setting) any single entry type, or a combination. The last choice made is retained for all the defined clocks until the window is Refreshed (F5). The last choice made is also retained for future use; if a network machine, settings are applied locally are retained on each machine.
Clock Positions are filled by one of the Clock Elements listed here, creating a Clock Entry. The default Clock Element is Song Category Group. When selecting a Song, select the Song Category Group from the Description field. Click the Drop-down arrow in the Type field for any Clock Position to select any of the other Clock Elements:
Leading or Trailing Related Link
Spotsets and Spot Blocks
Relative Exact Time Markers for Flex Clocks
Browse List / Linker Browse List
TIP: You can also use the Clock Elements Selection pane to add Elements to a Clock. See the notes on Working with the Clock Elements Selection pane.
In the Song window, you can create and assign themes to one or more songs. A theme is a song attribute, and can be used like any other attribute as a spread goal in the Priorities window, or to set up Segue Bans between songs with specific themes in the Segue Bans window. Working in the Library, themes can be used to group songs together using any categorization scheme you define. Unlike other attributes, however, you can use themes in scheduling, using Theme Song positions. In the Clocks definition window, you can assign any Song Theme for your station to a Clock position. This will call for just those songs with the specified theme to be scheduled in that position. See the Themes Process notes in this topic.
TIP: You can also schedule songs by Theme using Clock Constraints. This facility also allows you to block Songs with a specific Theme from scheduling in a specific Clock position, or to call for Songs by theme in a specific Category Group. See the Theme Scheduling topic.
TIP: Many programmers use Theme Song positions in combination with Related Links (see below, or see the Related Links topic). This feature lets users 'place' Songs with Related Links very precisely in the schedule, and so schedule the Related Links automatically next to the Song positions.
To insert a Link Category Group, select this option in the drop-down list. Then select the Link Category Group to use from the drop-down list in the Description field.
To fix an existing Link directly into any Clock position.
button to open the Link Selection window.
to save the changes to the Clock.Note: Specific Links are also used with Fly-In Related Links using the Specific Link Replace Option. Links that are set as Specific Links in an Active Clock cannot be deleted until the Link is removed from the Clock.
The Specific Link (Live) clock element is used to add a Live Event to a clock position. All Links with the Live attribute will be listed in the Specific Link (Live) list of the Clock Element Selection pane. A Link is set as Live in the Link Information pane of the Link asset.
In the Link window, associate Songs to any Link either by Artist or Theme. You have great flexibility in defining relationships: you can define single-song themes, for example, so that just one song is associated with one or more links; or you can associate a number of songs by theme or artist, so that you can create a varied range of associations to use in scheduling. Then, in the Related Links window, define relationships using Artists or Themes, using more complex criteria, which can then be called for in Clock positions. For full details, see the Related Links topic. In Clocks, a Leading or Trailing Link can be called for that matches the relationships defined in a Clock Position, and where a Link is available to be scheduled that matches the relationship with an associated song, GSelector will schedule it accordingly.
NOTE: An alternate method of Related Link scheduling is the Fly-In Related Link method, which is independent of Clock Requests. See the Fly-In Related Link notes in the Related Links topic.
A Breaknote denotes a basic interruption, or break, in the program flow. A Breaknote can be used as a stopset. For more details, see the Breaknotes topic. Breaknotes are not used when GSelector is integrated with NexGen.
Used in Clocks as placeholders for commercials. See the notes for Spotsets and Spot Blocks for more information.
Controls are used with Zetta, Master Control and other sequencers. A control is a schedule element that instructs the sequencer to send a command to an external hardware device such as an audio switcher. One or more control elements can be specified on a Clock, and the system scheduler will then create corresponding controls in the resulting schedules.
To specify a Control, select Control in the Type drop-down list for the selected position or positions, and then select the Control for the selected position from the Description field drop-down list. Enter the Zetta information such as External ID or Comment in the info field.
Note: When GSelector is integrated with Zetta a Zetta Empty Voice Track is created, use only this control for scheduling Empty Voice Tracks for Zetta. See the Shows, Images, Tags and Rotations topics in the Library section of the Zetta help guide for additional information on scheduling these control events in GSelector. See also the Time Announcement topic in the Zetta help guide for information on entering an External Control event.
Controls are accessed from the sequencer. In Master Control or other sequencers, you can define durations for any and all available Controls where these are appropriate to your broadcast requirements. These are then available to you in GSelector to build into Clocks by clicking on the Duration field selection arrow.
Used in Clocks as placeholders for recording Voice Tracks. see the notes for Voice Tracks for more information.
Used in Clocks to mark Time Points. Exact Time Markers are used to adjust the air time in the schedule, to inform operators when a program element should be broadcast, or for Automation purposes.
An Exact Time Marker in a Flex Clock configuration can be set to Relative. In the Exact Time Marker position use the Timing column to set the ETM to Relative.
Assign the Clock to the desired position in the Assignments tab.
When the clock is scheduled the Exact Time marker will be relative to its position in the overall hour.
For Example: If the clock is a 30 minute clock with an ETM at 15 minutes but is scheduled for the last thirty minutes of the hour the ETM will become a 45 minute ETM.
