Category: Captivate

Adobe Captivate

Getting and setting data from Captivate 6 for custom integrations

We use Captivate with our LMS both as standalone SCORM modules that communicate directly with the LMS, and as embedded quizzes inside custom learning modules. Communication of the Captivate score back to the learning module was done using a trick suggested by Adobe’s Andrew Chemey which involved redefining the built-in sendMail function Captivate used to send an email report of the quiz results.

Captivate 6 removed the built-in email functions, so we’re now using the very powerful Captivate API to do the same thing. The new API is very powerful and makes it much easier to get and set variables from outside the Captivate, using javascript.

Here’s how to get started:

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Adobe Captivate

Adobe Presenter and Captivate: Hyperlinks don’t work after importing Powerpoint

Symptom: hyperlinks that worked in a Powerpoint file no longer work in the published Presenter or Powerpoint presentation based on that Powerpoint.

This is because Flash Security treats local content differently than the content on the internet.

The solution is to put the published files onto a web server and access it using the URL (like: http://yoursite.com/yourpresentation.htm).

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Adobe Captivate

Captivate: Change background images on imported Powerpoint slides to repositionable Captivate images

Captivate allows you to import a Powerpoint file to use as the starting point for your learning activity. It’s often easier for people to “think” in Powerpoint, so many users prefer to rough out a project in Powerpoint, then import it and continue working in Captivate.

When a Powerpoint file is imported this way, its images become part of the Background element of the slide in Captivate. Backgrounds are not easily repositionable, or croppable, but it’s not hard to bring the background image up onto the slide as a regular image element that can be moved around, edited, and included in actions.

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Captivate Reporting to Internal Server

Adobe Captivate provides two methods of tracking quiz results that don’t require you to have an LMS: Acrobat.com reporting and Internal Server reporting. An E-mail reporting option is also available, but it would require some custom development to make any sense of the data.

Before deciding which option to use, it is necessary to understand the requirements involved for each method.

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Adobe Captivate 5: Cant copy slides from one project to another?

In Captivate versions up to version 4, it used to be easy to copy slides from one project to another. by simply importing slides from any other project.

But Captivate 5 lacks the import slides feature! However, another way to copy slides is to use copy/paste. According to the documentation it should be possible to open one Captivate file, select and Copy slides in Filmstrip view and Paste them into another project. I’ve found though, that in some projects you cannot copy slides. The copy command does nothing in some projects, where in others, it acts as expected.

This problem appears to be linked to the existence of a score page at the end of a quiz.

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Adobe Captivate

Adobe Captivate: Should I publish in ActionScript 2 or ActionScript 3?

Captivate 5 removed the need to answer this question: it only publishes in ActionScript 3 format, and correspondingly limits the compatibility of the published SWF file in certain situations as described below.

But if you are using Captivate v. 4 or earlier, you may still be wondering which to choose.

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