1. Make sure you have a sample data file in the correct folder. (A sample data file is simply one of the files containing the data you want to display).
2. If you are setting up an image sequence be sure to have at least one image file ready and in the correct folder.
3. Make sure you have an Audience template ready to receive the data (or images). This template should be in the appropriate zone.
4. Your template should contain replaceable text and/or image tags (Example: $heading or $image1). If you don't know how to create a template see Templates for Data Services for more information.
5. If you are setting up a weather probe make sure it is connected according to manufacturer's instructions and functioning (receiving data).

The Audience template you select should have the text and graphic variables identified by "$". For example: $Line1. The dollar sign indicates a location for incoming data. The text after the dollar sign names the specific data. What you name your data does not matter but it should follow some form of logic to avoid confusion.

If you do not have a pre-created template, go to Templates for Data Services for information on how to create one.

How to select a template:

1. With Audience.data open to the first screen, click New>.
2. The Choose a Template screen opens.
3. Using the Template… button, browse the magazine folders until you find the correct template.
4. Select the template you want by double clicking on it or using the Open button.
5. Click Next>.

Note: If you open Audience.data from an existing page/template in Audience.foundation you will not have the Choose A Template option. This option is only available when you create a new configuration independent of Audience. To change the template of an existing configuration, open Audience.data and select the Edit button. Then refer to .

If you open Audience.data from the Start Menu the Choose a Template screen follows the Welcome screen of the Wizard. To select a template follow the steps above.

1. In Audience.foundation right click on the Audience template you have created for capturing and displaying your new data. Select Setup Live Data Feed from the right click menu.
2. Audience.data opens to the Welcome to Audience.data screen. Click New> to begin making your new Configuration.
3. The Set Magazine screen will open. (Because you are opening Audience.data from with an existing template, the Choose A Template Screen will be skipped automatically).
4. Confirm that the magazine selected is the one that will be displaying the new data. If not, use the drop-down to select the correct magazine. NOTE: if this template’s zone has multiple magazines, they will be listed from highest to lowest priority.
5. If you want all pages created in this magazine by Audience.data to be added automatically to the end of the playlist, check the Append Pages to Playlist box. You can re-order these pages in Audience.foundation later.
6. Click Next>.

1. The Page Name field displays the root page name based on your template name. If you are using more than one data file with the template, be sure to choose a unique page name here. (Example: if you are using the same template to display weather data in Toronto and Ottawa, name the Ottawa data pages Ottaweather and the Toronto pages Torweather.)
2. If your data will be generating multiple pages, a number will be added to the root. For example, if your page name is Torweather, multiple pages will be called: Torweather_01, Torweather_02, Torweather_03…
3. When you are satisfied with the Page Name click Next>.

In order to collect data for broadcast on an Audience playback or Audience.web system you will initially need to make a connection to that data. The Data Source you select on this screen depends on where your data is located, and the type of file containing the data.

• Local File – Use this if the data is available on this computer or a local network (LAN) and you have a software application generating the data.
• Files From The Internet – Select this if your data is on a simple web page or files from an ftp site. Be sure to have the HTTP or FTP address on hand, as you will be configuring a data source connection. Note that only simple HTML tags will be parsed: <P>, </P> <TD> and <BR>. See Web Source Settings.

Note: Using public web content is against WWWC regulations. Use this feature only for internally managed web sites.

• For handling non-English data sources, see Language Support.
• Audience.data also supports data acquisition through PC Serial ports. For more information please see Data via Serial Port.
• ODBC Export – (Open Data Base Connectivity) Use this option to configure a data connection for extracting data from an ODBC data source. This could be an MS Access Data Base, a MS SQL server or MS Excel Spreadsheet. Be sure to have all file names and directory paths on hand.
• Serial Data – If your data comes in via a serial port (example: satellite) then select this method.
• Date and Time – If you are creating a clock page then use this option. See Create a Date and/or Clock Page.
• Weather Capture – If you are creating temperature page then use this option to display the current temperature. (You will be using data generated from a supported local capture device).