The Hour Marker is used to tell GSelector when a new hour of the day starts in the clock. The Hour Marker is used to create Clocks that span over an Hour. This is useful for special programming. This is used with Clock Assignments that have a Time Granularity of Minutes. The Time Granularity of Clock Assignment setting is in the Advanced Station Features of the Setup window. If a clock spans hours a Hour Marker must be placed in the clock to mark the top of hour. If no Hour Marker is defined in a multi-hour clock, all events will be in the first hour.
For Example: In a 2-hour clock assigned from 12P to 2P. The Hour Marker determines where 1P starts.
Note: For a clock with one or more Hour Markers, only one hour is shown at a time in the pie graph. The hour shown will correspond to the hour that has focus in the grid.
Although this is only one Clock Position, the Artist Block position holds a series of positions - two or more - which schedule Songs by the same Artist selecting from Artists with a specific Artist Image. Artist Blocks can also contain Links. For full details, see the Artist Blocks topic. Artist Blocks - and Twofers - are only available in the Clocks Definition window when the Allow Twofers box in the Station - Features window is checked.
When you apply an Artist Block position in a Clock, the following Spread Goals are disabled when considering Songs for the position:
Artist
Vocalist
Artist Group
Vocal
This Clock Element is used in association with external sequencers. The Automation System Events in GSelector synchronize the log so NexGen knows where to load songs in relation to other events in the hour. Automation System Events should match the exact position of non-song events in the NexGen clock. Automation Events can be added to the default New Clock Sequence in Station - Features.
NOTE: When you use GSelector-driven integration clocks and logs in NexGen are overwritten, so Automation System Events are unnecessary. In NexGen-driven integration, GSelector loads music (including links) into specified positions, and Automation System Events are required. See the Clock Design notes in the Exporting to NexGen topic. In Zetta use the Sync Categories and Control Events button in the Configuration | System | GSelector tab to copy these events to GSelector.
'Twofers' is an old radio expression: the term was originally used to describe the scheduling of two Songs by the same Artist. When a Twofer position is added, GSelector will schedule a Song from the Artist or Vocalist scheduled in the preceding Clock position in the Twofer position. This allows you to assign a Theme position calling for a type of Artist, for example, which would then allow you to schedule two songs by the same Artist. When scheduling a Twofer position, GSelector will ignore the Artist Spread Goal between the two positions. Twofers - and Artist Blocks - are only available in the Clocks Definition window when the Allow Twofers box in the Station - Features window is checked. Vocalist is only available for twofer's if the Match On drop-down in the Station - Features window twofer tab is set to Vocalist. When this setting is enabled, the vocalist of any twofer scheduled must have a Percentage Participation equal to or greater than the specified value.
When you apply a Twofer position in a Clock, the following Spread Goals are disabled when considering Songs for the position:
Artist
Vocalist
Artist Group
Vocal
This clock position calls for the next available clock position in an associated feeder Clock or the counterpart Clock in an associated Rolling Grid. You can specify either a specific Clock or the current Rolling Grid. See the Rolling Clocks topic for full details.
A Cross Station Placeholder can be placed in any position(s) of any clock. During initial scheduling, the Cross Station Placeholder remains intact and the position is, essentially, unscheduled. During Copy Schedule, each Cross Station Placeholder is replaced by the next sequential element from the target station’s applicable Rolling Clock – as determined by the assigned Rolling Grid and Rolling Clock. After the Copy Schedule routine concludes, these positions can then be scheduled in the target station. This feature works only with the Duplicate option in Copy Schedule and the Rolling Grid in the Target station. More to the point, since Clocks in the Target station are ignored with the Repeat option in Copy Schedule, any Rolling Clocks assigned on a clock there will also be ignored. One example of this feature is an enterprise having network and satellite feeds where each satellite fills “holes” in the network schedule with local content. By Using Cross Station Placeholders in the source (network) schedule, programmers there can see and adjust where schedule “holes” will later be filled with local content after the schedules have been copied to the target stations.
A Song Browse List or Linker Browse List, created using the Advanced Search or Browse List panes, can be specified for a Clock position. When the scheduler encounters the position it will use the “next” element in the browse list to fill the position until the End of List is reached. It will then look to the End of List setting in the Browse List pane and the Browse List Clock Goal setting to determine the next position to be scheduled for the next Clock Position. This feature allows users full control when scheduling special programming such as holiday countdown shows, “A to Z” weekends and other forms of programming in which an arbitrary list of songs or links must be scheduled in sequence. When the <Select in Scheduler> option is selected, the user can use the Schedule Setting in the Scheduler to select the Browse List to use at the time of scheduling. If this option is selected and the Browse list in the Scheduler is set to None then the positions will have an unscheduled status. When GSelector is integrated with Zetta browse lists are supported with Zetta version 2.4 or higher. When GSelector is integrated with NexGen browse lists are support with NexGen version 2.12.3 or higher.
