Course not communicating with LMS when played in Citrix

[kesrm]

When a course is played through the LMS (UniversitySite) & IE in Citrix, the course is marked as incomplete when it was actually completed successfully. Running the same course through the LMS locally communicates with the LMS OK and the course is marked as completed successfully. It also works OK running through Chrome in Citrix. Does anyone have any idea of why it's a problem in IE & Citrix?

[RodWard]

SCORM communication with the LMS relies on a JavaScript API that is likely being blocked when you are viewing the same course over a CITRIX environment.

[danielw_profiscience]

Running the developer console in IE within a Citrix environment revealed the problem seemed to be tied to the fact that the content was SWF.  The error was "Object doesn't support property or method 'flushSwfQueue'" so after republishing the content for HTML5 only not both SWF AND HTLM5, since it seems IE 11 was using SWF by default in this situation, the problem resolved AND the content loaded faster in HTML5 and also as an added benefit is compatible with IOS devices.

Daniel W

UniversitySite

[RodWard]

OK.  Did not realise you were using the dual output publish option.  The 'sniffer' code in the multiscreen.html file that decides which content to redirect to (SWF or HTML5) makes this decision based on whether or not the browser being used to view the content is on a MOBILE device, not based on whether or not the browser is capable of viewing HTML5 content.  The code is not smart enough to detect that the desktop browser is HTML5-ready.

So when it detects a desktop browser (e.g. IE11) by default it just redirects to the SWF content.

Your solution of ditching the dual output and just running with HTML5 is currently the best way to ensure that even on a desktop the HTML5 content gets served.

[kesrm]

We are continuing to troubleshoot this issue running Captivate (published as SWF) in Citrix Virtual Desktop / IE11. Using IE debugger, found the following line fails in SCORM_utilities.js: CaptivateObj.flushSwfQueue();

Running the SCO locally, in Virtual Desktop Chrome, or scorm.com all report completion status OK. Our LMS vendor said if it works OK on scorm.com, that it may be related to the version of the scorm engine. Their new version of the LMS will use the upgraded scorm engine and may then fix the issue. Meanwhile, they suggested to publish as HTML5 vs SWF which does not execute the failing line of script. We can publish as HTML5 going forward; however, re-publishing and re-uploading all of our Captivate content isn't feasible, so we continue to troubleshoot a solution to SWF content as well.

[kesrm]

After upgrading our LMS, with the latest SCORM engine, we have the same issue. Completed courses are still marked as Incomplete.

[rmeyer_tier1]

I realize this is about a year old now, but was any resolution ever found? We're running into the same issue. We have a home-grown SCORM LMS which normally works fine but sometimes fails with this same flushSwfQueue issue on Captivate courses run through Citrix. It doesn't *always* fail though, which makes it even harder to pin down. We haven't been able to pin down whether it's related to certain user profiles or certain machines yet. Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

[Erik_Lord]

Perhaps the finding at the end of this thread?

Scorm module does not load in Internet Explorer

[rmeyer_tier1]

Unfortunately it must be a different issue. The course is loading the Flash version, so no SVGs and no failed HTTP calls. Thanks for the tip though!

[Sambo68]

I am having a similar issue. Last year my organization signed up with a new LMS host. I uploaded one of the modules that I created the previous year with Cp9, and it was working fine through IE and Citrix client. The module is using SCORM 2004, and It is using branching. When I uploaded the module to the new LMS, 1600 employees completed the course and 93 others completed the course. However, their timeline indicates in progress. All 93 employees accessed the course via Citrix. The 1600 employees were a mixture between IE 11 and Citrix. Our LMS host is saying it is a content issue. Our IT department thinks it is an LMS issue. I am stuck in between both of them. I do not know where to go from here? Any advice?

[RodWard]

Is the course SWF/HTM or HTML5 or dual published to both SWF and HTML5?

[Sambo68]

The first version I published was SWF/HTML5. After I read the comments on this discussion, I re-published the module with only HTML5. Out of 16 testers, two of them had a couple of attempts to complete the course after finishing the entire activity through Citrix client.

The module consist of 169 slides and it is branched for two different groups. The first group will have to go through 112 slides. Out of the 112 slides there are five text content slides with navigation buttons, 107 assessment slides, quiz result and exit slide.

