Skip to main content
CaptivatePro
Participating Frequently
April 22, 2022
Question

Multiple text box entries

  • April 22, 2022
  • 1 reply
  • 687 views

I have an image of an excel spreadsheet in which I need to have multiple text box entries over cells, for participants to input set information into. I am unsure of the best way to go about this, any suggestions would be much appreciated...

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    1 reply

    Lilybiri
    Legend
    April 22, 2022

    Some questions before being able to give you a more efficient answer:

    • Do you need to validate the entries in the Excel cells? Do they need to be scored and have the results transferred to a LMS?
    • Are those entries limited to numbers or do you also need to have the learner input calculated cells?

     

    Here are some first ideas:

    • Quick solution could be to insert some software simulation slides, in Assessment or Training mode. A lot of the work can be taken out of your hands in that case. Text Entry Boxes will be added, and they will be of the validated type. Scores can be added as well.
    • Another solution would be to add Text Entry Boxes manually, and you can have the choice to validate or not. That will be more work but you get more control. If a score is not necessary, or you want only a final score after all cells have been filled, you could also replace the TEBs by Scrolling Text Interactions.

    I don't know if these links could be clarifying:

    http://blog.lilybiri.com/text-entry-boxes-back-to-basics

    http://blog.lilybiri.com/scrolling-text-interaction-to-replace-text-entry-box

     

    CaptivatePro
    Participating Frequently
    April 22, 2022

    Thank you for the reply, I would need to verify the answers input in captivate (to ensure participants understand what they're doing). No calculated cells are needed as they just need to input a few words into each box. I was also wondering if there is the possibility of having one submit button linked to all the entries?

    RodWard
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    April 26, 2022

    Thank you and for what it is, I understand it's a bit complex however I've been given a relatively strict format to follow so would like to stay as close to the original idea as possible


    Have you ever created User Variables or Conditional Actions in Captivate?  If not, those are two areas that you will need to learn about in order to pull off what you are looking at here. 

     

    Each of those yellow cells in the spreadsheets will need to be a Text Entry Box (TEB for short), and each TEB always has an associated User Variable.  However, since you cannot change the name of a User Variable once it has been created, to make your interaction easier to follow with variable names that tell you what they represent, you will need to create your own User Variables and name them yourself.

     

    Since you want all TEBs to be evaluated by clicking just one button, that means that all of the validation of the variable values will need to be done in a single complex Conditional Advanced Action.  That's the part that will be the most challenging, and time-consuming...which is why Lilybiri is saying the time required to design the solution is greater than she is prepared to just give away.

     

    Good news is that learning about all of these areas is quite addictive and once you get into it you may find that you really enjoy the challenge.  So, why not start working on the problem and see how far you can get.  Most experienced Captivate developers here are happy to help suggest where you might have gone wrong once they can see what you have already developed.  But we all have our own projects and jobs, so we're not usually in a position to do everything for you.