Browse List Reset
For each Browse List clock position you can click the Clock Goal ellipses to open the Browse List Reset dialog box. Here you can specify which position in the browse list will be used when that position is scheduled. The default setting is Bookmark. Here are the scheduler actions that will be taken according to the setting:
Bookmark - The position that is bookmarked in the browse list will be scheduled and the bookmark will be advanced to the next element following the Direction and Counter setting set in the Browse List.
Top - When the Top option is selected the element in position 1 will be scheduled and the bookmark will be advanced to the next element following the Direction and Counter setting set in the Browse List.
Specific - Selecting the Specific option allows you to select a specific position of the list to be scheduled. The Position field is used to select the desired position in the list. The bookmark will be then be advanced to the next element following the Direction and Counter setting set in the Browse List.
Random - The Random option will allow GSelector to choose a random element from the browse list for the scheduled clock position. The bookmark will be then be advanced to the next element following the Direction and Counter setting set in the Browse List.
A Local Block is a Clock Element designed to hold multiple events similar to Spot Blocks but is used for local content. A Local Block can contain, Spot Blocks or Spotsets, Song Category Groups, Theme Songs, Specific Links, Link Category Groups, Breaknotes or Controls, Exact Time Markers, Browse List and Link Browse Lists - all in one Clock position. Local Blocks cannot be inserted into other Local Blocks or Spot Blocks.
Main Clock Content Pane fields
TIP: If you assign Appearances to use in the Editor or Goals Balance windows, the same Appearances are displayed in the Clock Designer in the Content pane, as shown here. See the notes on using Appearances in this topic.
This illustration shows the main Clock content fields. Further fields are exposed in the Clock Definition window when one or more Interfaces are defined in the Station - Interfaces window. See the notes on the Optional Clock Schedule fields in this topic. For information on any field, click that field. The Content Pane has a fixed and a scrollable section. On the left, the Position, Airtime, Type and Description fields are fixed, while the Clock Goals, Runtime, all optional Clock Schedule fields and the Stopset fields are displayed in scrollable mode to the right.
Click any area in this image for more help
Click any area in this image for more help
The content pane shows Clock Elements in sequence for each Clock. A basic Song and Breaknote structure is set up by default when you create a Clock; this can be edited at any time. See the Editing Clock content notes in this topic. The content pane shows the Clock position, the cumulative airtime for each Clock position, the type of Clock element in each position, which specific Element is to be used in that position, as well as Clock Goal, Clock Constraint, Drop status, Runtime and Stopset status for each element.
Note: Breaknotes are not used when GSelector is integrated with NexGen..
Ctrl+A = This will select All Positions in the Clock Content pane.
Shift+Up (arrow) = This will select the current position and the next position up and so on.
Shift+Down (arrow) = This will select the current position and the next position down and so on.
Ctrl+Click = This will select or deselect all positions clicked as long as the Ctrl key is pressed.
Note: Shift+Up and Shift+Down will select positions but will not deselect the selected position.
Fixed fields: these four fields are always on display
Type (Entry Type)
Scrollable fields: these fields can be scrolled for access using the scrollbar at the bottom of the Content pane.
Optional Clock/Schedule fields
The Fixed fields are the first four columns in the clock they are fixed in position so when the window is scrolled to the right they are always visible.
The Position field cannot be edited; it updates automatically to show the number of Clock Positions in the Clock.
The Airtime field cannot be edited. The field is automatically updated according to the runtime of the Clock Position type
This field displays and allows editing of, the Clock Entry Type. See the notes for Editing Clock content . See also the Clock Element notes, which list all Elements that can be used to create an Entry Type.
This field displays and allows editing, according to the Type, of what finally goes into this position. For example, having selected a Song Type for a Clock Position, you then specify the Category Group in the Description field.
The Scrollable fields are the columns to the right of the first four fixed fields. The columns move as the user scrolls to the right to view additional columns.
To assign a Clock Goal in any Song, Link, Leading Link or Trailing Link position, click the Edit button to access the Clock Goals window. A defined Clock Goal is displayed in this field. Where a Breaknote is specified as a Stopset, this field is used to display this status.
This feature will allow the Scheduler to consider an alternate Category Group or Theme of songs or links if all the elements in the original category group specified on the clock, score below the Fallback Threshold. If all songs/links in the defined Fallback Category Group or Theme are below the Retreat Threshold, GSelector will revert to the original category group and schedule the best song/link for the clock position. The Fallback Column can also be used to fallback to a Clock Fallback Category Group when the defined Clock Category Group is banned from Play. To assign a defined Fallback Definition to a Song or Link Category Group position, click the drop-down button to select from the defined Fallback. Scheduler Fallback Definitions are defined in the Clocks Fallback window.
Note: Both the scheduled Category Group and the Fallback Category Group must have the same Stacking type configuration. If the stacking option is different on the normal and fallback categories, the fallback category will be ignored.
For example: If the clock category is A (Slotted) and the fallback category is R (Scheduled), the fallback category will be ignored.
The Stacking type can be configured in the Category Group Settings window.
To assign a Clock Constraint to a Song, Link, Leading Link or Trailing Link position, click the drop-down button to select from the range of Constraints, which are defined in the Clock Constraints window. Constraints are also respected in Rolling clocks and rolling clock positions in a main clock.
