NewTek DataLink™

INSTALLATION GUIDE AND REFERENCE MANUAL

Rev. Nov.07.08
 Table of Contents
1 DATALINK END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT ........ 2

2 INTRODUCTION ..................................................... 8

2.1 Overview ................................................................................. 8

2.1.1 Scoreboard Linker ...................................................................... 9
2.1.2 TXT and Database Linkers........................................................ 10

3 GETTING STARTED ............................................. 12

3.1 System Requirements ............................................................ 12

3.2 Connecting External Devices .................................................. 12

3.2.1 USB-Serial Adapters ................................................................. 13
3.2.2 Find the COM Port ................................................................... 14

3.3 Install DataLink™ ................................................................... 16

3.4 Configure DataLink ................................................................ 19

4 USING DATALINK ................................................ 22

4.1 Scoreboard Linker .................................................................. 22

4.1.1 A Simple Example .................................................................... 23
4.1.2 Next Steps ................................................................................ 26
4.2 TXT Linker .............................................................................. 26

4.3 Database Linker ..................................................................... 32

5 KEY NAME LIST .................................................... 36

5.1.1 Daktronics Keys: ....................................................................... 36
5.1.2 Whiteway Keys: ....................................................................... 37
5.1.3 DSI Keys: ................................................................................... 38
5.1.4 OES Keys: .................................................................................. 38

6 INDEX ...................................................................... 40

CREDITS ........................................................................ 42
1 DATALINK END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

NEWTEK DATALINK END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE INSTALLING THIS SOFTWARE. BY

INSTALLING THIS SOFTWARE, YOU AGREE TO BECOME BOUND BY
THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS
OF THIS LICENSE, RETURN THIS PACKAGE TO THE PLACE WHERE YOU
OBTAINED IT WITHIN 15 DAYS FOR A FULL REFUND.

1. Grant of License

The enclosed computer program(s) (the "Software") is licensed, not

sold, to you by NewTek, Inc. (NEWTEK) for use only under the terms
of this License, and NEWTEK reserves any rights not expressly
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foreign and domestic, is owned by NEWTEK or its suppliers and is
protected by United States copyright laws and international treaty
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The copyright restrictions of this license extend to any further

updates, software patches, or bug fixes made available to you by
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You may use at one time as many copies of the Software as you have
licenses for. You may install the Software on a common storage
device shared by multiple computers, provided that if you have more

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computers having access to the common storage device than the
number of licensed copies of the Software, you must have some
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license is not needed for the one copy of Software stored on the
common storage device accessed by multiple computers).

You may make one copy of the Software in machine readable form
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format "(c) 1990 - 2008 NEWTEK"

You may permanently transfer all your rights under this License to
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all written materials accompanying the Software, provided that the
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2. Restrictions

The Software contains trade secrets in its human perceivable form

and, to protect them, YOU MAY NOT REVERSE ENGINEER,
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This License is effective until terminated. This License will terminate

immediately without notice from NEWTEK or judicial resolution if
you fail to comply with any provision of this License. Upon such
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termination you must destroy the Software, all accompanying
written materials and all copies thereof. You may also terminate this
License at any time by destroying the Software, all accompanying
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You agree that neither the Software nor any direct product thereof is
being or will be shipped, transferred or re-exported, directly or
indirectly, into any country prohibited by the United States Export
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Damages.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE SOFTWARE MAY NOT SATISFY ALL

YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR BE FREE FROM DEFECTS. NEWTEK
WARRANTS THE MEDIA ON WHICH THE SOFTWARE IS RECORDED TO
BE FREE FROM DEFECTS IN MATERIALS AND WORKMANSHIP UNDER
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TO THE MEDIA. YOUR EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR BREACH OF
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OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE OR
ACCOMPANYING WRITTEN MATERIALS, REGARDLESS OF THE BASIS
OF THE CLAIM AND EVEN IF NEWTEK OR AN AUTHORIZED NEWTEK
REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
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The above limitations will not apply in case of personal injury only
where and to the extent that applicable law requires such liability.
Because some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of
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6. General

This License will be construed under the laws of the State of Texas,
except for that body of law dealing with conflicts of law. If any
provision of this License shall be held by a court of competent
jurisdiction to be contrary to law, that provision will be enforced to
the maximum extent permissible and the remaining provisions of this
License will remain in full force and effect. If you are a US
Government end-user, this License of the Software conveys only
"RESTRICTED RIGHTS," and its use, disclosure, and duplication are
subject to Federal Acquisition Regulations, 52.227-7013 (c)(1)(ii).
(See the US Government Restricted provision below.)

