How can I get variables in text captions not to cut off some of the text at the end of the caption?

Report · Sep 30, 2015

I am using Captivate 8 and when I add a variable to a text caption, it cuts off the end of the caption at a random point. I have tried changing the character length of the text captions, both shorter and longer, I have tried changing the placement, and it seems if the caption has more than a few words, some of the text does not display. I have tried viewing the published file in SWF or HTML and it happens with both types of published files. It works fine in the preview function, but the published file appears differently.

Report · Sep 30, 2015

The current maximum display length for inserted variables seems to be 150 characters, no matter what you set it to.

Report · Oct 01, 2015

Hi Rod,

I am trying to get the text caption to display a learner's first name, so I have set variable lengths of 10-15 characters, and then it randomly cuts of some of the remaining text in the text caption.
Thanks,

Brian

Report · Oct 01, 2015

Hi,

Can you share a screenshot of text caption slide

Thanks,

Rahinie

Report · Oct 01, 2015

Hi Rahinie,

Here's what a slide looks like pre-published:

And, here's what it looks like published:

The $$learner_name$$ variable is set for 15 characters.

Thanks,
Brian

Report · Oct 01, 2015

OK. I think I know what's happening here.

You're inserting the variable text into the middle of a caption that already contains text either side of it. In this case, Captivate is taking ALL of the text in that caption and making it dynamic because it has no way of knowing how long the variable text will be and it needs the other text to flow on from it.

I would suggest you try two things:

remove the comma that you have placed right after the inserted variable. It's possible that's causing the code to break
make the caption vertically longer to see if the remaining text is appearing on another line below the line on which the name appears.

Report · Nov 02, 2015

Thank you Rod. I removed every commas after the variable and made each text box vertically larger, and now the rest of the caption appears. But, Captivate is putting in a hard line break after each variable.

It seems that maybe the variable needs its own text box, which means I can't add the variable in anywhere except at the beginning without there being a visual break between words. Any idea how to prevent the hard line breaks after the variables?

Report · Nov 02, 2015

I cannot change how the Captivate product has been coded here to insert line breaks.

Text Captions are normally rendered out as images, including any text they contain. However, text that is generated by variables (known in software terms as DYNAMIC TEXT) cannot be embedded an image because it has to be capable of changing on-the-fly.

This will likely be the reason why there is a line break. It's there to create a clear separation between the STATIC TEXT in the graphic and the DYNAMIC TEXT.

Report · Oct 04, 2015

Hi there,

We could see the issue in SWF. As rodword suggested, make the caption vertically longer to accommodate 1 more line resolves this issue. Can you try this workaround.

Thanks,

Rahinie.

Report · Nov 02, 2015

Rahinie,

Any chance you know how to remove the hard line breaks that are being added automatically after each variable?

Thanks,
Brian

Report · Nov 02, 2015

Hi Brian,

As a workaround, can you try using smartshape instead of textcaption. I could see the issue resolves, when using smartshape.

Thanks,

Rahinie.