Note: When a Constraint is placed on both a Rolling clock position in the main clock and in the selected rolling position of the Rolling clock, the main clock constraint supersedes the rolling clock constraint.
Click this Song-specific field to allow GSelector to drop the Song position if the Clock is already fully scheduled for the hour. If enough Songs have already been scheduled, and further Songs, if scheduled, will take the duration of the Clock over sixty minutes, Song positions will not be scheduled if they are marked as Droppable. Songs are dropped in reverse Pass order Category Group sequence: that is, the first Song to be dropped will be the item with the highest Pass Order value for its Category Group, and so on. In the Dropping Pass of the scheduler, when dropping a song, any adjacent (before) link positions which have a link-song chain will also be dropped.
TIP: This GSelector tool can be used in a number of ways. Many users choose to assign Droppable status to Songs in less important Category groups.
Note: Songs with a Droppable status will not be counted in the unscheduled positions in the Scheduler. To include these droppable unscheduled positions in the counts enable the 'Include Droppable Unscheduled Positions in Counts' setting in the History tab of the Setup | Station | Features.
This field displays the actual Runtime for a specific item like a Link insert, or the median Runtime for a Category group.
The Info field is used to enter data about the event. Click the drop-down arrow in this field to open a free form text field. This information can be printed out. Information entered in this field in the Clock for any Clock Position is carried over to the Editor into the User Data column when scheduled. If integrated with Zetta the user information field can be used to enter the External ID of the Zetta Rotation or Zetta Show that is to be scheduled. The Info Field can be used to specify the path and filename of the external audio.
For Example: C:\Time\TM@H@m.wav /SegueLength:3000 /Title:"Time Announce" /EstimatedLength:7000
Breaknotes are not used when GSelector is integrated with NexGen..
This field cannot be edited. Where a Breaknote is inserted in a Clock, this field will display its Stopset status. For more information, see the Stopset notes in the Breaknotes topic. Where a Breaknote is specified as a Stopset, this status is marked in the Stopset field with a Check mark, by the work Stopset in the Clock Goals field.
These fields are displayed in Clocks and in the Editor window when enabled in the Station - Features window in Setup. They are designed for use with third party playout systems, including RCS NexGen, Zetta and Master Control sequencers. The drop-down in the Editor Behavior column of the Clock tab in the Station-Features window can also be used to set whether to Juggle or Don't Juggle these values when two positions are juggled in the Editor. The default setting is to Juggle. The Timing Goal is not Juggled.
When enabled in the Station - Features window, Chain types are set in the Clock Definition window and can be modified in the Editor, and defined (Overlap and Pause only) for Fly-In Links. Chain Settings control the way log items interact with each other when played by the sequencer. They also can be used to pause the sequencer. When using Exact Time Markers, the field displays the ETM type. Control Events in GSelector can take on a Pause or Overlap Chain. Chains for Control Events are also supported in the GSelector Import/Export Web Service. Set the default chain type for each type of event using the Default Chain Settings. When used with any other log Item, the Chain options are:
Pause: Stops the sequencer; the sequencer then awaits a command from the operator. Sometimes known as Live Assist Mode.
Overlap: Used to automatically segue any Item into the next item at the leading item's next-to-play point. This field is the default setting when creating a Clock or when changing the Clock item's Type.
Auto-Post: Used to automatically time an overlapping pre-recorded voice item across a music segue to hit the cue point in the second music item.
Link-Song: Used with a Link overlapping into a following Song, to hit the cue point in the Song. This Chain type may be handled differently depending on the Automation system being used. If a song is dropped, any adjacent (before) link positions which have a link-song chain will also be dropped.
Song-Link: Used with a Song overlapping into a following Link, to hit the cue point in the Link. This Chain type may be handled differently depending on the Automation system being used.
|
Chain Type |
Zetta |
Master Control |
||
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Link-Song |
|
In a Link / Song log construct where the link has a link-song chain: The Song gets fired at the early segue mark of the link (the Early NTP can be set to 00:00 so the song starts right away)…BUT GSelector/Zetta will ensure the segue (or trim out if no segue) of the link does not step over the highest intro of the song; if the song's intro is too short, GSelector/Zetta will delay song's start (in which case it will effectively behave as an auto-post chain). If there is NO early segue on the link, GSelector/Zetta will fall back to segue mark of that link. If there is no segue mark, it fall back to trim out (or end of audio if no trim out). |
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A Link-Overlap Chain; used only for Links. A negative or zero value for fixed-offset will yield this Chain type in scheduling. By default, the Link will be started first. The Song will then be started once the amount of time for the fixed-offset has elapsed. |
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Song-Link |
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When a Song-Link is passed to Zetta, the chain type will be set to Segue in Zetta. |
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A Link-Overlap Chain; used only for Links. A positive value for fixed-offset will yield this Chain type in scheduling. By default, the Song will be started first. The Link will then be started once the amount of time for the fixed-offset has elapsed. |
When enabled in the Station - Features window, the timing type of a schedule position or program element tells the sequencer what to do to that position or program element, working with Exact Time Markers. You specify the timing type of a Clock position in the Clock Designer, and you can edit the setting in the Editor prior to exporting your schedule.
