This page was updated on September 5, 2003
In the blustery winter months of 1999, we were approached with a challenge: Could we develop robust automation software to play WAV files back to the Internet? "And make it follow a playlist, just like a real automation program would, and, oh yes, would you please add manual control and a flexible way to change the playlist? And certainly you'll want to make the playlist day-sensitive, won't you?" By the time the application was finished in April, it had the scent of something useful. The interest AudioLocker received at the 1999 Public Radio Conference convinced us that we should share AudioLocker with member stations, and, why not distribute the source code, too?
In the Summer of 1999 NPR engineering VP Mike Starling gave the "OK", the NPR legal department signed off, and we now present for your programming pleasure, AudioLocker version 1.18.905, complete with executable and all source code. It's free to all NPR member stations.
Download it, make changes, recompile it, improve it,
delete it, whatever...all we ask is the following:
You send us a copy of your improvements, where we will post as the latest version,
You don't give it away to others, and,
You understand we can't offer technical support.
The full legal details are in the License agreement.
In all cases, we would like to hear of any problems you experience downloading,
installing or using AudioLocker. Direct your email to euonline@npr.org
What is AudioLocker? Download the AudioLocker Help file (a self extracting EXE
file for WIN9x / NT, 43KB)---a "work in progress"-- and read the
specifications and how to use it. If your station is streaming audio, AudioLocker could
help you manage your programming by giving you a flexible playlist. Groups of
audio files are scheduled to play within time and day periods you choose, and since the
playback is based on Microsoft's Media Player v6.0, you can mix 'n' match a variety of
audio file formats, if you need.
AudioLocker logs everything it does, from startup to shutdown. Examining our
AudioLocker log file shows it was started on April 4, 1999, and at the time
of this writing (August 18, 1999), it has not stopped. While we can't guarantee
this performance to you, it appears that AudioLocker is arguably robust.
What can't AudioLocker do?
AudioLocker is not designed to be a on-air broadcast automation system; that is, it is not
slaved to a master clock, and audio files of varying length play in rotation until the
group's end time is reached or exceeded. For instance, if a group of files is
scheduled to play between 6AM and 10AM, the files will play between those times, even if a
file is started as "late" as 9:59:59AM.
For non-time sensitive program streams, such as SCA or the Internet, AudioLocker
is a really low-cost, good performance automation system.
What do I need to use AudioLocker? We provide an compiled, installable executable, complete with run-time libraries. If you want to recompile AudioLocker, you will need your own copy of Microsoft Visual Basic Professional, version 6. We cannot provide Visual Basic to you.
In all cases, you must set your computer to use Military time (0000 to 2359 hours) You set this by clicking on the "Regional settings" icon in the Control Panel, choosing the "Time" tab, and setting the Time style to "HH:mm:ss". If you do not set the computer to use Military time, AudioLocker will report amusing, but incorrect, file durations and will not play files predictably.
If you download the compiled executable and
1. You do not have Visual Basic® Professional version 6 installed, and,
2. You are running either Windows95 or Windows98 operating system,
You need to download either DCOM Support for Windows® 95 (1.17MB) or DCOM Support for Windows 98 (1.17MB), and run the self-extracting files.
You do NOT need to download either DCOM file if your computer is running WindowsNT or XP or 2000. We have provided the DCOM packages for WIN95/98 on recommendation from the Microsoft Package and Deployment wizard.If you do not have the Microsoft Windows Media Player (version 6.00 or later) installed, you will need to download the Windows Media Player, codecs and plugins (3.98MB) to play the audio files. This is a self-extracting, self-installing file. If you have installed the Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5, you may have the Media Player installed already.
If you want to author your own help file, you can use any number of different authoring tools, from the powerful,expensive RoboHELP® from Blue Sky® Software, Microsoft Help Compiler Workshop (bundled with Visual Basic version 6) or the shareware VBAHA from Craig Villalon. We used a combination of the Help Compiler Workshop and VBAHA to create our help file.
The original materials we used to author the help files are not included with the distribution, but if you are interested in writing/editing the AudioLocker help file, please let us know, and we will send you the original .RTF help files.Would you like to view the updated "readme" file, with additional information? The readme.htm file is also included in the release-version zip file. This file was updated on February 14, 2000.
What computers will run AudioLocker? AudioLocker was developed on a WINNT 4.0 computer, and will also run on WIN95 and WIN98. At NPR, it is the only application running on the AudioLocker computer. On slower (or RAM deprived) computers, you may find AudioLocker responds sluggishly during peak calculation periods, so word-processing while streaming to the 'Net might be a bit too intensive.
How do I get AudioLocker? Jump to the License agreement, and take a moment to understand and savor the details of what you're allowed to do with the AudioLocker files. Then complete the license agreement form, select which software (source only or compiled program only) and start the download. Please understand that the license agreement is a legally binding document.
In what form are these AudioLocker files? We are providing the compiled executable, run-time support files, sample schedules, and compiled help file in a ZIP'd file. If you need an unZip program, download a free evaluation copy of WinZip® from the WinZip site. The source code is provided as a self-extracting executable.
What's with the name 'AudioLocker'??!?
In researching existing software that might have been suitable for this project, we looked
at using Microsoft's "radio station" server software, or using Broadcast Electronics' AudioVAULT ®.
We found the former too restrictive for what we needed to do, and the latter too
full-featured and complicated to integrate into this relatively simple project. AudioLocker,
then, became our homage to the venerable AudioVAULT®.
Return to Features | Complete the License Agreement and download AudioLocker
AudioLocker is a service mark of National Public Radio. AudioVAULT is a registered trademark of Broadcast Electronics. Visual Basic, WindowsNT, Windows95 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. RoboHELP and Blue Sky are registered trademarks of Blue Sky Software. WinZip is a registered trademark of Nico Mak Computing, Inc.