Neural Log daily scheduling converts broadcast orders into a station's commercial log for a single day. This page guides you through previewing demand and placement, configuring scheduling rules, generating the draft log, and moving it forward to editing, reconciliation, or charging.
Before you start#
You need a role that grants access to Logs > Commercial Logs and the underlying order/station data. If any preview or generation action is unavailable, confirm your permissions with your administrator rather than escalating to a different role.
- The order and station must be saved and active.
- The log template must have valid breaks and availability slots.
- Changing copy, time classes, program day weights, or break-position rules while a draft is prepared can invalidate the current preview. Reopen the preview to refresh.
Preview daily demand#
Open Commercial Logs#
Go to Logs > Commercial Logs and select the station and date you want to schedule.
Preview Spots / Cost#
Select the action Preview Spots / Cost. The dialog opens read-only and shows Requested Spots and Cost, listing every order line with requested spots and gross cost for that date.
Review quantities and close#
Verify that daily quantities and station prices match the order. The dialog does not write anything when you close it. Choose Close to return to the log screen.
Preview daily placement#
Select Preview Daily Placement#
With the station and date selected, choose Preview Daily Placement. The Daily Placement Preview dialog opens read-only.
Review placed and bumped occurrences#
The preview shows which requested spots were placed and which were bumped, with per-occurrence explanations for capacity, time-window, break-position, separation, or copy conflicts.
Close without saving#
Choose Close to dismiss the preview. No log is created yet.
Configure scheduling rules#
Several rule sets refine how spots are placed. You configure them before generating the draft log.
Time-class placement#
Time classes define up to five alternative time windows per weekday. For example, a drive-time class might permit placement in either 06:00-10:00 or 15:00-19:00. The scheduler uses the union of the selected weekday's alternatives instead of the line's scalar clock range.
- Starts are inclusive and ends are exclusive.
- An empty weekday produces no placements for that day.
- Manual Place/Move/Swap into a gap reports an
OutsideTimeWindowdiagnostic. Saving the move requires an explicit reason.
Break-position placement#
Break-position rules control whether a spot must air in the First, Last, or First OR Last position of a break.
- First, Last, and First OR Last are resolved before local-source, time-window, availability, exact-length, and capacity filters.
- A matching endpoint occupied by other demand produces an ordinary occupied-slot bump.
- An interior-only candidate set produces the diagnostic
BreakPositionMismatch.
Copy placement warnings#
The scheduler warns about certain copy conditions without blocking placement:
- Hold copy, copy outside usable dates, and copy belonging to another customer schedule with warnings.
- Different copy/order-line lengths also produce warnings.
- Inactive or missing copy remains a placement blocker.
Warnings are frozen at generation time. Changing current copy after generation does not rewrite old log snapshots.
Filler scheduling#
Filler scheduling runs after ordinary placement completes. It respects the template's fill rules:
- Mandatory breaks can receive filler while empty.
- If-Used breaks require at least one ordinary item; filler cannot open them.
- Daily order-line counts are treated as a maximum. Unused filler is neither requested demand nor a bump.
To override a line's ordinary/filler classification after generation, select Filler Only on the saved line, choose the explicit classification, and save your choice.
Generate the draft log#
Confirm template and inputs#
Verify the station, date, template, and any configured time-class, break-position, and copy settings. If a concurrent change has invalidated the prepared input, a recalculation message appears. Review the inputs and start again.
Save draft log#
Choose Save draft log. The system generates a sealed draft with a snapshot of the scheduling decisions. Save cannot be repeated for the same inputs without first discarding or replacing the draft.
Review Draft Log#
After saving, open Review Draft Log to see the final placed and bumped grid, along with any frozen warnings and filler classifications.
Result#
- A sealed draft log is created with ordinary and filler occurrences.
- The generation history captures the complete decision trace.
- Saved diagnostics, PDF, and CSV exports reflect the frozen snapshot.
Recover from stale context or lost response#
If the parent Broadcast Log screen shows stale actions after nested charging or reconciliation, use Refresh. The screen then shows the correct current-state actions, such as Review Charged Log or Invoice Drafts.
If a preview closes before you submit a save, reopen it and review the current inputs. If you submitted Save draft log but lost the result, inspect the saved log before generating another draft. Use a recovery action only when the panel offers the original request. For charging or invoicing, follow that workflow's recovery guide; do not re-enter an uncertain financial operation.
Limitations#
- Weekly and Book-Ends scheduling use separate workflows and are not covered by the ordinary daily scheduling path.
- Changing template fill rules, time classes, or program day weights after the first saved day of a week can invalidate the retained allocation for the remainder of the week.
Next steps#
- Edit the generated draft log to manually adjust placed or bumped items.
- Reconcile the log with play-log data to match as-run evidence before charging.
- Charge the log to create invoice drafts from the reconciled airings.
- Review invoice drafts after charging is complete.
- Log Templates to configure the break and avail definitions that drive daily placement.