The second group will have to go through 57 slides. Out of the 57 slides there are five text content slides with navigation buttons,  54 assessment slides, quiz result and exit slide.

Users will have to pass the quiz in order to get completion. However, for those that passed quiz and the LMS still mark them in progress, I noticed that the system failing them at 96%. It is little strange. All quizzes are set up to infinite attempts and will not advance until the user choose the right answer.

[RodWard]

The FIRST thing you need to do is test the content without CITRIX being anywhere involved.  The easiest way to do this is just to upload the modules to SCORM Cloud and invite your testers to do the modules from that LMS.

If there are completion issues even when launching and doing the modules in SCORM Cloud then you can blame the content.  However, if not, then the issue isn't likely to be Captivate's fault.

If SCORM Cloud gives your modules a thumbs up then the next thing to do is try testing them from your LMS but STILL WITHOUT CITRIX in the mix.  If the completions work over normal connections to the LMS then you've pretty much nailed CITRIX as your culprit.

[Sambo68]

Thanks Rod for the fast reply. I have tested the module many times in SCORM Cloud and no issue what so ever. Most of the issues are happing from users that are accessing it through Citrix, and only 6% are having issues, which is kind of strange. Our Citrix IT folks are asking me to replicate the issue, but on my machine, everything looks normal when completing the module through Citrix. I do not know if it is a connectivity issue or anything other that.

[RodWard]

SCORM calls and communication with the LMS happen through a JavaScript API.  If you are having issues where scoring is not being recorded in the LMS, the most likely reason is that there is an interruption in the flow of communication at some point while the learner is doing the module.  This happens silently, so they wouldn't find out until AFTER they get back to the LMS and look for their score.

I'm no expert in CITRIX but thin client systems haven't traditionally been very friendly for this kind of reason.  It's just harder to keep the communication looking the same as a normal system.

Another thing that can cause issues is if you have links out to other references or web pages in your course somewhere.  If people click on these links and they open in the same window as the course, it can sometimes disrupt the communication with the LMS.  If you have such links in your course, I would recommend you find another way to deliver this information AFTER the learner's have closed down.

[Sambo68]

I have a link that is on all of the slides, and opens in a new window for a PDF file inside the SCORM package. Do you think that is of concern?

[RodWard]

Yes that's exactly the kind of thing that I would be suspicious of.  Why don't you try replicating the issue on your own computer over CITRIX doing the course module and opening that PDF up a few times, especially AFTER you start the quiz section, to see if you can get it to fail for yourself.

Does using CITRIX always require using a specific web browser, or is it possible that the choice of browser might possibly be a factor?

[Sambo68]

I tested the module again over three times in Citrix and IE with opening and closing the PDF and trying every possible way to break the data flow and still did not have any issue. I asked few of my co-workers to do the same and no issues. This so crazy. I opened a ticket with Saba and hoping that they will find some solution to this issue..

[Sambo68]

I figured out what causes the module to stay in progress. When the user reaches the quiz result slide and closes the window without continuing to the next exit slide and exit normally.  The LMS re-set the module to start from the beginning with a 2nd attempt. I opened a ticket with the LMS host to find a solution. However, if anyone had a similar issue and was able to fix it, Please let me know.

[RodWard]

That would make sense.  The scoring is really only sent to the LMS on leaving that Quiz Result slide.  So users that chose to quit BEFORE allowing the slide to move to the next one would not have seen their scoring and completion get registered in the LMS and this would explain why some users had the issue and some didn't.  To avoid this problem I usually rename the Continue button as Register Result in the LMS or something like that so that they know they should click the button instead of just closing down the window.  I also put similar instructions in the feedback text that appears under the buttons.

[Megbrons1]

We have the same issue - we're working through Citrix with an LMS called SkyPrep. The courses that have given us problems have no quizzes in Captivate, which would negate the resolution below.

Our users complete the course (I usually have the course set to marking as complete when 80% of the slides are viewed, but for this one training, I have it set to view only a small number of slides), then try to advance to the next items (a quiz created in SkyPrep), but they can't continue because SkyPrep doesn't view the course as complete.

This happens sporadically with multiple training classes, and we can't figure out why sometimes it doesn't cause an issue and other times it does. All users report that they see the final "Congratulations" slide, but cannot advance.

Any other thoughts on this matter would be helpful.

Thank you,

Meg Nicewanner