links don't open in new window for popups

Report · Nov 19, 2015

I'm pretty sure this is a bug, but I can't find anywhere on Adobe's site for reporting bugs. Am I missing something?

Here's what's happening:

Create a Captivate project (we're using Captivate 9), and include text with a link. Configure the link to open in a new window.
Load the project as a SCORM object (not sure if that matters, but it's what we're doing) in your LMS (we're using Moodle), and configure the LMS to pop up a new window when displaying the course.
Open the course and click the link.

Instead of opening in a new window, the link opens in the same window, navigating the user away from the course.

I did an HTML5 export (we're seeing the same problem with Flash and HTML5), and investigated the html and found that the "link" isn't actually a link, but a div with a javascript OnClick event that simulates clicking a link. It looks like something about running in a popup confuses it and makes it ignore the "open in new window" option. If we have the LMS load the Captivate content in a native Moodle page the link works, but it's way too cluttered with all the other Moodle stuff there, so getting links to work properly is definitely the preferred fix.

So I guess what I'm asking is:

Does anyone have a clever workaround for this?
If not, (or even if so, really), how do I notify Adobe of bugs in their products? Just treat it like a regular support request?

Report · Nov 19, 2015

Have you tried JavaScript?

window.open("http://www.adobe.com", "_blank", "toolbar=yes, scrollbars=yes, resizable=yes, top=500, left=500, width=400, height=400");

Report · Nov 19, 2015

Adobe bug reporting page: http://www.adobe.com/products/wishform.html

Be aware that opening other windows from within a SCORM module is NOT recommended. One reason is that technically it breaks the SCORM standard which states the SCO (module) should not call anything outside itself. And secondly doing this can sometimes break the SCORM API connection with the LMS, causing it to stop recording the learner's interaction with the course. If you do this, make sure you understand the risks.

Report · Feb 29, 2016

Has there been any progress???

I have the identical issue trying to pop a new window with Javascript.

Button clicked > On success > Execute Javascript:

window.open("Lesson2/Valuation.htm","_blank","toolbar=no,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,top=50,left=50,width=1000,height=685");

The code above opens a window with the proper content, but the CURRENT window (the course) is replaced with the text: [object Window]

This is when Execute Javascript is set to "Current" in Captivate.

Setting Captivate to "New" for Execute Javascript does not open any content.

Report · Apr 03, 2016

I'm having the same issue as described by OP.

Some links will launch in a new window, but about 80% of them open in the same window. All links are configured exactly the same way, set to "new".

Is everyone else experiencing this? How are you working around it?

Report · Apr 04, 2016

I've been looking into this some more and found that by configuring my browser setting (Safari) for opening links in a tab (vs a window) to "never" that the links work as expected.

I'm still not sure why using my default settings (to open links in a tab "automatically") worked some of the time but not others. Weird. Unfortunately, I'd rather not have to worry about users configuring their browser settings to have a course work as intended.

If anyone has any other ideas I'd love to hear them.

Report · Apr 04, 2016

That's one thing that is up to users. You can't control how they want their browser to act and that's a good thing.

To stop a window from opening in a new tab, you must specify the window dimensions, but a browser setting can override that also.