This article is an introduction to the mAirList audio and scheduling database, mAirListDB, and will help you to make the first steps with mAirListDB

mAirListDB (mAirList Database) is the audio and scheduling database built into mAirList. It is made up of three parts:

• Audio Library - keeps a list of your audio files, lets you edit their metadata and organize the audio items in a virtual folder structure.
• Playlist Editor - a place where you can create and edit hourly playlists that are later grabbed by the playout application.
• Mini Scheduler - a music scheduling function built into mAirListDB that allows you to generate hourly playlists based on configurable hour and music templates, or import music from 3rd party schedulers.

mAirListDB is built into mAirList (except Home Player), so you don't have to install any other software. It's designed as an add-on for mAirList though, so mAirList can operate without any database backend, and even when you have a mAirListDB set up, you can still play audio files straight from any Windows folder without adding them to the mAirListDB library or playlist first.

mAirListDB uses an SQL backend to store the library and playlists. There are two kinds of backends available:

• Local database: All data is stored in a single *.mldb file on your local harddisk, using an “embedded” SQL databae called SQLite. The setup is very easy because SQLite is built into mAirList, and you don't have to worry about an SQL server installation. However SQLite will not work well over a network, so this type of installation is only recommended if you use mAirList on a single, standalone computer.
• Networked database: Uses a regular SQL Server, either PostgreSQL (recommended) or Microsoft SQL Server. Setup is more difficult because you have to install the SQL server first, but the network capabilities of these SQL products will allow you to access the database from any number of mAirList computers on your LAN simultaneously.

Note that the SQL database only stores the metadata of the audio items in your library, not the actual audio files - the files will be located in a regular harddisk folder or network share.

mAirList

This makes mAirListDB a very unobtrusive tool, because it does not touch, rename, reencode, delete, … your audio files unless explicitly requested. All files stay where you put them.

As mAirListDB only stores the names of your files in the SQL server, it is very important that you do not rename or move the files around once they have been added to the Library, otherwise the file will show up as missing (under the old name) and new (with the new name) at the same time. (Note: The Sync dialog has a Fix renamed files function to handle this situation, but generally all files should stay in their location and keep their names all the time.)