Text entry boxes in a software SIM

[kirstieh83390174]

Hello  I am using Captivate Version 2020 (Classic)

I have created a software SIM which requires users to type into textboxes which is set up to auto submit when they type what has been set as validated text.  All works fine but.....

If they are called away or busy and come back to fill it in, or take too long to fill it in, then when they get back, they can't type i any more... and cant move on.

How do I avoid a time restriction for them typing in?

Slide duration is 8 seconds and I have dragged the inactive bar to the end of the slide.

Thank you

[kirstieh83390174]

Also tried moving the inactive back to the default 1.5 seconds and by the time the user has read the instructions and gone to type...the box is inactive.

I am at the end of my tether with this 😞

[Lilybiri]

There has never been a version 2020. It is important to know the exact version number you are using. You can find it under Help, About Captivate on a Win system.

The inactive part of any interactive object in version before 12 has no real meaning anymore. It is just the pausing point which is important now, because it keeps the playhead waiting at that frame.

You are talking about software simulations in Assessment or Training mode, correct. How many attempts do you provide?

[kirstieh83390174]

Unlimited attempts...

This is what I read in another post, So I am at a loss to why the flashing coursor disappears after a lenth of time or if the user accidently clicks another part of the page

[Lilybiri]

I don't have that version, can't test a possible solution. But you need indeed an action for Focus lost. Maybe the Reset slide action explained in this blog?

Replay/Reset slide 2 (Captivate tutorial) - Captivate blog (lilybiri.com)

[kirstieh83390174]

Thanks Lilibiri 🙂

[kirstieh83390174]

[kirstieh83390174]

OK so found the issue...but don;t know what to do next..

It looks like if the user clicks outside the text entry area, the cursor stops and they can't type.

I have tried setting on focus lost to go to previous slide but it doesn't, its just stuck on the slide.

Any ideas?

[kirstieh83390174]

[RodWard · Accepted solution]

The timeline on your slide is paused at 1.5 seconds in by the pausing point of the TEB.  If the user clicks outside the TEB field then your On Focus Lost action will execute and jump the user to slide 86.   But if you have turned off backward movement in Quiz Settings then that might not be allowed to work.

There does not appear to be any other interactive object on this slide, Is there is another one somewhere earlier in the project that is set to play for Rest of Project?  Is there any interactive object on the Master Slide attached to this slide?  They could be influencing playback.

I would suggest you either have your On Focus Lost action set to None, or else turn it off altogether.   By default, unless there is something else on that slide which can respond to a mouse click, your users should be able to interact with the TEB until they take some action that can trigger continued timeline play or another action.

So, once the user enters text into the box, how were you intending for them to get to another slide?  By default Captivate does not trigger any action just by entering text into a TEB.  That's why there is usually a Submit button attached to the box so that the user can click something to unpause the timeline.

[kirstieh83390174]

Thank you.  I will review all these useful pointers.  Thank you for your time. 

All text entry is set to auto submit, which works perfectly as long as they don't click outside the textbox.  There are no points allocated and no limitations to attempts as it is a practice simulation for Nurses not "Training" official.  

I will carry on trouble shooting and see if I can recreate the issues

[RodWard]

The AutoSubmit feature really only means that when the user types into the Text Entry field each character is immediately saved to the User Variable associated with the TEB.  There isn't really any "event" that you can use to trigger another action this way.  That's why TEBs by default have a Submit button that can be used to trigger evaluation of the value entered into the TEB, and then if the result evaluates to Success or Failure, this will be an event that can trigger another Action of some kind.

[kirstieh83390174]

Well I don't know Rod, but it has worked perfectly to replicate the software in the previous 6 courses.  They type the correct thing, the Simulations moves on, everyone is happy.  They type, they click off, Captivate sends them back a slide, they have another go.  Same template, same recording....no idea why its doing the inactive cursor this time.

[RodWard]

OK.  I just realised you're referring to the Auto Submit feature found under More Options in Properties.

That feature relies on the value entered to be of a certain number of characters.  If Auto Submit is selected, then when the user types the correct number of characters the timeline continues.  

Is the user expected to enter the specific text of the phrase shown in your screenshot?

[kirstieh83390174]

In this case yes as this is what we are encouraging them to add to the notes for patients in this situation.  To find documents, they just need to type the forst 4 letters of the document name.  They are used to this from Mandatory Training.

[kirstieh83390174]

Do you think the TEB / slide length needs to be longer?  To be honest I never understand the significance of slide length unless there is a video, animation or audio clip...

[RodWard]

Just re-read your initial post and see that you DO have validation set with a correct answer.

In that case, the only other reason I can think of as to why the TEB is inactive when the user comes back after a break is that perhaps there is some kind of timeout that cuts in after a given period of inactivity.  This might not be something Captivate is doing. I've not seen it do that before by default. It could just be something triggered by the web browser to avoid wasting resources on the computer. 

Are you able to determine what the timeout period is?  That might help establish where the issue lies.

Another debugging option is to share your project with someone outside your web environment to see if the output does the same for them.

[kirstieh83390174]

Thanks Rod.  Will try both these things.  debugging is part of the fun, but not what you are on your own with a deadline!  Appreciate the assistance.

[RodWard]

The slide length should only need to be a few seconds because the TEB will pause the timeline at 1.5 seconds and then the timeline should not restart until something triggers it.

If you have Auto Submit set, what is the number of characters you have specified as Maximum?

Can you show your validation settings in a screenshot?

[RodWard]

I really recommend checking in Quiz Settings to see if the Allow Backward Movement box is unchecked.  If that option is not selected, then even though your On Focus Lost action is set to jump back to a previous slide, the timeline will not be permitted to go back to that slide, and will instead continue on beyond the pause point of the TEB to enter the inactive area.

If this is the case, if the user stops interacting with the course content in their web browser and click anywhere else at all, the On Focus Lost action could be what is causing your users to end up being unable to keep interacting with the TEB.  Turning on Allow Backward Movement might be all you need to do to resolve this issue.

[kirstieh83390174]

Finally Fixed.

It was the Focus Lost which was confusing the issue.  Thanks Rob for this.  I was told that I needed to set this in a previous query, so was wedded to the idea that I needed to use it, but it was over complicating the situation.  I also moved the TEB to the top of the timeline (order) which also seemed to help as maybe another assets was obscuring the cursor on some slides?  

Anyway all back to normal now and working perfectly.  Thank you both for your support.  People don't realise how stressful it can be when you work as a tiny team with little expereince.  But learning all the time!

[kirstieh83390174]

Sorry for Typos, tiny keyboard!

[Lilybiri]

Glad you could solve the issue and my apologies for going along with the suggestion about the focus lost. I am glad that Rod picked up this thread. Did you find the timeout he mentioned?

[RodWard]

Glad Lilybiri and I could both help you out.  We also know what it is like to work as freelance e-learning developers and run into issues.  That's how we ended up getting to know most of the quirks of Captivate.