Advanced Function Error

[trevorh27446796]

I am creating an advanced action as per belo however it will not let me update the action.

It comes up with this message

But will not update the action. I have cleared preferences a few times but still no luck

I am using Adobe Captivate 2017 10.0.1.283

any ideas?

[Lilybiri · Accepted solution]

I suspect you mean 10.0.1.285.

Why do you use conditional decision for a standard action? That is 'old-style' but totally unnecessary in the new Advanced Actions dialog box. Have a look at:

Advanced Actions Dialog box in Captivate 2017/2019 - Captivate blog

Uncheck the option 'Conditiona Tabl'.

This may not solve the problem you are posting, just a good practice tip.

The situation you have appeared for me only when a label has been used for two different items. I suspect ths to be the case: you use a name like 's...' for both the action and a variable. That will probably be the origin of not being able to update. Try a different name for the action, please.

[trevorh27446796]

Thankyou, i had a look at your link, its very interesting.

What would you recommend for my action . I want it to perform like it used to

[Lilybiri]

Biggest problem is the labeling. You need to change the label of either the advanced action or the variable or the object to show, you cannot use the same name to three different items.

If you don't check the option Conditional Tab you don't need to add any condition, IF 1 is equal to 1 was necessary in older versions to combine a standard action (which is this type) iwith conditional decisions (now indicated as tabs).

Watch my naming discipline: I start each variable with v_, something which I never do with other items. The actions starts with Act (but sometimes I use Enter for a slide action On Enter), teh two items start with SS (stands for Smart Shape);and I have renamed the group as well, although you'll never have issues if you keep the generic names.

[RodWard]

Sadly, once you create a User Variable in Captivate you cannot change its name. (A trick that Articulate Storyline will hopefully teach Adobe how to do one day.)

So, unless you want to have to delete and replace the variables in all places they are used, I would suggest you rename the objects and Advanced Actions.  Those things are at least easy to do without breaking anything.

[Lilybiri]

Sure Rod... I would create a new variable, just wanted to explain the reason for the broken updating functionality.

I know there is one situation where you can use the same name for an object and an advanced action, which is when you create the object first, the action later. But when duplicating the action that sequence cannot be maintained and that could be the reason why updating is not working in this case.

Best advice is to never reuse a name for anything else. Or at least change one character to a capital (don't like that neither, ut is a quick fix).

[RodWard]

I concur that it's good practice to use a naming convention that easily identifies each type of object so that they do not become confused. Using a short one or two letter prefix is a good method (e.g. v_MyVar, b_MyButton).

But you have to keep the names quite short because Captivate's drop-down menus for selecting things like User Variables, slide objects and Advanced Actions are woefully in need of an overhaul.  You cannot expand the size of the Advanced Actions dialog or Variables dialog.  If the detail in the name that you need to see is right at the end of a longish name, you'll often find it almost impossible to see.  This can cause wrong items to be selected and all manner of frustration.

There have only been relatively minor changes to the interface elements controlling Captivate's interactivity since Cp5.  If Captivate's programmers built e-learning courses for a living (rather than just testing for bugs) they would see that this part of the app SERIOUSLY needs an update.

[Lilybiri]

Filtering in most dropdown lists can help. I always put most 'revealing' string immediately after the identifying characters, never use long names neither. Cannot even remember when I had issues with finding an item in a dropdown list since filtering appeared, although it is not working for every list, which is a pity.