Urgent: Linking differents projects

[ClimenceSE]

Ok, I am using Captivate 5, and as you may know, there is a problem in finishing a big project in just one swf because of memory resources issues.

I am currently working on a very important project for my compamy so I had to get around that problem. so I split my project into 6 different projects, hoping I could link them with the "click button" option. You are suppose to be able to link the button to another project.

So I did.

But when I published the project, a popup says:

the files/projects listed below are linked to the open project. The linked files/projects may require exporting.

{the name of my -supposed to be - linked project)

It is also important to copy all referenced files and projects with thier corresponding HTML file to the output folder

My links cannot be clicked.

Of course, all my files are in the same folder (even if it's not very cool) and I have tried with html file and swf files.

...

I have to finish my project for next week...so please, help me!

[Guest · Accepted solution]

Hi there.

I would suggest you the following steps. Try them and let us know

1. For the click button select the action as "Open other project" and select the .CPTX of the next project you wish to open.

2. Now Publish all the 6 projects to 6 separate folders.

3. Copy the contents of all the folders to project1 folder.

Now linking should work as expected. Check out and let me know.

-Ashwin

[ClimenceSE]

It worked well!

[Guest]

I would like to clarify Ashwin if this solution would work with projects uploaded in an LMS?

BR\\

-Miguel

[dmblake]

Your suggestion works okay unless you need to report to an LMS (in my case AICC) where Captivate creates the same 4 files using the same file names for each of the projects (captivate.au, captivate.crs, captivate.cst and captivate.des). If I tried to put them in one folder, they would overwrite each other. You need separate folders for each of these. There may also be situations in which your LMS may not allow all of the files to be placed in a single folder. The following instructions show you how to use relative addressing to accomplish the same thing. Relative addressing helps you avoid having to know the full path and name of the parent folder. Using this method, I was able to move the parent folder and the sub-folders as a group to wherever I needed them and have the links work every time.

Here is what I did:

1. Create a folder in which to put all of the related, published projects. (Example: MyLinked-Files)

2. Create the related projects and publish them, being sure to use the Publish to Folder option, and make sure that the published files are inserted as sub-folders. Example:

     MyLinked-Files       (parent folder for all of the associated, linked, published files)

          MyContent         (sub-folder for the published files that will link to the others)

          MyDemo            (sub-folder for the published demo)

          MyQuiz              (sub-folder for the published quiz)

3.       Insert a Start button or click box on the page you want to link from.

4.       Click the inserted button or click box and then follow these steps:

          a.    Click the Properties tab. This lists the properties for the button or click box.

          b.    Click the drop-down arrow for the On Success field and select the Open URL or file option.

          c.    Click the browse button next to the URL field and navigate to the HTM file to launch.

               This will put the entire path (direct address) in the URL field. Now you need to alter this address.

          d.   Click in the URL field and remove all of the folder structure except the folder name and file name for the published files.

               Then place “../” in front of this and change the direction of the folder separators. Here is an example using the folder structure

               I listed in step 2 for the linked to HTM file:

Before:     C:\My_Captivate_Files\Published_Files\MyLinked-Files\MyDemo\MyDemo.htm

After:        ../MyDemo/MyDemo.htm    (IMPORTANT: Change all “\” to “/” and be sure to include the HTM filename)

Note: The “../” tells the Captivate to go backward one folder level from where it is at the moment. In this example:     

   Current location:   C:\My_Captivate_Files\Published_files\MyLinked-Files\MyContent   (I’m linking from my conceptual published project)

   Backward 1 level: C:/My_Captivate_Files/Published_files/MyLinked-Files  (this is the parent folder of all of the published projects)

It then adds the “After” path using the Backward 1 level path: C:/My_Captivate_Files/Published_files/MyLinked-Files/MyDemo/MyDemo.htm

This means that you can place the “Linked-Files” folder anywhere (on a Shared drive, web server or another person’s disk drive) and the links will work.

e. The last step is to identify how to launch the file. I wanted to launch it in a new window and keep the current window (of the conceptual content) open. Click the drop-down list button next to the URL field and select the New radio button and the Continue Playing the Project checkbox. (IMPORTANT: This must be the last step, as Captivate resets these values when you enter a new value in the URL field.)

I hope this is helpful.

[Guest]

Hello dmblake,

In our case we're using SCORM 1.2 Reporting on our content but in one or another I think SCORM and AICC have similar approaches so I would like to clarify What if each project/module contains individual scoring how would you tell your LMS then that the course has been completed or incompleted?

BR\\
-Miguel

[dmblake]

We are in the process of testing these linked files using AICC and the eLM (Oracle product) LMS. We are hoping to finalize our testing this week. I'll let you know how this pans out.

[dmblake]

Hi All,

We finally got some testing done with AICC and Oracle's eLM. What we found is:

• We can set up Captivate to record the complete/incomplete results for our simple conceptual content.
• We can set up Captivate to record the pass/fail results for quizzes, graded simulations and required content.
• We do not seem to be able to record any results for "linked to" demos, quizzes, or other content.

We've had to change our methodolgy to set up multiple components in eLM for separate lessons if they contain large simulations. Otherwise, when users launch files from not-so-technology-savy places, the download times are too long.

I don't know if this helps. - Dianne

[Qurve Learning LLC]

Thank you for your informative post about relative linking.

I am relatively new to Captivate but am putting together a complex program that includes extensive voiceover, animation, video, and graphics. In the last day or so, I began the process of dividing my single large Captivate project into multiple smaller files. Note - when I look at their size, I"m surprised by how large the files are after dividing them up. I've deleted all the unused pages, objects, animations, videos, graphics, and voiceover and - yet - each of the divided files is almost as large as the original. When I add their sizes together, they are 3X as large as the original file. Not sure why?

Anyway, I am not using an LMS but would like to try the approach you suggest. I think it might help in stances where I have to provide files to a customer for placement on their server.

At this time, I have three files that need to be linked (eventually there will be 7 or so):

Introduction

The Problem

The Treatment

The programs would need to play in the order listed above.

I apologize for my ignorance, but would you kindly help me understand the workflow for linking these files (using the relative linnking approach)?

Kind Regards,

Sara

[dmblake]

Do you need them to automatically play, or can learners/users click a button or click box to navigate to the components?

[KGTS]

You can use the Aggregator to aggregate the 6 projects. It seems like a reasonable work around and will accomplish what you need (projects playing one after another).