7. Trademarks

DataLink, LiveText, TriCaster, TriCaster Pro, TriCaster Pro FX,

TriCaster STUDIO, TriCaster Broadcast, SpeedEDIT, LiveControl,
3Play, VT, VT[3], VT[4], VT[5], Video Toaster, Toaster, Inspire 3D, 3D
Arsenal and Aura are trademarks of NEWTEK. LightWave and
LightWave 3D are registered trademarks of NEWTEK. All other brand
names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective
holders.

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8. US Government Restricted Provision

If this Software was acquired by or on behalf of a unit or agency of

the United States Government this provision applies. This Software:

(a) Was developed at private expense, and no part of it was

developed with government funds,

(b) Is a trade secret of NEWTEK for all purposes of the Freedom of

Information Act,

(c) Is "commercial computer software" subject to limited utilization

as provided in the contract between the vendor and the government
entity, and

(d) In all respects is proprietary data belonging solely to NEWTEK.

For units of the Department of Defense (DoD), this Software is sold

only with "Restricted Rights" as that term is defined in the DoD
Supplement to the Federal Acquisition Regulations, 52.227-7013 (c)
(1) (ii).

Use, duplication or disclosure is subject to restrictions as set forth in

subdivision (c) (l) (ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer
Software clause at 52.227-7013. Manufacturer: NEWTEK, 5131
Beckwith Boulevard, San Antonio, TX 78249.

If this Software was acquired under a GSA Schedule, the US

Government has agreed to refrain from changing or removing any
insignia or lettering from the software or the accompanying written
materials that are provided or from producing copies of manuals or
disks (except one copy for backup purposes) and:

(e) Title to and ownership of this Software and documentation and

any reproductions thereof shall remain with NEWTEK,

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(f) Use of this Software and documentation shall be limited to the
facility for which it is required, and,

(g) If use of the Software is discontinued to the installation specified

in the purchase/delivery order and the US Government desires to
use it at another location, it may do so by giving prior written notice
to NEWTEK, specifying the type of computer and new location site.
US Governmental personnel using this Software, other than under a
DoD contract or GSA Schedule, are hereby on notice that use of this
Software is subject to restrictions which are the same as or similar to
those specified.

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2 INTRODUCTION

DataLink™ provides users of NewTek’s TriCaster™ and

VT*5+™ live video production systems the ability to
display dynamically updated external data from a
variety of sources.

Supported data sources include several third-party

sports scoreboard systems, plus two common file types – standard ASCII
text files and SQL database files.

If you intend to use DataLink to connect to a

supported external scoreboard controller, pay
special attention to all portions of this manual
featuring this large ‘scoreboard icon’.

2.1 OVERVIEW

With DataLink installed, special ‘key name’ entries (typed into your Title
Templates, in the same way you normally enter static text) are updated
‘on the fly’ when displayed. The text actually displayed is drawn from
the external data source, but retains its original formatting.

You could think of “DataLink” this way: the “Data” portion refers to
external information (data) expressed as a ‘key-value pair’.

The data in thus formatted as follows:

(key name) = (value assigned)

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Here’s a typical key-value pair:

current temp = 75° F

The “Link” part of the “DataLink” reflects the fact that the plugin links
data from the key-value pairs with matching key entries in your Text
Templates. To provide dynamic updates in this manner, DataLink
operates quietly in the background, patiently monitoring external
sources for changes.

Three special DataLink components monitor specific external sources.

These are the Scoreboard Linker, TXT Linker, and Database Linker.

