purpose of "active/inactive"

[jay fresno]

I'm mystified as to why buttons have Active and Inactive timing. What is the advantage of having an Inactive timing?
I'm working with a slide that has a button that when clicked goes to the next slide. I also have a text entry box which has one correct answer, and is allowing 3 attempts before going to the next slide. No matter what changes I make to the timing of the pause, the slide acts the same. Is there a purpose to having an Inactive state for the button in this case?

[Captiv8r]

Hi Jay

Think of it this way. The Active part of the button may be clicked to carry out its assigned action. But some other action may cause the Captivate playhead to move past the pause int the Inactive area. When this happens, the button is visible, but may not be clicked.

I have a small demo of these at this link. Hopefully it will help explain it better.

Cheers... Rick

[jay fresno]

Rick,
Thanks for your reply. I understand HOW active/inactive works. I don't understand WHY, and what is the practical, real-life purpose of having an active/inactive state. If you have an example of how active/inactive can be used to advantage on a slide that might be helpful for me to understand the reasoning behind it.

[Captiv8r]

Hi again Jay

I'm guessing only the original developers can truly answer that. All I can do is show you how it behaves and explain what each area does. As to the why it was designed that way is beyond me!

Cheers... Rick

[jay fresno]

Rick,
Thanks for the explanation. I feel better knowing that the reason I couldn't figure it out is that there is no particular use for active/inactive. Maybe it was needed at one time in an earlier version of Captivate.