Anton: File Age-Checker Extraordinaire
The problem: How do I, as a station staffer, make sure that all the files I’m expecting from the ContentDepot are in place before I go home for the day?
The answer: Anton
Developed by Jon Cyphers and his team at KMUW, Anton is a simple application that scans the modified date of all program files. If a file date lies beyond a pre-determined time threshold (of, say, a week or so), an alarm goes off to alert staff that there may be files late or missing.
Whether there is a problem at the NOC, a file has the wrong CutIDs or start date, there are satellite issues or storage receiver problems, or anything else, Anton checks everything at the final point and sends out an alert if it identifies any anomalies.
“Everyone leaves at 5:30, so at 4:20 pm every night, we scan every automation cut, local and national, that will play throughout the unattended night,” Cyphers said. “The scan report lists the CutID, its date/time when it was dropped, and if it was within the our 160-hour threshold ‘age’. This way, we have time to fix something before people are going home for the day.”
Cyphers named Anton for Anton Fig, the drummer on David Letterman’s “Late Night” house band, who starred in a regular routine of drinking milk and then guessing the expiration date. Future editions of Anton may include a comment space for the reports to list actual descriptions of the cuts and the ability to scan the audio file for large chunks of silence.
To download a copy of Anton, along with full instructions and examples, click here. You need to be logged into the PRSS Basecamp to view the page.
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