When you establish the incoming data that you will be displaying using Audience you need to be sure of a couple of things:

• First, the data must be in the form of. XML (Extensible Markup Language), CSV (Comma Separated Value – normally a spreadsheet export), or TXT file (Simple Text file). Graphics must be JPG, GIF, TGA, BMP or PNG.
• Secondly, the data must be written consistently to one directory. Once you have configured a page for displaying data, you can change the data source directory later if required. The Data Acquisition Gate will check the source directory every minute for updated data.

To Choose a data file

1. Click on the Sample… button and browse to select a sample file containing the new data you want to display.
2. If you intend to process a sequence of images, select one of the images. A page will automatically be created for all other images in the directory. NOTE: If images are removed from the directory, the corresponding pages will be removed as well.
3. Click the Open button and the file will be selected.
4. When you have selected the correct data file, click Next>.

We recommend you use the Default button to select the directory path to the data file. If that does not work for you, use the Path… button to select the path to the folder receiving your data. Remember, sometimes the sample data you use to set up a configuration is located in a different folder than the real data. Audience.data will be checking the folder selected here for data every minute.

When you are satisfied that the information displayed on the Path to Data File screen is correct, click Next >.

Note: Note that by using the Default button you speed up data processing because Audience.foundation does not have to look all over your system for data.

1. Ensure that the file type displayed in the Data Type field is correct. If not, use the drop down to select the appropriate file extension. If you are creating an image sequence and your sample file is an image file (example: JPG) the Data Type should be “Image”.
2. When you have completed selecting or confirming the data type, click Next>.
changing data types

In some cases, your data file might have an extension like .DAT. If so, then you can use this screen to ensure Audience.data processes your data file like a text (.TXT) file.

Another possibility is that a file will have a TXT extension, but may actually contain CSV (Comma Separated Value) data. In this case, choose CSV.

Audience.data can process your data in three different ways. This flexibility makes it easier to work with incoming data. Below each option is explained in detail.

Note: Note: if you are creating an image sequence, this step will be skipped automatically.

process data by filename

If you want to process your data this way select the By Filename radio button. Regardless of what files end up in your data directory selected in Choose a Data Source, only files with the name you select will be processed. It is important to note that by leaving out the extension Audience.data is prepared to process all types of files with this file name. If your data comes in more than one format, you will find this useful. If there are other file types with the same root name in your data folder, you may want to change the name of the data file being processed. Or, you can use a different selection method.

process data by folder

If you want Audience.data to process all the data files in the data folder select the second radio button: All files in directory path. This is useful if you cannot control what the real incoming data files will be called. For instance, they might have the current time in the filename.

process by string

This is the most specific way of processing data. This is useful if you cannot control what the real data files will be called (they might have the current date in the filename, for instance). In order to select the radio button Files containing this string you must first click on the View Data button and copy-and-paste the correct string to the field provided. If you are not sure, follow the steps below:

1. Have the Data Selection Method screen of Audience.data open.
2. Click on the View Data button.
3. A text editor window opens showing you the contents of your data file.
4. Click and drag your mouse to highlight the data string you want Audience to display.
5. Hold the ctrl key down and hit the c (for copy) key.
6. Move the cursor to the text field next to the 3rd radio button.
7. Hold the ctrl key down and hit the p (for paste) key.
8. Your text string should now be copied to the field and you will be able select the radio button next to Files containing this string.
9. Click Next>.

The following is for XML data files only.

If Audience.data will be rendering a single page from an XML data file check: Check this box if you will make one page (at the bottom of the window) and continue to the next step.

If you want more than one Audience page to be created from your XML data file you will need to select the XML "tag" or "x-path" that will trigger the new page. Follow these steps to select the trigger:

1. If required, click on the View Data… button to review the contents of your xml data file.
2. Look through the paths and tags and determine which one you want to use to make each new page. This will be the trigger path.
3. Audience.data has already sorted the repeating elements in your data file so you do not need to copy-and-paste.
4. Use the drop down menu called Select an XML element to use for Multi-Page to select the XML element you want to trigger page creation. For example, if you want a new page created for every new headline contained in the incoming data you would select the XML tag that represents headlines. That might look something like: <hl>.
5. Click the Next> button.