The 28 ALE columns, and what each one is worth

Every column, and how far you can lean on it.

Column	What fills it	How far you can lean
`Name`	Deterministic clip name: 31 characters, ASCII; falls back to scene / shot / take when no shot name was recorded	A marker, not a file key
`Tracks`	`V` MOS · `A1A2` wild · `VA1A2` sync · blank when the row holds no sound fact	Never defaults to sync
`Start`	The recorded timecode — in-point if present, else the take’s own	The strongest time cell in the file
`End`	The reading taken at stop — captured by the recording chain, or copied off the camera into the out-point box; empty when neither happened, and never back-calculated	A reading of the camera, not a calculation
`Duration`	The frame-accurate span between `Start` and `End`, excluding the tail frame (End − Start); empty if either reading is missing. Same span as the read-only “TC duration” on screen	Derived — review it against the two readings
`Scene`	Scene number, ASCII only	Non-Latin typography suppresses it
`Take`	The take number	As entered
`Reel #`	Card number, digits only	Blank whenever the card as typed holds any letter — we never strip characters to manufacture a number
`Soundroll`	Sound roll behind the card gate: the whole name must be ASCII letters and digits, then upper case, ≤31	Blank if not transcribed, blank if the name holds anything else
`FPS`	Only where that row declares a rate	Blank ≠ any default rate
`SlateX Description`	Shot summary, description and notes joined with `\|` , ASCII only	Suppressed when the text holds non-Latin characters; verbatim in the CSV
`SlateX Comments`	Take notes, ASCII only	Same suppression gate
`Tape`	The card you typed, accepted only when the whole name is ASCII letters and digits (then upper case, ≤31) — nothing is picked out of it	The matching key you recognise
`Camera`	Camera label	A label, not media
`Camera Notes`	Camera note text, ASCII only	Suppressed when the note holds non-Latin characters; verbatim in the CSV
`VFX_Count`	Written only when a count arrives with the record — today that path is the script exchange, not a box on the take form	Mostly blank on a sheet recorded on set; carries no claim when it is
`VFX_Type`	That camera’s flags joined with `+` — `VFX` · `Plate` · `Clean` · `Ref`	Flags you set
`Director`	Director name, ASCII only	Suppressed when the name holds non-Latin characters
`Sound TC`	Sound timecode, verbatim; shape judged only, never trimmed	Verbatim, not validated against a report
`Source File Name`	Transcribed file name, ASCII only	Blank if not typed
`Source File`	The path, written only where the media itself is attached or imported	Blank ≠ the shot has no file
`Camroll`	The same card number, accepted only as pure ASCII	Suppressed together with `Tape` and `Reel #`; the wording as typed stays in the CSV and the PDF
`Shoot date`	`yyyy-MM-dd`	The date column
`Unit`	Unit name, ASCII only	Yours to name
`Rating`	The on-set mark — `Circle` · `Keep` · `Hold` · `N/G`; blank if unmarked	A decision about the take
`Circled take`	`TRUE` / `FALSE`	A second question, its own column
`TC Mode`	`DF` only where the camera’s drop-frame menu was read	Blank = nobody declared, not NDF
`SlateX Set Time`	The duration you type — how long the action actually ran; never prefilled	A second ruler, meant to sit beside `Duration`, not replace it

A blank cell is three different things. Read it the right way before you act on it.

Nothing to write. The fact never reached this file: Source File and Source File Name stay blank until the media itself is attached or imported; Reel # and Camroll stay blank whenever the card as typed isn’t pure digits, because we won’t carve a number out of A001; VFX_Count stays blank unless a count came in with the record. A blank here means we never had it in this shape — not that the shot has no file or no reel.

Nobody said. TC Mode blank does not mean non-drop-frame; it means no camera declared one. FPS blank means that row declares no rate, and we won’t substitute a working figure. Rating blank means unmarked. These rows are exactly what the close-of-day sheet is for: it names the missing declaration on every affected row instead of leaving you to guess, and it reports TC_MODE_UNDECLARED and TC_SOURCE_UNDECLARED by name.

Suppressed, not missing. The ALE is ASCII end to end, so a cell whose text holds typographic characters — a cone angle, an arrow, an en dash, a curly apostrophe — is emptied even though the words exist, and that takes out whole rows of notes on any German, French or Spanish page, where those characters are ordinary. Nothing was lost: the same text is verbatim in the CSV, and the file header says so. Read these as carried elsewhere, never as the note was left blank — and check your own script pages against it.

Two standing boundaries. The last nine columns are ours — a receiving system may not read them as semantic fields, so check them before relying on them. And we have run no import acceptance against any editing system: this sheet describes what we write, not what someone else does with a blank. Tape it inside the binder, and compare against your own export.

Full detail: What to Check Before Using an ALE for Matching.