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Zozo77
Participating Frequently
February 8, 2007
Question

tracking completion status problem

  • February 8, 2007
  • 6 replies
  • 1306 views
Captivate 1.01.1418 Build 1418
LMS: IBM Workplace Collaborative Learning 2.6.1

I created a movie with few slides and two buttons on each slide. I use those buttons to navigate between sibling slides (I have good reasons why I don't use standard navigation bar). When user starts a lesson, LMS API is found and status sets to incomplete as it should be. When user gets to the last slide, completion status sets to completed in some movies but not in all movies although all movies have the same SCORM settings. I use SCORM 1.2 in IBM Lotus Workplace Collaborative Learning LMS. I already tried to include buttons in quiz as suggested in other topics on this forum but it doesn't help. I managed to get status to completed but when a user returns to the same movie next time, movie acts very strange: slides are skipped, completion status stays incomplete (even when a user walks through all slides) etc... Very strange problems.

My idea is that movie is using suspend data to skip slides already viewd by user last time when user opened the lesson. Unfortunatelly, users expect to start the lesson from the beggining. Major problem is that lesson status stays incomplete when user returns to the lesson second time after the lesson was completed the last time.

Uff... sounds complicated? Let me try to explain what I'm trying to acomplish: I want my movie to be set as incomplete when user starts a lesson. When he gets to the last slide, lesson status has to be set to completed. Simple as that: incomplete on start, completed on end of the movie. Score is not important to me at the moment. Is it possible and how?

BTW, I already solved the issue with not finding the LMS API. I solved that by setting g_intAPIOrder to 1 instead of 0. That inverted the direction of finding the API and solved the problem.
This topic has been closed for replies.

6 replies

S
snipon
Participant
February 28, 2007
Hello,
I don't know if it will resolve the whole problem you described, but I'm sure my contribution will help you in desactivating the 'suspendData' automatically writen by Captivate.
So at the 2° launch of the sco, Captivate executes the last question left by the learner. Even if it was the last question...

You must modify the template file 'scorm.htm' and scorm_support.htm with the files I can send you by mail.

Scorm.htm:
...
// do nothing, if SCORM API is not available
if (!isAPI()) return;

if ( strFSCmd == "LMSInitialize" || strFSCmd=="Initialize")
{
CaptivateObj.SetVariable(strFSArg3, eval('g_objAPI.' + strFSCmd + '(\"\");'));
} else if ( strFSCmd == "LMSSetValue" || strFSCmd=="SetValue") {
strErr = eval('g_objAPI.' + strFSCmd + '(\"' + strFSArg1 + '\",\"' + strFSArg2 + '\");');
if(strFSArg1=="cmi.suspend_data"){strErr = eval('g_objAPI.' + strFSCmd + '(\"' + strFSArg1 + '\",\"\");');} //DYCAMEDIA...(stops updating suspendata)
...
Hope I can help you
Denys
A
Anonymous
February 27, 2007
For those with a similar issue to mine, I discovered the solution after countless hours of testing and tinkering:

For a WBT to communicate with your LMS, you do indeed need a button somewhere that has the Include in Quiz (and ONLY that box) checked.

HOWEVER, in my experience that button CANNOT be the very last button, at least when that button is set to kick off a JavaScript function to close the window.

My workaround is to place the final button that counts as the second-to-last forward button, and everything works fine.
A
Anonymous
February 16, 2007
Hmmm...well, I've tested that option but still can't get the LMS to record a completion.

There are now only two buttons in the WBT that are set to Include in Quiz: the first and the last. Neither are set to report answers.

Still no dice.

Any other ideas, anybody? Please?

Also, does anyone have experience contacting Adobe support for an issue like this? Is this something they handle?
A
Anonymous
February 15, 2007
I am having the exact same problem in Captivate 2. I'm not sure what the LMS software is, but Geolearning is our LMS vendor.

I too have back and forward buttons and a button at the end that simply closes the movie. A few of my movies record a completion, most don't...even with the same settings. They all successfully initiate with the LMS (and hence stay at Incomplete).

Like Zozo77, my movies sometimes skip slides, implying that the LMS is trying to start or continue at some point stored by the LMS.

I've tried probably hundreds of combinations of settings trying to get these movies to show a completion but nothing seems to work.

I've also set g_intAPIOrder to 1 instead of 0.

Here are my last desperate theories and/or solutions:

1. Is it possible to code a button that, when clicked, simply sends a course completion message to the LMS? LMSFinish and Terminate seem to be the applicable commands.

2. Is it an issue with something in the browser's cache?

3. Is it worth contacting Adobe's support directly for an issue like this?

Like Zozo77, all I want is for the LMS to record an Incomplete when the user opens the movie and a complete when the user closes it.