2.1.1 SCOREBOARD LINKER

This Linker receives data from an external

hardware scoreboard controller such as a
Daktronics™ system. The external system
provides information to DataLink by a physical
COM port connection. (Section 3.2, Connecting External Devices, explains
how to connect these devices so they can communicate with DataLink.)

DataLink supports popular external devices from several different

manufacturers. The Scoreboard Linker monitors the incoming data
stream, and assigns specific values to unique DataLink key names. These
values are then substituted for those key name entries in your title
templates. These special key names are listed by brand in Section 4.1.

Note: As the data supplied by various external systems differs,

DataLink uses unique key names for each supported brand. As
well, this arrangement permits devices from two (or more)
manufacturers to be connected simultaneously without conflict.

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2.1.2 TXT AND DATABASE LINKERS

These two Linkers each keep an eye on their namesake file types,
refreshing the display as required. Prepared in advance, data files can
serve many handy and creative purposes.

Note: TXT Linker monitors files (.txt) you place in the folder
C:\TriCaster\Stats Plugins\Text Input.

For example, a simple ASCII text file (.txt) containing a list of names
(prepared as key-value pairs) could be used to automatically update a
credits slate, or perhaps to populate the name fields in a series of
individual lower thirds used in a weekly production (Section 4.2 explains
the details of this example).

The TXT Linker continuously watches for changes in the values assigned
to keys. If a value changes in the file, the display is immediately updated.
Thus, third-party programs may be designed for various applications that
continuously update the onscreen text display by changing values
assigned to keys in the file.

The Database Linker provides even more powerful possibilities. It allows

the use of supported MySQL database functions to derive replacement
values for DataLink keys on the title page – even accessing the data
across a network! (More on this feature can be found in Chapter 4, Using
DataLink.)

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3 GETTING STARTED

This chapter lists system prerequisites, outlines

DataLink™ installation and registration, and
explains how to establish a connection between
the DataLink host system and external devices.

3.1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

DataLink requires (as a minimum):

 A NewTek TriCaster system running TriCaster 2.0 or higher

software,

Or …

 A NewTek VT[5] system (version 5.2 or higher)

3.2 CONNECTING EXTERNAL DEVICES

THE STEPS IN THIS SECTION ARE MANDATORY IF YOUR

DATALINK INSTALLATION REQUIRES DATA FROM AN
EXTERNAL DEVICE (SUCH AS A DAKTRONICS™ OR
COMPARABLE SCOREBOARD SYSTEM).

Naturally, to communicate with an external data source, that equipment

must be connected to the DataLink host system and powered up. As
well, DataLink must be configured to find the connection.

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3.2.1 USB-SERIAL ADAPTERS

The diversity of supported external systems, cable

connectors, and available ports on the host system
means this connection may require an adapter.

Newer external devices may use USB connections, but others use older
RS-232 (25-pin) connectors, or occasionally (slightly more recent) 9-pin
style connectors.

Unless the external system is supplied

with a USB connection, a USB-Serial
adapter is required to connect it to a
TriCaster (and some VT[5] systems with
newer motherboards as well).

To connect using a USB-Serial adapter,

follow these steps:

1. (TriCaster only) – power up your TriCaster

2. (TriCaster only) – if the Live Production desktop is showing, click the

Close [x] button in its upper-right corner, then click Admin to access
the Windows™ desktop

3. Connect the scoreboard controller’s output cable connector to the

USB-Serial adapter

a. Plug the adapter into the Datalink host system

b. Install drivers for your USB-Serial adapter on the Datalink host

system. Drivers for the adapter are generally supplied on a
Compact Disk (CD) packaged with the adapter by the
manufacturer. Unless these drivers are correctly installed,
DataLink cannot receive data from the external controller.

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 Several methods are available to transfer and install the drivers
on a TriCaster system. You may either:

1. Connect an external CD disk drive to the TriCaster by

USB cable, or …

2. Copy the driver installer from the driver CD to a USB

thumb drive, plug that drive into the TriCaster, or …

3. Copy the driver installer program to the TriCaster

across a network from another computer that sports
a CD disk reader

Then install the drivers, carefully following the instructions

provided by the manufacturer of the adapter you purchased.