Add: GSelector will leave the Clock request unscheduled. The Sequencer will fill the position according to the requirements of the next exact time marker in the schedule.
Drop: If scheduling this position would cause the segment before the next exact time marker to overrun, GSelector will leave this position unscheduled. Otherwise, it will schedule in the usual way. The Sequencer can be instructed to unschedule this position if doing so will help meet the goal set by the next exact time marker.
Replace: GSelector will schedule in the usual way. The Sequencer can be instructed to substitute a different song or link from the same category and level if doing so will help meet the goal set by the next exact time marker.
Any: GSelector will schedule in the usual way. The Sequencer can be instructed to treat the position as add, drop or replace to meet the goal set by the next exact time marker.
Back Time: GSelector will schedule in the usual way. Normally used with the last item preceding the ETM, this setting instructs the Sequencer to begin playback of the selected item so its audio will end at the time of the next exact time marker.
Stretch: GSelector will schedule in the usual way. The Sequencer can be instructed to stretch or squeeze the duration of the selected item, subject to the stretch/squeeze parameters you define in the Sequencer, to meet the goal set by the next ETM.
Relative: The Relative setting is used with Exact Time Markers in a Flex Clock configuration. The Relative setting will tell GSelector to scheduled the Exact Time marker relative to its position in the overall hour.
The Lock Level column is available when Schedule Subscription (S3) is enabled in the Setup | Station | Features | Advanced tab. Lock Level can be set from 0 to 9. ‘0’ means that position cannot be edited by anyone. This would be used for songs coupled with a Voice Track and any other element that must remain locked in the current position and not edited in any way. ‘1’ means that a station with a trust level of 1 can edit that position. ‘2’ means that a station with a trust level of 2 can edit that position and all 1 positions. ‘3’ means that a station with a trust level of 3 can edit that position and all 1 and 2 positions; and so on through a Lock Level of 9. This mechanism provides wide and flexible control. Assign a station trust level of 0 to prevent any changes to Schedule Subscription schedules.
To update locked positions, there are 2 choices:
Contact RCS for more information on this feature.
Check the box to enable Skip for the Clock position. When the position is scheduled it will be marked as skip. When skip status is enabled, the schedule position is ignored by the sequencer and is excluded from Timing calculations, regardless of the program element located in that position. When skip status is No, the sequencer treats the schedule position in the usual way. No is the default setting. In the Editor, Ctrl+Shift+S can be used to quickly skip the selected event.
If a song/link with a related link is skipped the related link will also be skipped if the flyin is simply inserted. In the following image example, the Sweeper link is an inserted flyin link for the Current song that follows it. The Current song was set to skip so therefore the flyin link that is inserted is also set to skip. If the related song is unscheduled the flyin link will be removed.
For instances where the flyin is to replace a specific link, the flyin will not be scheduled as the triggering related event is skipped. In the following example, the specific link "...From RCS 1 No 1..." event would have been replaced with a flyin link if the song from the Drive Time category had not been set to skip.
However, if the related song is replaced, the specific link will be replaced by a flyin link and get the same 'Skip' and 'Status' as the related song. Moving, Juggling, Unscheduling or Deleting the Song will re-instate the original Specific Link.
There are two settings here. Check the box to specify External status for the Clock position, if the audio of the program element scheduled by this Clock position is not stored within the sequencer system. Otherwise set to No. No is the default setting.
Enable this feature by selecting the Don't Copy checkbox in the Advanced Clock/Schedule Columns group in the Station - Features window in Setup. This will expose the Don't Copy column in both the Clocks Definition window and in the Editor. Checking the Don’t Copy option for a position in a clock will cause the Don't Copy setting to be rolled into the associated schedule position when that clock is scheduled. These schedule positions are affected when working in the Scheduler - Copy Schedule window. Repeating into a target station respects the Don't Copy clock positions in the target station as well as the Don't Copy schedule positions in the source station. There are no restrictions in either the source or target station when Duplicating schedule positions and there are no restrictions on Don’t Copy positions in the Editor. To Lock the Don't Copy positions and content in the source or target stations enable the Don't Copy option in the Edit Station Window for the desired station.
Enable this feature by selecting the Fixed checkbox in the Advanced Clock/Schedule Columns group in the Station - Features window in Setup. This will expose the Fixed column in both Clocks Definition window and in the Editor. Checking the Fixed option for a position in a clock will cause the Fixed setting to be rolled into the associated schedule position when that clock is scheduled. The Fixed setting is for informational purposes only. There are no restrictions of any sort placed on a Fixed clock line or on a Fixed schedule line. Spots scheduled within a Spotset/Spot Block will inherit the Fixed status of the Spotset/Spot Block when traffic is loaded.
Enable this feature by selecting the Timing Goal checkbox in the Advanced Clock/Schedule Columns group in the Station - Features window in Setup. This will expose the Timing Goal column in the Clocks Definition window. This feature adds the capability to define one or more clock song positions to which the Timing goal will be applied during scheduling. This provides the flexibility of applying timing to only a portion of a Category Group’s clock positions as well as applying timing to Theme positions.
