Captivate 2019 XML export - import for localization not working

[wmsgva]

I am currently using the latest version of Captivate 2019 (11.0.0.243) on which I have finished creating a new course.

As this needs to be translated into several languages, I tried two ways:

1) Export Project Captions to Word: The output format is not practical, as it retains the formatting used within Captivate, meaning I for example have some of the text to translate that is invisible (it is using a white font in CP and therefore doesn't show in Word - I would need to change the colour in Word, translate, then change back to white before re-importing into CP for it to be correct in the course)

2) Export XML: The export works fine and it is really not difficult to translate directly within the XML (better in fact, as it avoids changing text settings by mistake)

My issue is the following: When I try to import XML back, it doesn't work, as I receive a message stating "Cannot import XML". I tried importing into the existing course file, into a blank project and into an empty responsive project (my course is responsive), but I get the same result each time. Furthermore, this is not due to any changes in the XML file during translation, as I tested by trying to import the XML file I had just exported from Captivate.

[Eric Dumas]

There is a nice option in Word that allows you to change the colour of the 'paper' to medium grey for example. It does not affect the content as it is a screen feature. It would not print for example.

It is nice as well to avoid the harsh black text on white paper that is hurting user's eyes (but I digress)

[wmsgva]

Thanks for the tip Eric.

I do however find it easier to edit the language elements in XML and would like to know how to solve the problem I identified. Is there something I'm missing in the import of the XML file or is there a problem with the import feature?

[Eric Dumas]

Can you open the xml with an XML editor and share a screenshot?

[wmsgva]

Here's the first page of the XML file (it's quite long)

[AJIT_M]

Hi,

Can you please confirm if this issue occurs with any specific project or have you tested with other projects too?

Also, you may give a try to update Captivate 2019 by following the instructions given in the below URL and see if that makes any difference-

https://helpx.adobe.com/captivate/release-note/adobe-captivate-2019-update-1-release-notes.html

Regards,

Ajit

[wmsgva]

Hi,

I had already updated to the latest version of Captivate 2019 (11.0.1.266), but this makes no difference.

The issue doesn't occur with all projects (I tried for example with one of the demo projects and I can export/import), but does on some of my projects.

[AJIT_M]

Hi,

I have sent you a private message. Please check and will be looking forward to your response.

Regards,

Ajit

[wmsgva]

Hello Ajit,

Following the remote tests on my PC, the person at Adobe was able to reproduce the problem with the course.

There is therefore a bug in Captivate 2019 which prevents the XML exported from the software to be imported.

As the software doesn't currently produce any log file, it was not possible to identify the source of the problem without have to go deleting the course page by page and trying to export/import the course file each time (this would have taken ages and I don't have the time).

I therefore suggested that the team in charge of developing Captivate create a log file or a more detailed error message for this XML import issue.

[Armando6523]

Hi,

I just got the same issue on my Projects.

Is there any News About a fix for this issue with importing the XML?

Thanks

[Lilybiri]

Can you log a bug report?

[Armando6523]

No there is no bug report. At least I don't know where to get it.

Just the message that it can't import the XML file.

I export the XML file and after that without any modification of the file I tried to import it. And than this error appears.

[Lilybiri]

Please take a minute to  log the bug, using this form:

Adobe Captivate

It helps to get bugs fixed if many users log it.

[tbender]

Hello everyone,

hope it's okay when i pull up this thread again, but i am wondering if any changes / fixes occured lately. Especially because there was a big update and we are on a newer version now.

So I am experiencing the same issue with a project, in which i can not reimport the xml file to captivate. However, in the past (before the latest update!?), I had some difficulties, but was able to reimport. I know that changing the name of the course or xml file causes the discussed error message. So avoided this. Also tried to create a new xml file, translated this again with copy and paste, but whatever i do, CP will not reimport the file.

The thing is: What I can do now? I can not imagine that others just report a bug and wait patiently. Does anyone have a solution how to proceed? One option could be to export a word and translate again (3 time - yay) by using copy and paste. However I must admit that xml would be the favored solution. So if anyone could help, I would be very thankful. Here is a screenshot of the xml file:



Thank you very much!

[tbender]

For everyone who might bump into this at a later time. Here is a possible solution / work around found at tecwriter.de:

Within the XML file, there is a black highlighted ETX written (see image). After deleting this, the XML can be imported. For editing the file you can for example use notepad++.

You can find out, where this is in your file, by opening the XML in Browser (e.g. Firefox). The Browser will then state, that there is a syntax error in a specific line.

Hope that this might help some people. 🙂

[Lilybiri]

Thanks for this workflow. I never use XML for localisation myself, appreciate that you provided an answer. Was it tested on the most recent versions of Captivate?

[tbender]

Yes. Tested in 11.5.
May i ask what you are using for localisation?

[Lilybiri]

I try to keep a lot of localisation in the theme (master slides) and Preferences, which I can easily switch when I need a translation. All Quiz default labels are stored in Preferences.

For question slides I alwasy use GIFT files, which are easy to translate.

Since I only translate myslef, I use Export/import to Word.

[Dar29]

Hi Lilybiri, do you have a tutorial on your localisation workflow? How do you keep localization in the master slides and preferences? Thanks much.

[ffami]

I don't know if theres english sources for this as well, but this ETX bug is know since at least 2012 (Captive 6 !!):

https://www.tecwriter.de/wordpress/captivates-xml-schnittstelle-wie-sie-fehler-beim-import-beheben/

All the EXT's are line breaks created by using "shift+enter".

It's really annoying, that there is no clean way to import and export captions without risking changes to the content, as the Word export likes to change certain font sizes or even fonts.

It feels like these features (and many others) never have been tested in an actual project since they were built in.

[Lilybiri]

Hmmm... about font sizes and fonts changes when localising using Word: do you consistently use object styles in Captivate?

[tbender]

Oh ok, thanks for the additional info, that this ETX is created when using "shift+enter".