3.2.2 FIND THE COM PORT

The next step involves determining which COM

port Windows has assigned to the new connection.
This information is required to configure Datalink.

4. Right-click the My Computer icon on the

Windows™ desktop, and select Manage from the menu to open the
Computer Management panel

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Figure 1 - Device Manager

5. Open the Device Manager (Figure 1) by clicking that entry in the

left-hand pane of this window

6. Click the + sign next to Ports (COM and LPT) in the right-hand pane
to disclose available communication ports

7. Locate the entry for your scoreboard controller - note which COM
port number is assigned to it (such as COM 1 or COM2)

Note - you should see your new connection listed, as in Figure 1. If it

doesn’t appear at first, try removing and re-inserting the USB cable
connector – or you can use the “Scan for hardware changes” item in
the Device Manager’s Action menu.

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 (If it does appear, but shows a ! icon next to the entry, this may
indicate a problem with the USB connection or your adapter driver
installation – try re-installing the adapter driver, following the
directions supplied with it.)

8. Close the Device Manager.

Again, this port number is needed to configure DataLink to recognize the

external device (and use the data it supplies). Let’s continue to install
and configure the DataLink plugin.)

3.3 INSTALL DATALINK™

THE STEPS IN THIS SECTION ARE MANDATORY FOR ALL

DATALINK INSTALLATIONS.

DataLink is delivered on a special USB thumb drive.

To install the software, insert the DataLink thumb drive into a free USB
port (such as one of those found on the front panel of a TriCaster).

1. (TriCaster only) - If necessary, click the Close button (the [x] gadget
in the upper-right corner of the TriCaster window) and then click
Admin in the Shut Down dialogue that pops up, to access the
Windows™ desktop.

2. Double-click the My Computer icon to open a File Explorer window,

and locate the DataLink Install disk icon. Double-click this icon (to
show the files on the disk), and then double-click the DataLink icon
shown to launch the installer.

3. The DataLink installer will now present a dialog (Figure 2) to ask you
to accept the End User License Agreement. Please read the EULA

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 and, if you agree with its terms, click the switch indicating that you
accept these and wish to proceed with the installation.

Figure 2 - EULA Dialog

4. After a few moments, the Registration panel pops up (Figure 3),

showing the unique Product ID code for your installation.

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Figure 3 – Registration

5. If your DataLink host system is connected to the Internet, clicking

the large button labeled “Step 2” will take you directly to NewTek’s
website to complete the registration process.

(Otherwise, mark down the characters comprising the Product ID,

and use another computer that has an Internet connection to visit
http://register.newtek.com. Follow the steps as presented on the
site to obtain your DataLink registration code, and enter it in the
text field provided for it in the Registration dialog.)

The Completion dialog will appear (Figure 4).

Note: If you do not obtain and enter the code, the installation will abort
and you will need to re-install again at another time.

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Figure 4

This completes the software portion of your DataLink installation. If you

wish to use DataLink with an external hardware data source (such as a
Daktronics™ game clock system) you should have already completed the
steps in Section 3.2 – and you should now proceed to Section 3.4,
Configure DataLink. Otherwise (for text or database file support only),
you can jump right to Chapter 4, Using DataLink.

Hint: verify your DataLink installation by checking the About

box in TriCaster or VT[5] for the notation “DataLink Installed”.
(If it’s not there, please re-install).

3.4 CONFIGURE DATALINK

THE STEPS IN THIS SECTION ARE MANDATORY IF YOUR

DATALINK INSTALLATION REQUIRES DATA FROM AN
EXTERNAL DEVICE (SUCH AS A DAKTRONICS™ OR
COMPARABLE SCOREBOARD SYSTEM).

Assuming you followed the steps listed in Section 3.2 (Connecting

External Devices), there’s one more thing to do before DataLink can
communicate with an external device. You need to tell DataLink which
COM Port(s) it should ‘listen’ to.
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1. (TriCaster only) - Click the Windows Start menu, and go to
Programs. Select Programs>TriCaster>DataLink>Configure
Scoreboard (this will open the file Scoreboard.ini in a text editor,
allowing you to modify it)

2. (VT[5] only) – Click the Windows Start menu, and go Programs.