The Hard Time column can be used to set the Hard Time value of a Zetta Macro event for Zetta scheduling. If the station is integrated with Zetta the Hard Time value set in this column will be passed to Zetta when the log is scheduled and Zetta will display a Hard Time 
icon in the Log. If the Air Time column is used in a browse format in the editor, the hard time will be shown as the air time and the Zetta hard time icon will be shown for the event. If the property and value are set in the Log of Zetta, the Hard Time for Zetta Execute Command, Zetta Macro and Zetta Recording Control events will be passed to GSelector and will show in the Hard Time and Air Time columns of the Editor.
Note: Currently the Zetta Execute Command and Zetta Recording Control events cannot be scheduled in GSelector. If a Hard Time is set in GSelector for any Control event other than the Zetta Execute Command, Zetta Macro and Zetta Record, it will be ignored by Zetta as these events are not hard timed events in Zetta.
The Split Behavior option is enabled in the Miscellaneous tab of the Setup | Station | Features window. The Split Behavior field displays Master Audio, Master Monitor or Master Silent when a Song, Link or Spot Blocks is marked with the split behavior attribute. The Split Behavior of an asset is set in the Miscellaneous tab of the assets song or link window. The Split Behavior of a Spot Block is set on the Spot Block in the Clocks | Spot Blocks tab. When a Spot Block has a Split Behavior it will override any Split Behavior of an Asset scheduled within the Spot Block.
This pane allows the user to instantly review and update the structure and content of the Clock. It updates as Clock Elements are added, or added Clock Entries are moved or removed from the Clock. The Graphical pane also allows you to move items directly in the mockup, and delete any item. In all tab views, the selected Clock Entry is shown jutting from the Clock. For a clock with one or more Hour Markers, only one hour is shown at a time in the pie graph. The hour shown will correspond to the hour that has focus in the grid. The pane offers three tabs, which display, respectively, Song Category Groups, Link Category Groups, and Totals. You can also drag and drop directly from the opened Clock Element Selection pane (see notes here).
Moving Elements in the Graphical Pane
Deleting Elements in the Graphical Pane
Adding from the Clock Element Selection pane
Entries are selected by clicking on either the Graph or the Clock browse. Non-Song or Link entries are displayed in each window in gray. So in the Song tab view here, all breaks, Links and Spotsets are shown in gray.
The Songs tab displays Songs and a Song count, with a different color for each Song Category group and Theme Song. If no Appearances have been assigned to Category Groups, GSelector will automatically display Category Groups in different colors. If Appearances have been assigned, Category groups will display their assigned appearances in the Graphical pane.
The Links tab displays Links, Link Category Groups, and Leading and Trailing Related Links (see Related Links notes) and a count for all elements, with a different color for each Link Category Groups. Where Appearances have been assigned to Category Groups, these will display their assigned appearances in the Graphical pane.
The Totals tab displays a count of all Clock Entries: Songs, Links, Breaknotes, Spotsets, Voice Tracks, Exact Time Markers and Controls. The pane displays counts of all these Clock Entries, a Total runtime of all elements and the gap between the Total runtime of all Entries and the Clock Time.
You can edit the Clock sequence in the Clock Graphical Pane the same way you can move a Clock position in the Browse pane.
NOTE: When adding a Song position from an empty Category or Category Group, for example when building a Clock before adding Songs to this Category, GSelector will assume a dummy time length of 3'30", and will display a Song position in the Pie chart accordingly. Once one or more songs have been added to the Category, GSelector will display the average duration for the Song Category.
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The Print button in the Clock List toolbar can be used to print a Graphical clock or a Textual clock. The drop-down arrow to the right of the print toolbar button is used to select how to print the clock, either Graphical or Textual. The Graphical option will open the print preview window with the clock in the Graphical format similar to the graphical mockup in the lower left corner of the Clock Definition window. The Textual option will open the print preview window with the clock in a textual format similar to the Clock Content pane. |
The Clock preview window opens when clicking the print button or selecting a print option using the drop-down arrow to the right of the button.
Graphical Clock
Textual Clock
Adding a Clock position (see also Adding from the Clock Element Selection pane)
Editing a Clock Element directly from the Clock Content Pane
Editing Multiple Clock Elements from the Clock Content Pane
Moving a Clock Position in the Graphic pane
Cutting Copying and Pasting Clock Positions
Deleting a Clock Position in the Graphic Pane
Working with the Clock Element Selection pane
Jumping to a Breaknote, Spotset, Voice Track, ETM or Artist Block from the Content pane
Using Cross Station Placeholders
See also the Notes on configuring Clocks for Integration with Traffic systems.
In the Clocks Definition window, click the Add Clocks List toolbar button to open the New Clock window. When you have created your new Clock and its basic structure, you close this window to return to the Definition window.
NOTE: When a new Clock is displayed for the first time in the Clock Definition window, all the Song Category groups are assigned by default to the first Category Group position in the Category Group Options window. See the notes on Building and Editing Clock content for how to assign the Category Groups you require to this Clock.
