Each linked folder holds a file called _settings.playoutfolder with the settings of the group that the folder becomes. The program creates the file the first time it reads the folder, so you can see which settings there are. Because of the underscore, File Explorer shows the file at the top of the folder.
The file
The file is a short text file that you can open in any text editor. This is the file of a folder that plays as a playlist:
{
"title": "",
"icon": "",
"playlist": true,
"loop": true,
"random": false,
"still_ms": 5000,
"fallback": false
}| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
title | The name in the list. Empty means the name of the folder without its number |
playlist | The group plays as a playlist: the files play one after the other, and GO jumps out of the whole group |
loop | With a playlist: start again after the last file |
random | With a playlist: play the files in a random order |
still_ms | With a playlist: how long each picture stays on screen, in milliseconds. 0 means until GO |
icon | The icon of the group: empty for a folder, or presentation, scene, image, media or wait |
fallback | The group is the emergency list, which plays when the list has run out |
The file in the top folder belongs to the part itself. It has title and fallback, and instead of the playlist settings it has own_numbers. With true, the cues in the part are numbered from 1. With false, the numbering of the list continues through the part.
A setting that is missing from the file is off, except own_numbers, which is on.
The list and the file stay the same
A setting that you change in the list is written to the file, and a change in the file appears in the list. The program does this for every setting in the table above. You can therefore set up a group in the list, for example with Properties… on a playlist or with Group icon in the right-click menu, and the folder keeps that setting.
When you rename a group or the part in the list, the new name is written to title. When you rename the folder itself instead, the list follows the folder, as long as title is empty.
The settings are stored in the folder, so every part that hangs on the folder uses them. When you link the same folder in two playouts, a change in one playout also appears in the other.
When the file cannot be written
In a folder where the program may not write, such as a shared folder that is read-only, the folder still works with the default settings. A change that you make in the list then lasts only until the program reads the folder again, for example after a restart.