Select Programs>NewTek>VT[5]>DataLink>Configure Scoreboard
(this will open the file Scoreboard.ini in a text editor, allowing you to
modify it)

3. Locate the section (of the .ini file) appropriate for the brand of
scoreboard controller connected

Note: DataLink currently supports 4 different brands of external

devices, namely Daktronics™, Whiteway™, DSI™, and OES™.

4. Change the value for Port in the connected device brand’s section
to correspond to the Port number you noted earlier in Section 3.2.2
(enter Port=1 if the device was found at COM1, and so on)

5. Change the value for Enabled in the appropriate brand’s section to

1 (from 0)

For any and all brands of controller that are not connected, Enabled
should be set to 0 (so the relevant entry in their sections would be
Enabled=0).

Note that it is possible to connect more than one controller brand

simultaneously. In this instance, enter Enabled=1 and the
corresponding Port number for each connected controller’s in the
Scoreboard.ini file.

6. Save the Scorbeoard.ini file, and Exit the text editor.

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Important Note: In some environments, Windows may arbitrarily
reassign the external device to a different COM port following a reboot.

If this happens, you could simply update COM port entry in the .ini file.
However, you may prefer instead to lock the connected device to a
specific COM port, using the Windows Device Manager.

To do this, please locate the current port entry for your scoreboard
controller. Right-click the entry name, and select Properties in the
drop-down menu.

Next, click the Port Settings tab at the top of the Properties panel,
and click the button labeled “Advanced”. Use the Com Port Number
drop-down menu to choose an unused port number, and click the OK
button. OK the Properties panel too, then close the Device
Manager. The Port Number you assigned should now be retained on
subsequent reboots.

At this point, TriCaster or VT is ready to utilize the scoreboard controller.

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4 USING DATALINK

In this chapter we’ll get into the finer details of using

DataLink effectively and creatively in your live
productions.

We’ll consider the functionality provided by each of

the three “Linkers” – the TXT Linker, Database Linker
and Scoreboard Linker. We’ll also explain how to add DataLink “keys” to
your text page creations, and how these may be used in various ways.

The quickest way to become familiar with DataLink is to ‘dive right in’
and try it out.

4.1 SCOREBOARD LINKER

This DataLink component receives data from an

external scoreboard hardware controller, such as a
Daktronics™ unit.

We explained how to connect these external devices to the DataLink

host system in Section 3.2, Connecting External Devices. If you have
made that connection successfully and have a supported device
connected, let’s continue now to see how the information transmitted
by the external device is accessed in your live production system.

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Figure 5

4.1.1 A SIMPLE EXAMPLE

1. Launch your VT[5] or TriCaster, and add

the Title Template named “Sports-Lower
Thirds 1” to the Templates list – click its
icon in the bin to activate it in the
preview/edit pane.

Title Templates contain text fields that you can edit to suit your
needs. When you move your mouse over an editable field, a
thin marquee is shown to indicate that you can modify that
entry.

2. Move the mouse over the number “55” next to the “Burger
Boys” team name – notice the marquee that appears.

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 3. Click inside this marquee, and a text entry popup will appear.
(Initially, it will contain “55”, the default entry).
You can type anything you like into this popup, but of course
for DataLink provides special abilities for specific entries.

As mentioned earlier, if you enter a “key” name here that is

supported by your external device, when you subsequently
display this title page in your live production the key entry will
be updated with the actual value associated with it.

The value we want to appear for our example is the home team score.

4. Check the table of key names in Section 5, and make a note of

the key name for “Home Team Score” for your scoreboard
system.

For our example, we’ll assume you have a Daktronics™ unit – the key
name we want is listed as %DakHomeScore%. You should use the
correct value for your brand of device, of course.

Figure 6

5. Type %DakHomeScore% into the popup, replacing “55”. Don’t

worry if the key name doesn’t seem to fit properly – the actual
value should fit nicely in the space provided when displayed

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 6. Press Enter on the keyboard to end text entry, closing the
popup

Figure 7

Notice that the name entry is replaced by [DL] in the preview (Figure 7).
This indicates DataLink recognizes the name you entered as a valid
DataLink key (if this doesn’t happen, check your typing for errors).

