Export logs to Simian

Scheduler allows you to export logs in formats compatible with several popular playout automation systems, including BSI Simian.

Scheduler's built-in notes and ad breaks are currently not supported with Simian. You can use commands to trigger ad breaks if required. Cue indicators must also be set by Simian when the logs are imported.

On this page, we'll explain how to configure a Simian station output in Scheduler and explain what needs to be configured in Simian to automatically import new playlists.

💾 Exporting from Scheduler

From your Scheduler dashboard, click the Station Outputs button on the top navigation bar.
Click 'New station output'.
Select your station.
Choose 'Simian' from the dropdown list.
Choose either 'File download' to manually import the files, or connect a cloud storage account to automate the process.
Once configured, click 'Create station output'.

After configuring your station output, you can then return to your library and press the 'Export' button on the sidebar on the left.

You just need to choose which days' logs to export and press 'Export Logs'.

⤵️ Importing into Simian

To import logs from Scheduler into Simian:

Install your cloud storage provider's sync app on a server that Simian can access (this could be your main server or another machine on the same network, with a shared folder created).
Use Simian's Scheduled Events function or the Windows robocopy utility to automatically fetch new log files added to your sync folder, and copy them to C:\BSI32\Import periodically.
Open Simian's 'Program Options' window.
Go to the 'Log Import' tab.
Select the 'Music' import format.
Choose 'Delimited', using a pipe character (| ) as the delimiting character.
In the position number fields, make Category and Cue blank, Time as 1, Name as 2, Length as 5 and Description as 3.
Save your changes.
In Simian, open the Tools menu and click 'Event Builder'.
Go to the 'Macro' tab and choose CHAIN from the Macro name dropdown list. Move the cursor to the end of the word and add a space, followed by the variables which match your Scheduler station output:

Variable	Function	Example
`%D`	Day, as two digits	31
`%M`	Month, as two digits	12
`%Y`	Year, as two digits	25
`%Z`	Year, as four digits	2025
`%W`	Day, first three letters	MON, TUE, WED
`%X`	Weekday/Saturday/Sunday	WKD, SAT, SUN

For example, if your log files from Scheduler are called 311225.bsi , the macro would read:

CHAIN %D%M%Y

Once you have created the macro, drag it from the icon onto the Scheduled Events window. This can be opened from the Async menu if it isn't already.
After adding the macro to your schedule, we need to tell it when to run. Select the event you just created and click the 'Set Event Schedule' button on the toolbar above (it has a calendar icon).
Schedule the event to run every day, then press OK..
With the event still selected, now click the 'Set Event Time' button on the toolbar (the clock icon).
Schedule the event to run at 23:59:50 and press Set.

This scheduled event will automatically import log files from Scheduler in the C:/BSI32/Import folder named to include the following day's date into Simian.

⏳ Adding "time next" items

If you want to add a "time next" top-of-hour legal ID or other items that always play at a certain time in an hour, you will need to create a command for it and then place it at the top of your clocks.

It will look something like this:

#|{AirTime.Hour:2:0:left}:MM:SS|ABC123|3:30|AUDIO|Artist - Title

The key bits of information are:

# is to indicate "time next"
{AirTime.Hour:2:0:left} is formatted to produce a 00-23 HH hour value
:MM:SS is the minutes/seconds you want the item to play at, padded with zeros if single-digits.
ABC123 is the cart/system ID for the audio to fire
3:30 is the duration of the audio. Padding with zeros is not required.
AUDIO is the item type in Simian
Artist - Title is the item's metadata.

If you need help importing logs into Simian, please contact BSI for assistance. Aiir Support can provide help up to the point where logs have been exported from Scheduler.