Connect text file data to a design – Help Center

Titler Live can display information from nearly any source that can create and update text files. When a variable in a design is connected to a text file, Titler Live automatically displays information in the text file as the text file is updated. If a text file includes multiple lines of information, Titler Live displays each line in succession. You can include text file data in designs for gaming overlays, subscriber alerts, donation alerts, song titles, and more.

Note: This feature is only available in Titler Live Broadcast, Complete, Social, and Present.

Sections in this article:

Connect text files to designs
Create an XML map file

Connect text files to designs

Open a new or existing project in Titler Live's playout interface.
Complete the steps in one of the following sections to add a graphic to the playlist.
- Use a Text File Reader design from the library (not available in Titler Live Present)
- Create a custom design
Use a Text File Reader design from the library

Note: Text File Reader designs are not available in Titler Live Present.
1. Open the Library panel and click the Inputs section button.
2. Double-click the Text File Reader folder.
3. Click and drag a design from the Text File Reader collection to the playlist.
  
  Tip: To preview a design, hover your pointer over a design in the library.
  
  The type of Text File Reader design you selected appears in the Input drop-down list in the Attributes panel and in the playlist for that graphic. In addition, the Text File Reader input and its variables appear in the Edit / Preview panel.
4. Continue to the next step.
Create a custom design
1. Choose File > New Design from within Titler Live's playout interface.
2. Click the Edit Title Design button in the Attributes panel. The graphic opens in the Title Designer.
3. Add text objects, animations, and more to create the design's overall look and feel.
  
  Important! The design must include at least one text variable for each type of text file data that you want to display in the design. Later, you will connect each text variable to a text file. To add text variables, see Create variables in designs.
  
  For more information about creating and customizing designs, see other articles in the Create and import designs and Customize text, objects, and scenes sections of our help center.
4. Click the Keep changes button in the bottom-right corner of the Timeline panel to save the graphic to your project's current session and close the Title Designer.
  
  Tip: To reuse the design in future projects, save the design to the library or save the design to your computer.
5. Create an XML file as described in the Create an XML map file section of this article. (The XML file is where you name the Text File Reader input and variables and map text files to variables.) After you create an XML file, return to this section and continue to the next step.
6. Select the new graphic in Titler Live's playlist (if it's not already selected), then choose Inputs > General > Text File Reader > New Input.
  
  A window opens prompting you to select an XML file.
  
  Tips
  - If you previously connected a text file input to a design and want to use that input, you can select it from the Input > General > Text File Reader menu.
  - You can also add inputs to a graphic from the Input drop-down list in the Attributes panel or playlist.
  - To remove an input from a graphic, right-click (Windows) or Control + click (Mac) on the name of an input in the Edit / Preview panel and choose Remove input.
7. Select the XML file you previously created, then click Open.
  
  The Text File Reader input appears in the Input drop-down list in the Attributes panel and in the playlist for that graphic. In addition, the Text File Reader input and its variables appear in the Edit / Preview panel.
8. Continue to the next step.
In the Text File Reader panel, click the File not set link next to a variable, select a text file on your computer that is regularly updated by another data source, and click Open. Repeat this step to connect a text file to each variable that you want to include in the graphic.
Click the Show Inputs button in the Edit / Preview panel to view the Text File Reader input and variables. (If the input's variables aren't visible, expand the Text File Reader list.)
Click and drag a Text File Reader variable onto an object in the graphic. Repeat this step for each variable that you want to include in the graphic.

Tip: To disconnect a variable from an object in your graphic, right-click a variable in the Edit / Preview panel and choose Disconnect variable.

The text file's data is now visible in the graphic.

As your data source updates each text file, the graphic automatically shows the latest information.

Create an XML map file

Titler Live uses an XML file to map text files to variables in custom designs, and to name the inputs and variables that are visible in the Attributes and Edit / Preview panels.

Complete the following steps if you are creating a custom design with a new Text File Reader input, as described earlier in this article. (If you're using a design from the library's Inputs > Text File Reader collection, as described earlier, you don't need to create an XML map file.)

Create a new document in a text or XML editor and enter the following markup.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <input name="enter a name for this input" action="enter update or alert">
 <file parse="enter s, $, or d">
 <variable name="enter a name for this variable" pos="0" />
 </file>
 </input>

The following table describes the acceptable values for all bold items in the markup above.

Tag and Attribute	Value	Result
input name	alphanumeric text	The Text File Reader input's name appears in the Input drop-down lists (Attributes panel and playlist) and in the Edit / Preview panel.
input action	alert or update	Alert: Titler Live re-caches the graphic and automatically broadcasts the graphic for 8 seconds when the source text file is updated. Update: Titler Live re-caches the graphic when the source text file is updated, but does not automatically broadcast the graphic.
file parse	s, $, and/or d (s = string, up to 255 characters, $ = dollar amount, d = number)	Titler Live interprets and formats text file data according to the parse value. (To parse one or more text files, see the markup examples in the steps below.)
variable name	alphanumeric text	The variable's name appears in the Attributes and Edit / Preview panels.

The following example shows how the markup may look for a subscriber alert overlay that displays the names of new subscribers.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <input name="Subscriber alert" action="alert">
 <file parse="s">
 <variable name="Name" pos="0" />
 </file>
 </input>

If your custom design includes multiple variables that you want to connect to different types of information from one or more text files, complete the following steps:
1. Add a variable name tag for each additional variable.
2. Add a file parse value for each additional variable name tag. Enter each file parse value in the same order as the variable name tags.
  
  The following example shows how the markup may look for a tip alert overlay that displays the names of donors, their tip amounts, and custom messages.
```
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <input name="Tip alert" action="alert">
 <file parse="s$s">
 <variable name="Donor" pos="0" />
 <variable name="Tip" pos="0" />
 <variable name="Message" pos="0" />
 </file>
 </input>
```
3. Save the document with an XML extension. (Depending on your text editor, you may need to save the document as a TXT file and manually change the TXT extension to XML.)
4. Return to the Create a custom design section above and continue following the steps to add the XML file as a new Text File Reader input.