<CP - Advanced actions - Expressions> shows "0"

[Yolanda24562028k535]

Hello all, 

CP version - 11.5.5.553

My calculation by using Expressions doesn't work at all - the result shows "0". The purpose is to display the total number of questions before the actual Question slide.

I tried:

• remove the varialbe and adv action and then re-create
• rename the varialbe and adv action to ensure the title is unque

Did I miss any? Thank you for any suggestions/feedback

Varialbe - v_Qcount

Adv Actions - "6" is the total number of those non-question slides

After publishing the project..... it always shows "0"

[RodWard]

Which event are you using to trigger the Advanced Action?

[Yolanda24562028k535]

Hello Rod, 

Thank you for responding my issue. 

I insert the varialbe directly in the text box. 

[RodWard · Accepted solution]

That's how you display the variable. 

That won't automatically trigger the Advanced Action to do its job.  For that you need a trigger event of some kind.  If you don't trigger the action it won't do anything.

In your case I would suggest you will want it to be triggered by the On Slide Enter event of one of the first slides in the project.  

[Lilybiri]

Rod was asking how you did trigger the action SMEQTotal?  That action needs to be done before the slide where you inserted the variable in a text. If you insert the variable before it got its value using the Expression command, it will have its initial value which is set at 0.

Looking at the Expression, it is dynamic, because it depends on the system variable cpInfoCurrentSlide which is a counter starting with index 1. I think something is wrong with the logic. If you explained what you want to show exactly? Do you mean to use  the value of cpQuizInfoTotalQuestionsPerProject instead of cpQuizInfoCurrentSlide? 

[Yolanda24562028k535]

I intend to tell users how many questions in this assessment. That's why I use <"cpIntoSlideCount" - 6>..  

note: 6 means the total number of instruction slides and the result slide

[Lilybiri · Accepted solution]

You need to trigger it on Enter for the first slide. For more flexibility I would not use the literal 6 but the system variable cpQuizInfoTotalQuestionsPerProject:

  Expression v_QCount = cpInfoSlideCount - cpQuizInfoTotalQuestionsPerProject

How did you test it? If this is a non-responsive project use only F11, Preview HTML in Browser. That is not needed for a responsive project, and you will only find that option when you have upgraded to 11.8.1. BTW the Preview Project in that most recent version is identical to F11, no difference.

[Yolanda24562028k535]

Thank you both~~ Now, I have a huge progress - I set up a trigger as your suggestion. The number is correct but if I use "cpQuizInfoTotalQuestionsPerProject", v_QCount will be qual to cpInfoSlideCount... it seems "cpQuizInfoTotalQuestionsPerProject" actions as "0". My questions are all in Question Pool.

[Lilybiri]

You didn't tell these were random questions... Indeed, in that case the value of that system variable is not updated correctly.

[Yolanda24562028k535]

I was not aware that matters. Now I learned more about adv. actions. Thank you

[Lilybiri]

There are more limitations to random questions as I explored them in this rather popular blog post:

https://blog.lilybiri.com/random-questions-dos-and-donts

If you want to discover more about advanced and shared actions (too much ignored), scroll through my blog. It often appears when using ChatGPT4 with Captivate questions, to my surprise.

[Yolanda24562028k535]

Thanks for sharing it. It's great to have the resource