I appreciate any help any of you can offer!
Z
Zozo77Author
Participating Frequently
February 15, 2007
Will, I think I figured out when movie status is set as completed. It depends on several things. First of all, you need at least one clickbox (or button or some other scored element) with option "include in quiz" checked. Score can be set to 0, it doesn't metter for completion status. When user clicks on that clickbox, movie sets status to completed. If you have more then one clickbox, user has to click the last one to set movie status to completed. Problems appear when user launches the activity (i.e. SCO) for the second time. Slides are skipped, status is set to Incomplete etc... so the real problem is how to disable Captivate movie to send information on "finished" frames to the LMS database. AFAIK, there's two SCORM vars that Captivate uses to remember what user did with each slide the last time he launched the activity: cmi.suspend_data and cmi.core.lesson_location. I tried to disable setiing of cmi.suspend_data but after that movie stopped at first (blank) frame and was trapped there. Then I tried to disable setting of cmi.core.lesson_location instead but the result was the same as I didn't do anything.

At the moment I have only one idea how to solve the problem with interactive movies that have incomplete/Completed status: disable SCORM support, embedd captivate movie in another Flash movie and handle completion status from there using captivate slide variables (see Captivate help for those vars).

But... the big question is: how to handle interactive simulation that needs to send score and passed/failed information to the LMS? It's easy if you let your users to open each movie only once but what if you want to let your users to open each movie more then once? When they start the movie next time, slides will be skipped, status will be probably set ti incomplete etc... I even downloaded and tried Captivate 2 but the same issues remain.

I hope someone has some ideas how to handle these problems. I'm most concerned about skipping slides issue.
A
Anonymous
February 15, 2007
quote:
Originally posted by: Zozo77
Will, I think I figured out when movie status is set as completed. It depends on several things. First of all, you need at least one clickbox (or button or some other scored element) with option "include in quiz" checked. Score can be set to 0, it doesn't metter for completion status. When user clicks on that clickbox, movie sets status to completed. If you have more then one clickbox, user has to click the last one to set movie status to completed.


Hmmm...that's interesting. I guess my question for Captivate 2, then, is whether I should ALSO click the Report Answers check box or not: they are separate in Captivate 2. You can click Include in Quiz without clicking Report Answers.

Also, I'm curious what happens if a person leaves the SCO prematurely. Can it NEVER be finished because of the problem with skipping slides?

Thanks for the lead, though. That's one step further from the edge of insanity for me.



N
Newsgroup_User
Inspiring
February 13, 2007
I hate to see such a detailed post go without reply but afraid I can't
help much. I don't know why one lesson would not mark as complete when
another lesson does if they're setup exactly the same. Of course, be
sure they're not named the same....

I don't know if Captivate should mark lessons incomplete on re-launch if
they're already marked complete. I wouldn't like that too much...
Regardless, maybe I'm misunderstanding and this is not what is happening.
I can't imagine why slides would be skipped. And normally the problems I
see are Captivate lessons starting where they left off when I actually
want them to restart!
So not much help... Good luck...
Erik

Zozo77 wrote:
> Captivate 1.01.1418 Build 1418
> LMS: IBM Workplace Collaborative Learning 2.6.1
>
> I created a movie with few slides and two buttons on each slide. I use those
> buttons to navigate between sibling slides (I have good reasons why I don't use
> standard navigation bar). When user starts a lesson, LMS API is found and
> status sets to incomplete as it should be. When user gets to the last slide,
> completion status sets to completed in some movies but not in all movies
> although all movies have the same SCORM settings. I use SCORM 1.2 in IBM Lotus
> Workplace Collaborative Learning LMS. I already tried to include buttons in
> quiz as suggested in other topics on this forum but it doesn't help. I managed
> to get status to completed but when a user returns to the same movie next time,
> movie acts very strange: slides are skipped, completion status stays incomplete
> (even when a user walks through all slides) etc... Very strange problems.
>
> My idea is that movie is using suspend data to skip slides already viewd by
> user last time when user opened the lesson. Unfortunatelly, users expect to
> start the lesson from the beggining. Major problem is that lesson status stays
> incomplete when user returns to the lesson second time after the lesson was
> completed the last time.
>
> Uff... sounds complicated? Let me try to explain what I'm trying to acomplish:
> I want my movie to be set as incomplete when user starts a lesson. When he gets
> to the last slide, lesson status has to be set to completed. Simple as that:
> incomplete on start, completed on end of the movie. Score is not important to
> me at the moment. Is it possible and how?
>
> BTW, I already solved the issue with not finding the LMS API. I solved that by
> setting g_intAPIOrder to 1 instead of 0. That inverted the direction of finding
> the API and solved the problem.
>

--
Erik Lord
http://www.capemedia.net
Adobe Community Expert - Authorware
http://www.adobe.com/communities/experts/
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Z
Zozo77Author
Participating Frequently
February 8, 2007
I forgott to say what publish and movie settings do I use:

QUIZ MANAGER PROPERTIES
Enable output options - checked
SCORM - checked
Report Pass or Fail: Report Complete/Incomplete
Report score to LMS as: percent
Quiz pass/fail settings: 100% or more to pass

MANIFEST
SCORM version: 1.2
Version: 1.0
(other fields are empty)

REPORTING OPTIONS FOR BUTTONS
Include in quiz: checked
Report Answers: unchecked
Weighting: 0
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