Select a Clock Name and click the Edit Clock Name toolbar button, or double-click the Clock Name in the Clock List Pane to open the Edit Clock Name window . If this Clock is a Feeder Clock used in a Rolling Grid , edit the Feeder Transition style and Next Feeder position if required. When you have edited the Clock Name, you close the window to return to the Definition window.
If multiple users are editing a clock at the same time the user that has not yet saved their work will receive a notification similar to the following:
Clocks can only be deleted if they are Clocks that are not assigned in the Assignments window. Any Clock with a checkbox displayed in the List Pane is assigned to at least one hour in the Assignments window.
toolbar button, or press Del on your keyboard.Tip: Enabling the On Multi Clock Delete reminder can prompt the user to preform a backup when they attempt to delete Multiple Clocks.
For more information on how Related Links work, see the Related Links topic for detailed notes.
NOTE: Breaknotes are not used when GSelector is Integrated with NexGen .
GSelector lets you edit key Clock Elements right from the Clock Definition window.
To edit multiple elements simultaneously the selected positions must be of the same entry type (ex. Songs, Links, etc.).
the changes to the Clock.
To save edits in an existing Clock, click the Save icon in the Clock list toolbar or press F2 on the keyboard.
Click the Cancel button to re-read the original settings and return to the window to its last saved state.
Click this button to copy a selected Clock to a new Clock. This opens the Save As Clock Name window. When copying a Clock you give the new Clock a Name, to create a new Clock with the same content as the selected Clock. Once you have created the new Clock, you can then edit the Clock's structure and content to suit your needs. This feature lets you use a selected Clock as a template, from which to create new Clocks.
You can move selected Clock position(s) up and down the Clock content pane for the selected Clock using the Navigation arrows in the content pane toolbar. As you do, the selected position(s) update in the Mockup pane. Use the Shift or CTRL key to select multiple positions. Alternately, click the item to select it, and still left-clicking, drag the item to a different position in the clock. Note that each command can also be accessed with the following shortcuts:
Move Up : Ctrl+Up or Alt+Up
Move Down: Ctrl+Down or Alt+Down
TIP: You can also drag and drop elements in the Clock Mockup pane .
The familiar Cut, Copy and Paste commands can be applied to any item(s) in the Clock by selecting a position or multiple positions, using the Shift or CTRL key, then clicking the relevant button.
Each command can also be accessed with the following shortcuts:
Cut : Ctrl+X
Copy: Ctrl+C
Paste: Ctrl+V
Note: Although a selection can be made and copied in noncontiguous order, when it is pasted it will be contiguous.
This is one of two methods for adding positions - see also the notes on working with the Clock Elements pane here .
NOTE: Breaknotes are not available to add as Clock Positions when GSelector is Integrated with NexGen . Artist Blocks and Twofers are only available to add when the Allow Twofers box in the Station - Features window is checked.
For details on Clock Position types, see the notes here.
NOTE: When adding a Song position from an empty Category or Category Group, for example when building a Clock before adding Songs in this Category to your library, GSelector will assume a dummy time length of 3'30", and will display a Song Position in the Positions pane with that duration. Once one or more songs have been added to the Category, GSelector will display the average duration for the Song Category.
button in the Clock Content ToolbarThe Clock Element Selection pane allows you to select an Element and drag it directly to the Content pane or the Mockup pane to create a Clock Entry . This pane offers the same functionality as Add Clock Position (and also offers a replace facility), but allows you to add an Element and specify its description in one operation.
Click any Element expansion Tree Control node, or double-click the Element itself to access the next level. In the image, the expanded Song node displays all Song Category Groups; Theme Songs all existing Themes, and so on. Any exposed Element can be dragged to a Clock Position.
NOTE: If you do not expand the node, but simply drag the Element itself to a Clock Position, you will insert or replace the position with the top element under that node.
If you have assigned Appearances on an Attribute-specific level (for example to Category Groups), or on a Global level, these will be displayed in the Clock Element selection pane.
You can design and apply Appearances, working in the Options: Appearances definition and Options: Appearances Assignment windows. Any globally assigned Appearances are applied to Clock Entry Types and displayed in the Editor and in the Clock Content pane. For full details see the Using Color topic.
Either
Click the Close Icon at the top right of the Clock Elements pane;
or click the Reset button in the List Pane Toolbar;
or click the Clock Elements button in the Content Pane Toolbar.
When changes are made to an existing Clock, the previous version of that Clock is saved off as an Archived Clock in GSelector. Archived Clocks cannot be edited, but can be viewed by accessing the Clock in its archived state from the Editor for the dates in question.
An Archived Clock is shown in the Editor Clock Header with the dates during which it is current.
If you jump to the Clock Definition window by double-clicking the Clock Name, from the Editor, the Archived Clock is shown with the dates during which it is current.
The contents of the Clock are displayed in the Content pane, but cannot be edited; the Content toolbar buttons are suppressed. The Clock Name and Archive dates are also displayed in the List pane.
From the basic song structure specified in the New/Edit Clock window, you can develop your structure in some detail. We suggest that as your Clock building skills develop, you create one or more template Clocks, which can copied and rapidly customized to deliver the kind of new Clocks you require.