Figure 8

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Now, whenever you have this template displayed in your live production
system (and assuming the scoreboard is connected and running), the
home team score will be automatically updated with the true value.

4.1.2 NEXT STEPS

Of course, you can use any combination of the

available key names available for your external
device in title pages of your own creation, too.

To do so, use TriCaster Edit Text or VT[5] CG Designer to create the

graphics and key name entries. Then use the Export to Live feature
provided in those modules to add your new template to the list available
for live production use. See the manuals provided with your NewTek live
production system for information on using their respective title creation
tools.

4.2 TXT LINKER

As discussed back in Section 2.1, DataLink (installed on your TriCaster or

VT) monitors suitable ASCII text files, pulling data from the (.txt) files you
place in the folder C:\TriCaster\Stats Plugins\Text Input text file (note,
for VT, use C:\Program Files\NewTek\VT5\Stats Plugins\Text Input).

To supply usable values for DataLink, the text file should contain nothing
other than key-value pairs, arranged in the following format:

[key] = [value]

The [key] entry should be a short string which will be entered into your
TriCaster Title Templates. The [value] field supplies the actual title that
will be displayed for that key.

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 Note: Both keys and values may contain punctuation and
spaces.

Here’s a little example:

1. Launch a text editor (such as Notepad®, Windows’ default text

program. You may exit the TriCaster to the Admin screen and
run Notepad from the Windows Start menu to do this, or
transfer a prepared .txt file from another system).

2. Enter the key-value pairs below on separate lines in the file,

just as they appear here:

city name = San Antonio

temp = 89°F
wind = W 20mph
humidity = 63%
pressure = 22

Hint: to type the degrees sign (°) –> keep the ALT key pressed
while using the keyboard number pad to type 017 6 … then
release ALT (standard notation for this combination is
ALT+0176).

3. Save the file (perhaps naming it local conditions.txt) to

C:\TriCaster\Stats Plugins\Text Input.

4. Launch the TriCaster, and click the Text tab on the Live
Production screen.

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 Figure 9- Add to List

5. Use the Add to List drop-down to add the template named

Weather – Left to the Text playlist (Figure 9).

6. Click the thumbnail icon to display the template in the Text

Preview pane at left.

7. Move your mouse over the word “currently” in the Text

Preview pane, and click inside the bounding box that appears,
activating this text field for modification (Figure 10).

Figure 10

8. Replace “currently” with %city name% (Figure 11), and press

the Enter key to confirm the change.

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 Figure 11

Note that - after you press Enter - the Text Preview updates to
show the letters [DL] where key names have been entered
(Figure 12).

Figure 12

9. Click on the temperature text (“76”) and change it to %temp%

Note: don’t be alarmed if the key name you enter seems too
long. When DataLink replaces the key with an actual value, it
will fit just fine.

Hint: For this reason, when creating custom templates for DataLink
use, it’s a good idea to initially place and format text lines using
temporary ‘stand-in’ values. When everything looks just right,
replace the stand-in values with key names surrounded by % signs
(these % signs tell DataLink that the enclosed entry is a key name,
and that it should be replaced with the true value on display).

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 10. Delete the little degree sign (°)
from the page.

11. Continue replacing text with

key names until your page looks like
Figure 13.

12. Now, click the TXT button in

the Overlay area to assign the custom
weather template to it, and click the
(Overlay section) Take button to view
the result (Figure 14).
Figure 13

Figure 14 - DataLink values displayed

See how DataLink replaces the key names in the template with value
data drawn from the file?
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 Actually, if you still had Notepad® open with the text file open
in it -- you could change the data displayed on the screen
instantly by modifying a value next to a key, and then pressing
Ctrl+s to save the modified file.

Let’s briefly consider a more elaborate example using the TXT Linker:

Suppose you regularly produce a half-time show featuring

interviews with 8 to 10 different guests. You could create a CG
project with 10 pages, and manually modify each page before every
episode.

