While viewing asset properties in the project library, some files display the entire path to the linked asset. Example below - note how the full path is shown:
Others, do not show the full path. Note how this only shows the image name:
Now the problem is that when I go to Update/Import/Edit... the image, the no path assets can't find the linked file. After I browse to the correct file and hit "Open" to relink it, Captivate still does not remember the path I JUST put in. Hitting Update/Import/Edit... does the exact same thing even though I had just relinked it.
This is occurring on multiple Captivate projects and on two separate computers so I'd have to think it's the software. There is no rhyme or reason (that we can find) as to why some show and allow the full linked path and others don't.
Need help ASAP. These no path assets aren't rendering with the same resolution quality on publish as is saved in the source file.
Thanks!
Brad
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Replies
Rod
It's quite amusing at times. In all the RoboHelp and Captivate classes I facilitate, I stress this issue to the point of beating dead horses. I also always encourage participants to contact me later if I can help in any way. After one such RoboHelp class, I was contacted by a participant that was having issue after issue. They finally advised that they ended up calling Adobe and Adobe FINALLY fixed the problem!
Very curious, I asked what the issue turned out to be.
Oh, I had my project on the network!
Smack forehead.... Because I stress this so much in class, it never occurred to me that they would have somehow managed to ignore the approximately 3,497 times I mentioned it during the class...
Cheers,,, Rick 
Brad, I honestly hope anything I said didn't come off as my making fun of you. If so, please know it wasn't intended that way.
The problem is, Adobe is a huge company and often, the sales and support staff simply have a passing knowledge of the products they are selling or supporting. To me, that is what the true value of forums such as these is. You get the benefit of others that have been down a particular road before and we can tell you "you seriously don't want to go down that avenue! There is no warning and the bridge is out".
Of course I can't speak for other instructors, but when facilitating classes I always share what I perceive to be any pitfalls that are likely to be encountered. And unfortunately, even in the training material that has been prepared, I'm not sure I even have seen mention of the "no network" admonition.
Another unfortunate fact is that sometimes an issue is network specific. Users may begin a project on a network and things seem to be working fine and dandy. Then some change occurs to the network that slows it down or causes some other issue. And unfortunately it's those users that are hardest to convince this is a bad idea, because after all, it's been working fine for (insert period of time here).
Hope you get things sorted and working well.
Cheers... Rick
Hello again
Well, if you really need for multiple folks to "work" on the same projects, I'd say the workflow will be this:
Whomever will be working on the project should alert other members of the team that they will be editing the Captivate.
Copy the captivate project from the network location to the local drive.
Make edits as needed.
Close and save the project.
Copy the edited project back to the network.
Send an "all clear" email to the other team members.
Another aspect we haven't yet discussed in this thread is that Captivate is not a product that lends itself to "collaboration" where multiple folks are able to simultaneously make edits to a project. So if person A is editing, person B cannot edit at the same time.
Certainly person A and person B can make their own copies, but after editing and copying back to the network, the network copy will look like whomever saved last. So if person A adds five slides at the end of a project and saves first but person B deletes three slides from the middle of the project, when person B saves back to the network the project will not have the five added slides and will only reflect the three deleted slides.
Cheers... Rick
Rick, again, thank you for the productive and helpful responses.
So your workflow logic seems to make sense to me, except for how Captivate handles asset linking. I'd think one user would need to be deemed the "Master" user ... with the Captivate project plus all files and assets saved to their local computer to avoid corruption as has happened to us. Then, if anyone else opens the Captivate file on their computer (either directly transferred to them or passed through a copy/paste on the network server), am I correct that none of the linked assets will be found? They'd all be referencing files and folders found only on the Master User's computer, right?
This is where I'm unclear - what is Captivate doing when it can't find a linked asset? Try this. Created a blank project, insert an image and then look at the properties. It shows the full path to the linked file:
Next, save the project and close. Go to the source image and delete (or rename) it so it breaks the link. Reopen the Captivate project and Captivate seems to work completely unaffected, except for when you look at the image properties again ... it only shows the image name:
Does Captivate embed the full resolution asset into the project? If yes, then when or in what cases does Captivate require the linked asset? It seems that Captivate is actually making a copy of the linked asset in the Captivate file, but that's what super confusing. How would you know when are you ever really using the linked asset file or the (lower resolution?) copy unless you go one at a time and open the properties? Captivate doesn't seem to indicate anything in the "Status" column for images.
Sorry, I know there are lots of questions here. Just understanding Captivate's asset handling would really help me find a way to work around the no network restriction, without jeopardizing the integrity of our project files. Thanks again
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