Problem with Captivate 9 preview

[Laura_learntech]

Working on a responsive project today, I've found that there's suddenly a problem with previewing it.  The normal responsive screen doesn't appear and instead I get a preloader icon that never completes.

I've tried all options - Next 5 slides, From this slide and Project - but none are working.

Does anyone know what might be causing this and how to fix it?

I've noticed two things that are different from an existing project that works fine:

1. Larger file size (50MB~)

2. The location for the preview file - the existing project preview has a link that looks like this: http://localhost:3679/HTML5Temp484021250159Pre/rindex.html  As you can see from the screenshot, that's not what the current file is trying to launch.

[tanyalee12345]

I'm interested in responses as well. This happened to me a couple of days ago, and what I did was, working backwards from the end of my presentation, I used the "next 5 slides" preview to determine if it was a specific slide that was causing the issue. It was. The slide that was causing this was an interactive slide, the cork board drag and drop. When I deleted that slide and replaced it with a new cork board drag and drop, everything worked fine after that. Sorry, I can't say what exactly the problem was, but at least I was able to determine which slide was causing it.

Tanya

[Lilybiri · Accepted solution]

You took the right approach, I answered to do that to someone else who posted the same question here today. Hiding one by one slides, to see which one is causing the issue and proves to be corrupt.

[Laura_learntech]

Thanks Lieve, I've identified one slide that's causing the problem in the file, although how it's corrupted I have no idea.

[Lilybiri]

Do not spend time trying to find out the cause for corruption, I never even try it anymore. Go ahead, recreate that slide and forget about that frustrating corruption.

[Laura_learntech]

Unfortunately, having recreated the slide from scratch, I get the problem again.  However, I've isolated it to an issue with a click box I'm using to overlay an image.

Insert click box - fine

Change target to open URL/file - broken

Very odd, given that I've used click boxes like this before without any obvious issues!

[RodWard]

Have you checked that the publish folder location is set as a trusted location in your Flash Global Security settings?

That's a very common reason for click boxes not to work when using the Open URL action.

[Laura_learntech]

Thanks Rod, I'm looking into this.  I've also realised that there may also be an issue with my My Captivate Projects folder being on a file server and not local to my PC so will be checking this too.

[Lilybiri]

You need to have it locally, on a network server is looking for issues.

As for a click box over an image, why not put the image in a shape button?

Turn an Image into a Button - Captivate blog

[Laura_learntech]

So, I've:

• saved the file to a local folder
• set the folder as trusted in Flash Global Security settings
• Recreated the slide (including making an image into a button)

Everything works up to the point where I set the button to open a URL or file.  The preview works perfectly if I set the button to do something else, e.g. Exit, but as soon as I set it to open a file, it breaks.

[RodWard]

Which browser are you using?

If using Chrome browser, setting the Flash Global Security from the Control Panel won't work.

With Chrome you have to set it via the web page on the Adobe website.  You'll need to right click on the stage in the browser and choose Global Settings from the context menu.

[Laura_learntech]

Hi Rod,

Thanks for the additional info.  I am indeed using Chrome and know that I can't do it in the Control Panel, as that option doesn't show up for me.  I used the browser-based option on this webpage:

https://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager04.html#117502

The responsive options still don't appear in preview when I have this problematic slide showing.

[RodWard]

Laura,

Can you please do a small experiment and start a new blank project file and try inserting a click box there set to use Open URL pointing at Google or some other easily accessible website.

When published to the same folder, does this new project suffer the same issue?

[Laura_learntech]

Hi Rod,

Some interesting results from this test.

I created a brand new responsive project and added a click box on the slide.

Test 1

Open URL or file pointing to www.google.co.uk = working preview

Test 2

Open URL or file pointing to file name FMS-Activities.pdf = failing preview

Test 3

Open URL or file pointing to file name activities.pdf (eliminating special characters/capitals) = failing preview

So, the issue is very specifically related to opening a file.

[RodWard]

Upload your test content to a web server and test from there.  I'm betting it will work.