Assigning Variables

[hhiple]

I apologize ahead of time for what I think is a stupid question.  I am VERY new to Captivate.  I'm reading a lot of articles and watching a lot of videos to teach myself the program.  I"m having difficulty finding an answer...can user created variables be assigned to buttons?  I'm trying to hide the "next" button until certain other buttons are clicked.  The buttons do not have to be clicked in order.  

Thanks.  

[RodWard]

I think you may be misunderstanding how Captivate works.  You do not assign a variable to a button.  You can only assign values to a variable.  You can also display the value of a variable by inserting the variable in the text area of the button, but that will not automatically hide or show the button (as you are wanting to do).

You can hide any Captivate object by selecting it and then in the Properties tab clicking the small eye icon (near the top of the Properties tab) that indicates whether the object is Visible in Output.  If that icon has a diagonal line through it, that means the object will be hidden in the output.

You can then choose to SHOW the object via Conditional Advanced Actions that are executed by events such as the On Slide Enter event.  You would need to set up a Conditional Action that looked at the value of a User Variable to see if it had a specific value, and if so, execute an action to SHOW or HIDE the object.

If none of this makes sense to you because you are still very new to Captivate and online learning, then you are going to need to do a lot more reading and watching of videos to gain a better understanding.  It can be complex.

Take a look at these videos if you haven't seen them already: 

http://www.infosemantics.com.au/adobe-captivate/video-courses/how-to-use-variables-and-advanced-acti...

[hhiple]

I have actually watched your videos and have read some of your posts!  They have actually been some of the most helpful explanations I've seen so far.  You should post more...very soon 🙂  Thank you for that!  Your answer does make a bit of sense...I'm still learning about the following:

 "You would need to set up a Conditional Action that looked at the value of a User Variable to see if it had a specific value, and if so, execute an action to SHOW or HIDE the object."

I understand "Conditional Actions" but am still trying to understand variables and how they work.  I know I have a long way to go!  Thank you for your answer - it points me in the right direction of where I need to continue my reading.  

[Lilybiri]

I have no videos, sorry. Just want to pop in with a possible alternative to show/hide a button, which is using the timeline and micronavigation. This can be easier to cover the situation where you allow the learner to revisit the slides, but have the Next button on revisit appear immediately.  Maybe you don't allow such a revisit, in that case just ignore my comment. Here is an example:

http://blog.lilybiri.com/force-first-slide-view-micro-navigation

About variables:

http://blog.lilybiri.com/discover-slash-use-captivates-system-variables-part-1

http://blog.lilybiri.com/discover-slash-use-system-variables-part-2

[hhiple]

Thank you for your response. I have read some of your material as well.  I like what you sugget and will try it!   Much Appreciated!