My Conditional Advanced Action won't change the state of an object on a different slide

[JayC_in_WV]

I'm trying to run through a series of scenarios, using only two slides, by incrementing a variable "on enter" to the first slide to control what displays on both slides.  With the Advanced Action attached to the first slide and executing "on enter", the process works on the first slide, but not the second. 

I put the conditional action on both the first and second slide and it updated the second slide as well. 

Will Captivate 2017 not allow an advanced action on one slide to change the state of an object on another slide?

Here's a quick look at what I'm trying to do.  imgLine_1 is on the first slide, and imgLine_2 and travlr_1 are on the second.

v/r

Jay

[Jeremy Shimmerman]

The quick answer is 'yes'. Advanced action will allow you to change the state of an object on another slide.  I would double check that the variables are being changed (i.e. travlrNo == 2) and that you have selected the correct object to change state.  Each object has its own unique name on different slides - that is you can't have the same exact object (with the same ID) on multiple slides. 

 I'm also not 100% clear on what triggers the variable increment but don't know if that would make much of a difference. 

[JayC_in_WV]

jeremy,

The variable is incremented when you select the last button on slide 2 (not part of this AdvAct).  I used a text box with the variable link in it to confirm the variable is updating.

Also double checked that the right objects were identified and states changing. 

Like I said, when I put the AdvAct on both slides, everything worked as it should...but when it was just on slide1, it would not change the states of the objects on slide 2.  Very frustrating.

Jay

[Jeremy Shimmerman]

Thanks for the reply - I see the problem now. 

The advanced actions only executes once (when it enters the slide).  If you only put the advanced action on the first slide it is not triggering when the variable has changed and therefore the object remains in the same state.

To fix this, you would need to execute the advanced action a second time after the variable has been update and before you move to the next slide.  

You could either add the advanced action again on enter in your second slide, or you could modify your 'increment' advanced action to trigger the state change.  

Hope that helps 🙂

[Lilybiri]

To be on the safe side, it is not always necessary: dit you check the option 'Retain state' on the slide with the mutistate objects?

Please post more information about that action. Use the Preview button (top right control panel, first button, looks like an arrow) to see all decisions in one window.

[JayC_in_WV]

Lilybiri,

I did not check the "Retain State" box.  The state of these objects should change every time you enter the slide.  If I did not select this box on Slide 2, do you think it's reverting to "normal" when I enter the slide?

I am in a little bit of a hurry to push forward with this, so at this point I've broken the Adv Act into to separate actions...one "On Enter" for each slide.  I'd tried to combine them just to be more efficient.  If you think the "Retain State" box is the culprit, that's good info to know for the next time!

[Lilybiri]

I would have loved to see the whole action.

Another way to be more efficient is to replace advanced actions by shared actions.

[JayC_in_WV]

Thanks Lilybiri,

I've so far shied away from Share Actions for anything too complicated because I haven't figured out how to break into them to see exactly what I didn't. 

For example, awhile back I put one together to re-start a slide from frame #1...but now I don't remember exactly how I did that and I can't figure-out if there's a way to open the Shared Action up to see what I did.

As always, thanks much for the help.

Jay

[Lilybiri]

Read my articles about Shared actions.

To see the shared action: use the template listin the Advanced Actions dialog box. It is the list top left, starts with Blank. You'll find your shared action there. The parameters will not be filled in, but you can use that template to create an advanced action. The parameters have a description which you see when inserting a shared action and click the  P button.