Persistent username for Adobe Captivate
This component (actually it’s two) will allow you to take a username from one chapter / module and then use it in any subsequent chapters / modules created in Adobe Captivate.
This is useful if you want to use the students name throughout your course / presentation without having the user enter the data more than once.
How does it work:
In the first chapter / module the Username is entered in a text entry box and stored in a user defined variable called v_Name. After the text entry box
you need to insert a special Flash animation, which will save this variable to a Local Shared Object on the users computer.
In any subsequent chapters / modules you insert another special Flash animation on the first page, which will retrieve the stored value from the LSO and populate the user defined variable v_Name in Captivate again.
After this you can use the $$v_Name$$ in text boxes to make your course personal and display the users name or you can use the stock certificate widget,
which will automatically fetch the users name.
Demonstration:
Click here to see a demonstration
Download:
Download package contains the two components, two sample Captivate 4 projects and a small help file.
Download file: Persistent Username component for Adobe Captivate 4 (453)
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Comments
Yuri Peixoto
An awesome component, that will help me a lot in my projects. Thanks, Michael.
Yuri Peixoto
One question before I go to test it: it will work in .exe files, executable locally?
admin
Hi Yuri,
I haven’t tested it but I’m pretty sure it should work just fine. Please let me know if that is not the case.
/Michael
Yuri Peixoto
It don´t work here for me, Michael. I´m using Captivate 4.
Let me tell you what I do: I create two short lessons (test01 and test02), and create a ‘menu’ file with buttons to the respective lessons. In the menu, I put the animation to store the variable, and show a screen with user name and buttons to the lessons.
In the lessons, I put the $$v_Name$$ in text captions, but it doesn´t work for me.
(of course, probably I screw up something)
I follow the .txt instructions as is said.
Another problem that I found is that when I click the button to open the .exe file, first is open the browser, and after came a windows message asking if I want to execute the file. There is a way to avoid this?
Thanks in advance
admin
Hi Yuri,
You did insert the “reader” component in your lessons right?
As for the browser window popping up. So when you click your Captivate generated EXE file a browser pops up and ask if you want to execute the file – what file is it asking about?
/Michael
Yuri Peixoto
Yes, I insert the reader exactly as it is in the example files that came in the download. (same spot in the timeline, same options).
When I click in the button in my captivate EXE Menu to open the lesson01, it opens the browser, and after came a windows popup: “file download – warning security – do you want to run or save this file? and buttons run, save, and cancel” (my personal translation, my windows is in portuguese).
In the button (on the menu EXE), I put the action, on success: open a URL or file.
Yuri Peixoto
If you want, I can zip my .cp files and send to you for analysis.
admin
Hi Yuri,
Send me your files to admin (at) captivate4.com and I will take a look at it.
/Michael
admin
Hi Yuri,
I took a quick look at it and for some reason you need to create the variable v_Name yourself in any subsequent chapters. Then it will work fine.
When I use it the variable v_Name is created automatically by the component, but it appears to be different when dealing with EXE projects.
Therefore – go to your chapters and hit Shift + F9 and create the variable v_Name manually. You don’t need to assign any value to it – the component will do that automatically.
As for the browser window that pops up when you click to open your next chapter that has nothing to do with this component. That is a “problem” with Captivate and linking to separate EXE files. Apparantly it thinks it needs to open it in a browser window.
I don’t know how to fix that since I never publish to EXE.
/Michael
Yuri Peixoto
Awesome! I just test it and word perfectly. Thanks for the input, Michael.
And for the browser window, I think that this could be fixed if I use a “start menu” created not in Captivate, but in Flash (or maybe Delphi).
What do you think?
admin
Good to hear it’s working for you now Yuri.
To be honest I’m not really that much into EXE files, but I would assume that you would have the same issue with a Flash menu. Flash delivers to SWF as well and SWF is a web format. It might work if you create a Flex application (which essentially is Flash) or Delphi as you suggest your self.
/Michael
chris
this component is exactly what i’m looking for, but i need to pass more than the username to the presentation. are you willing share the source for the swf files or would you link me somewhere that demonstrates communication or how data is passed between the media/animation object and the slide?
the eLearning content is to be hosted on an asp .net site so i think i’m going to have to pass the information to FlashVars using actionscript that’s in a swf file that i place in the first slide of the presentation. if there’s a better way to do this please point me in the right direction.
thanks,
chris
admin
Hi Chris,
This component stores data in an LSO on the users computer. If you want to pass the values through Flash vars then it’s a totally different ballgame.
Here is a pretty good tutorial on Flashvars: http://www.permadi.com/tutorial/flashVars/index.html
As for getting the data out from Captivate you simply need to use the system variables that are available or setup your own user defined variables. These can be access directly from Flash or through JavaScript.
From flash the variables can be access like this: _root.variablename
/Michael
EOQ
Thanks, Others ask for registration, you don’t. It is great.
Marjorie
I had the same variable display problem as Yuri. I tried adding the variable to the other modules, but it still doesn’t work! Is there something else I should look into/do?
admin
Hi Marjorie,
Make sure that you have written the variable name exactly the same (e.g. with capital letters and all).
Other than that it should work just fine.
What happens if you run the sample projects included in the download? Do they work alright?
/Michael
Marjorie
Thanks for replying Michael. Unfortunately the variable name was correct. It usually just stays blank when I publish the project.
I also noticed something funny. I published the modules independently, didn’t link them using aggregator, and when I open them and go through, it carries the name over. So apparently it works, but not when I’m using aggregator. Help?
admin
Hi Marjorie,
Hmm.. so the Aggrevator is causing this to not work. I haven’t tested it with that, but I don’t see why it should cause a problem. I will try and find some time to test it my self.
/Michael
Marjorie
Thanks Michael! I’ll keep checking back!
Michael
@ Marjorie
Sorry I still haven’t gotten around to test this yet. I have another test involving the Aggregator next week so I hope that I can do both things in conjunction then.
/Michael
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