When building your Clocks, you should make sure that you meet some or all of the following list of design criteria:
Category Group balance: use the Mockup pane to quickly see how your music is laid out.
Timing issues: use Exact Time Markers to provide pointers for on-air staff, or to work with external sequencers, including Master Control.
Traffic Integration issues: ensure that Exact Time Markers immediately precede Spotsets , and the ETM times match the Start Times called for in your traffic system. See the Notes in the Traffic window topic.
Links and Link Category Groups: Specify either of these elements and then build a Link directly into the Clock, or allow Links in a Link Category Group to rotate.
Leading and Trailing Links: do you wish to use this tool to associate Links with other Log elements? See the Related Links notes.
Voice Tracking: How many voice links will you need in a Clock, how long should they be, and is Voice Tracking used in all Clocks? See the notes on Voice Tracks.
A finished and detailed Clock may appear complex, but this will be a direct consequence of what you as a programmer wish to achieve. You can quickly reconfigure a Clock, or store a Clock for later use. See also the notes in this topic on Editing Clock content.
Use the Print button in the toolbar to print either the Graphical clock or a Textual Clock.
button to select how the clock is to be printed.For full details on printing, see the Printing topic.
Click this button in the Clock List Toolbar to access the Copy Clocks to Other Stations window. See this topic for full details.
Click this button to close the opened Clock Elements pane.
Click the Import: XML 
button to import and exported clock from a XML file. Locate the xml file to be imported and click Open. If a category doesn't exist for the importing station the default category will be used. The XML file can be opened in Notepad to view the categories for the clock.
Click the Export: XML 
button to export the selected clock to a XML file. Select the Filename and location and click Save. Notepad will open showing the contents of the clock in xml format.
'Twofers' is an old radio expression: the term was originally used to describe the back-to-back scheduling of two songs by the same Artist. Twofer scheduling is based on GSelector finding another song by the artist or vocalist that was scheduled in the preceding clock position. To ensure two songs by the same artist or volcalist are scheduled, GSelector uses a Theme Song Position or a Song with a configured Clock Song Constraint, in the clock position preceding the twofer clock position. This means if the songs from a specific artist like ‘Aerosmith’ or album like ‘Big Ones’ are set with an theme attribute such as ‘Aerosmith twofers’ and then scheduled in the clock as a <Theme Song>, scheduling a twofer following this position will schedule another song from the same theme attribute. If using a Clock Constraint, the song constraint position tells GSelector to schedule the twofer position based on the preceding-configured constraint. The goal is making sure that the position preceding the Twofer position is filled by a song who’s Artist has other songs in the library. Were the first position of the Twofer pair to be filled by a one-hit Artist, the Twofer position would be left unscheduled since there would be no other songs by the same Artist to place there.
Before making any system changes, think about the Artist or Vocalist to use in the twofering. The artist/vocalist should have more than one song in the library. Decide if you want to use Theme Song scheduling or a Song position with a Clock Constraint.
Using a Theme Song Position requires all the songs used to have the same theme attribute, this allows you to select songs based on different fields such as, songs from different albums or years that have the same tempo. When scheduling a Twofer using a Theme Song, it is important to set the Pass Order of the <Theme Song> Group before the <Twofer> Group. The Theme attribute for a Song can be set Globally or Specific to the Station. See the Attributes tab of the Setup | Station | Features window.
Using a Clock Song Constraint allows you to match songs of an artist or album quickly and easily. A Constraint can be based on any of the attributes of a song for example choosing the Album attribute, will allow GSelector to match the songs from the selected album title. When using a Song with a Constraint make sure the artist has more than one song in the selected category for the Song position selected.
When scheduling a Twofer song position, GSelector will ignore the Artist Spread Goal between the two positions. Twofers - and Artist Blocks - are only available in the Clocks Definition window when the Allow Twofers box in the Setup - Station - Features window is checked. Vocalist is only available for twofer's if the Match On drop-down in the Station - Features window twofer tab is set to Vocalist. When this setting is enabled, the vocalist of any twofer scheduled must have a Percentage Participation equal to or greater than the specified value.
Note: To schedule two songs by a specific artist, use the Artist Blocks feature.
When you apply a Twofer position in a Clock, the following Spread Goals are disabled when considering Songs for the position:
Artist
Vocalist
Artist Group
Vocal
The following steps are based on the Theme attribute being set to Global in the Attributes tab of the Setup | Station | Features window.
of the <Theme Song> Group to precede the <Twofer> Group using the adjust 
buttons to the right of the Category Group Settings window. Optionally, use the Alt+Up and Alt+Down on the keyboard to re-order the selected Category Group.
button
the Clock
of the <Twofer> Group using the adjust buttons to the right of the Category Group Settings window. Optionally, use the Alt+Up and Alt+Down on the keyboard to re-order the selected Category Group.
button
button to add an Attribute
the Clock
On the first station, Design one or more Feeder Clocks with your scheduling goals in mind.
Design one or more grids using your Feeder Clocks
Associate each Rolling Grid with a main Clock Assignment grid.
In Station 2, Insert Cross Station Placeholders in the main (Master) Clocks as required.