Or, you could prepare the pages once, and let DataLink update them
all for you automatically every time! To do that, you could proceed
as follows:

1. Go to the Edit Text (or CG Designer for VT users) and select a

nice-looking lower third template using the Add Page menu ...
or make your own if you prefer.

2. Where the guest’s name should appear, enter a DataLink key:

%guest1%

3. Clone the page as many times as necessary

4. Click the second thumbnail (no need to edit the first one) in the
Pages column at right to select it for modification, and click the
T button (to activate text entry).

5. Click in the DataLink key field on the Work Area, and replace
%guest1% with %guest2%

6. Click the next page, and change the key name to %guest3%,
and so-on until all done.

7. Select Export Project for Live in the Project area (above the
Pages column) – note that export may take a few moments.

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 8. Leave Edit Text (or CG Designer), and go to TriCaster’s Live
Production panel (or VT*5+’s Text Template module).

9. Using Add to List (Add to Titles, VT[5]), locate the series of

pages you just exported and add them (in order) to the list.

10. Use Save List to save a Template playlist containing this set of
Text Templates as guest-slates.vto (so you can reload these
pages en masse in seconds whenever you like).

11. Finally, prepare a simple text file similar to this one:

guest1 = Bill E. Bob

guest2 = Sam Houston
guest3 = Dorothy Lamour
… etc.

12. Save the file as guests.txt, and drop it into C:TriCaster\Stats

Plugins\Text Input.

That’s all you need to do. Before each episode, your production
assistant can take a few moments to update the guest.txt file content,
and the work is done!

Afterward, simply load guest-slates.vto into the Title Templates panel

and each successive page automatically displays the correct name in
sequence when displayed (whether as an Overlay/DSK or Switcher
source).

4.3 DATABASE LINKER

This component also monitors an external file for keys (and changes to
their corresponding values), but in this case it can access a more complex
and powerful file structure -- the database.

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The feature allows users to take advantage of supported MySQL
database query functions to derive replacement values for the keys on
the text page.

Hint: If you plan to use this feature, you (or someone in your
employ) will need a measure of familiarity with database
queries.

In this case, DataLink monitors the folder Database Input, located inside
the Stats Plugins folder mentioned earlier. However -- the database file
itself doesn’t need to be located in this folder. Rather, a special .xml
type file goes here; in turn, the XML file content provides the
information that DataLink needs in order to access the external database
values. Here’s a sample xml file:

<!—
Example connection string and query for DataLink
using MySQL.
This produces the keys %book.1%, %book.2%... etc
-->

<sql_databases>

<database connection_string = "Driver={MySQL ODBC

3.51 Driver}; Server=localhost;
user=root;password=my_password; database=book_table">

<query>
command = "SELECT title FROM Books;"
key = "book"
timeout = "10000"
multiple_keys = "true"
</query>

</database>

</sql_databases>

Replacing the Server, user, password, etc. values with the correct ones
for your environment permits the Database Linker to supply values to
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DataLink keys as described in the commented lines (an array in the
format book.1, book.2, and so on).

With respect to the line that states timeout = “10000” in the xml file, this
tells DataLink to how often (in milliseconds) to update its values from the
database. Lower values result a faster refresh rate. Rates that are overly
high are undesirable as the data may not seem to be updated in a timely
manner.

The multiple_keys = “true” entry tells DataLink that more than one
match to the SQL query is acceptable. In this case, DataLink will create a
key/value pair for each qualified result. For example, a keyword
“author” could produce an array of matches, which DataLink would
arrange as follows:

%author% -> "Voltaire"

%author.1% -> "James Joyce"

%author.2% -> "Herman Melville"

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5 KEY NAME LIST

In this chapter we’ll list the actual key names that are
available for use with DataLink and the different
brands of external equipment it supports.

Mostly, the key names are self-explanatory, but

we’ve added slightly more descriptive notes
anyway. Here’s the complete current list, grouped
by manufacturer.

Note: the key names listed are shown inserted between

percent (%) signs as a reminder, since this is how you will
enter them onto your pages.

