I’ve used a shared action throughout my course to change the state of an object and to show a group based on the learner submission through a text entry box. They were all working without any problem, but they’ve suddenly stopped working. I checked all of the entries in the shared action (variable names, values, object names, etc.) and they are all correct.
Has anyone else had this problem or know of a fix? I don’t relish the idea of going back in and re-building them all.
v/r
Jay
You made my day! At least my efforts to promote shared actions (see too much examples of bad use) have influenced one user.
It looks more and more like a corruption of Captivate, since it has worked in a project. Let me know if Cleaning the Preferences helps? Try also to use the shared action in a completely new project (if it is not too much work), in case the existing projects have been corrupted.
It took a little while, but I had a course with about a dozen Adv Actions that all did the same thing…that’s when the light went on for me. I do wish that Adobe would add an option that would allow you to edit the Shared Action though. I found it’s best to keep the Adv Action in the project so that if I NEED to make a change, I don’t have to start completely from scratch.
I’ve uninstalled/reinstalled Captivate, cleared my cache, and cleaned the preferences…but the shared actions still don’t work. I’m going to rebuild them and see what happens. If that doesn’t fix it, then I’ll reach out again.
As always, thank you very much for the help!
v/r
Jay
I understand you want to be able to edit the shared action, but I also understand why it is not possible from a programming point of view. However I wished to be able to keep descriptions for the action and the parameters.
You can always recreate the Advanced action by using the shared action as template. However you had quite a lot of parameters which makes it harder. I try to limit the number of parameters, mostly by rethinking the action.
Lieve,
I don’t know why I thought of this, but I previewed the project as “HTML5 in Browser” and now the Shared Actions all work. I would have sworn that I’d seen these actions work while previewing “Next X Slides”.
Do the shared actions create javascript so they can’t be “previewed” just in Captivate?
I appreciate your help. The back and forth seems to have been useful and got me to realize a possible solution.
Thanks.
Jay
Lieve,
I appeared to have spoken too soon. The Shared Action that was causing me problem is still doing so. I can’t figure it out, so I’m going to upload the slide in question and ask you to take a look. I’m sure it’s something completely foolish at this point, but I can’t figure it out.
The two variables being used by the Shared Action are Answer (looking for the correct answer) and Attempts (I give the learner two before giving them the answer). Entering a number in the TEB and then selecting the Submit button should display the “remFeedback_Event11_Rem” element with the text in the appropriate state.
sharedActionProb.cptx is the file with the action that doesn’t work.
sharedActionWorks.cptx is the exact same action, but working perfectly.
Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.
v/r
Jay
It doesn’t seem like this forum will let me attach more than one file, so here’s the file I’m having the problems with.
I am sorry, but always get an error when I try to download your files. Normally I never accept to debug for free, but was too curious.
Lieve,
My apologies…I didn’t mean to put you on the spot or anything like that. I know your time is valuable.
I don’t know what’s going on but I’m getting pretty frustrated with Captivate. I tried re-building the actions and it happened again…one try they would work perfectly, the next time they wouldn’t work at all. Now I’m rebuilding the whole project from scratch, so having to re-do 2-weeks worth of work.
I’m also having issues when I try to copy/paste elements. I’m getting fatal error message (attached) and the program shuts down. It doesn’t happen every time, but it happens often enough to be a distraction. I’m working on the newest version and I just had the application reloaded to my machine…because of the fatal error.
My team has added Storyline as a development option and I like working in it. I do think it has some significant limitations compared to Captivate, especially when you’re trying to create complex interactions, but it also doesn’t have anywhere near the issues.
Thank you again for your help. Take care of yourself and stay safe.
v/r
Jay
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That is very weird! I am a big fan/user of shared actions as you may have seen in multiple blogs.
Can you insert a screenshot of the shared action, its parameters?
Are you sure that all names used for items are unique? That is a common problem in advanced actions, and probably also in shared actions. I have a very disciplined labeling system to avoid using the same name for different items. You cannot have the same name for a button and for an action/decision. That will only be allowed in very specific circumstances. The only name which can be reused is a state name in a multistate object.
In case Captivate has corrupted, try also to clean the Preferences (and check the size of the Cache folder as well).
Lieve,
Thanks much for the response. What makes it even weirder in my mind is that this same action is used in two different .cptx files (my course will be multi-SCO) and it’s no longer working in either course. I exported the action from the first first for use in the second. In the attached image of the shared action, you’ll see that I use a clear naming convention for my objects so that I don’t duplicate names and I can clearly tell where objects are in the course (e.g., “_Event6_”).
For clarity, this action is used on my remediation slides. If a learner makes an incorrect decision during the scenario, they are routed to the remediation slide where they have to enter the correct paragraph reference from the guiding policy document. The four options are all the same in the attached image because there’s only on correct reference. I have four options because, in some instances, the learner could use multiple paragraphs as a reference, and I allowed that leeway.
I have been having issues with Captivate. Sometimes when I try to copy/paste an object Captivate will lock OR I’ll get an error message indicating that it can’t perform that action. There’s an update I’m trying to get, but I’m having firewall issues with my organization because I’m teleworking and going through a VPN. I’ll try cleaning the preferences and cache folder and see if that does anything.
v/r
Jay
P.S. I know you fondness for Shared Actions. It was your writing on the subject that let me realize their use and potential.
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