5.1.1 DAKTRONICS KEYS:

%DakClock% - Game Clock Time – “MM:SS.T”

%DakClockStatus% - Game Clock Status

%DakShotClock% - Shot Clock Time – “SS“

%DakHomeScore% - Home Team Score

%DakAwayScore% - Guest Team Score

%DakHomeFouls% - Home Team Fouls

%DakAwayFouls% - Guest Team Fouls

%DakHomeTOFull% - Home Time Outs Left – Full

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%DakHomeTOPart% - Home Time Outs Left – Partial

%DakHomeTOTotal% - Home Time Outs Left – Total

%DakAwayTOFull% - Guest Time Outs Left – Full

%DakAwayTOPart% - Guest Time Outs Left – Partial

%DakAwayTOTotal% - Guest Time Outs Left – Total

%DakPeriod% - Current period

%DakHhr% - Hour (from Clock Time)

%DakMin% - Minutes (from Clock Time)

%DakSec% - Seconds (from Clock Time)

%DakTen% - Tenths (secs/10 from Clock Time)

5.1.2 WHITEWAY KEYS:

%WWPeriod% - Current period

%WWMin% - Minutes (from Clock Time)

%WWSec% - Seconds (from Clock Time)

%WWTen% - Tenths (secs/10 from Clock Time)

%WWAwayScore% - Guest Team Score

%WWHomeScore% - Home Team Score

%WWShotClock% - Shot Clock Time

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%WWClock% - Game Clock Time – “MM:SS.T”

5.1.3 DSI KEYS:

%DSIClock% - Game Clock Time – “MM:SS.T”

%DSIShotClock% - Shot Clock Time

5.1.4 OES KEYS:

%OESClock% - Game Clock Time – “MM:SS.T”

%OESShotClock% - Shot Clock Time

%OESAwayScore% - Guest Team Score

%OESHomeScore% - Home Team Score

%OESHomeFouls% - Home Team Fouls

%OESAwayFouls% - Guest Team Fouls

%OESHomeTO% - Home Team Time Out

%OESAwayTO% - Guest Team Time Out

%OESPeriod% - Current period

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6 INDEX
Linker
A
ASCII Text File, 9, 26
ASCII Text File, 9, 26 Database, 9, 32
Scoreboard, 9, 22
C Key Definitions, 22
TXT, 9, 26
COM port, 16
P
D
Port
Database Linker, 9, 32 COM, 16
DataLink, 8, 22
Device Manager, 15 R
E Requirements, 12

END USER LICENSE, 2, 16 S

External Devices
Connecting, 12 Scoreboard Linker, 9
Scoreboard, 9 Key Definitions, 22
Scoreboard Linker, 22
I System Requirements, 12

Installation, 16 T
K Template, 26, 29, 31
Title Template, 26, 29, 31
Key-value pairs, 22, 26 Txt Linker, 26
TXT Linker, 9
L
LICENSE, 2, 16

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CREDITS

Acknowledgments: Tim Jenison, Jim Plant

Software Engineering: Andrew Cross, Mike Watkins, James Killian,

Jeremy Wiseman, Kirk Morger, Masaaki Konno, Kevin Nations, John
Perkins, Nathan Kovner, Brian Brice, Kenneth Long, Steve Bowie, Bennie
Pierce, Cary Tetrick, Alvaro Suarez

Hardware Engineering: Kevin Rouviere, Charles Steinkuehler, Dale Whitt,

Menghua Wang

Additional thanks to:

NewTek Marketing
NewTek Content Development
NewTek Technical Support
NewTek Customer Service
NewTek Sales

Copyright 2008 NewTek Inc., 5131 Beckwith Blvd. San Antonio, TX USA 78249.
DataLink, LiveText, TriCaster, TriCaster Pro, TriCaster Pro FX, TriCaster STUDIO,
TriCaster Broadcast, SpeedEDIT, LiveControl, 3Play, VT, VT[3], VT[4], VT[5], Video
Toaster, Toaster, Inspire 3D, 3D Arsenal and Aura are trademarks of NEWTEK.
LightWave and LightWave 3D are registered trademarks of NEWTEK. All other
brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

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