Web Object and Advanced Actions

[lkonior]

Good afternoon,

I am building a course in Captivate and three sections of this course include PDF's that are 60-100 pages each. To insert the PDF I used a Web Object and linked it back the file on my laptop. The layout looks how I want it to look but now I would like to setup the "Continue" button to only display after the learner has viewed the entire PDF.

Is there anyway of setting up an advanced action that would show the "continue" button after the learner has viewed the entire PDF?

My only other idea is to adjust the timing of the continue button so that it only appears after a given amount of time but just trying to make sure I'm not missing a possible function that could automate this step during the course.

Thank You!

[RodWard]

So you want to prevent the learner from being able to continue a lesson until they have read an entire 60-100 page PDF?   No problem. 

Here's how:

1. Set up a User Variable and call it var_LearnerReadSpeed and set its default value to 0.
2. Insert a Text Entry Box near the beginning of the lesson (second or third slide would be my suggestion) and name it TEB_LearnerReadSpeed.  Associate the TEB with the User Variable you just created so that the value written into the TEB will be written to the variable.
3. Add instruction text around the TEB that tells the learner they need to insert a number into the TEB that accurately reflects their reading speed in words per minute (e.g. 60 for 60 words per minute).
4. Create an Advanced Action called AA_CalculateContinueDelay and have the first line use the ScanPDFWords action in Captivate to find out the number of words in your chosen PDF and write this value to another variable called var_PDFWordCount.
5. Then in the second line of the same Conditional Advanced Action use the Expression action to calculate the number of seconds delay by dividing the var_PDFWordCount variable by the var_LearnerReadSpeed  variable.  Don't forget that this will give you the number of minutes it takes the learner to read the entire document, but the Delay Next Action By action in Captivate uses seconds so you will need to multiply this by 60 if you need the number of seconds to delay the appearance of the Continue button.  This calculated value will also need to be written to yet another user variable called var_ContinueButtonDelaySeconds.
6. The final line of the Advanced Action will then use this variable's value to set the delay time for the Continute button to appear.  (You'll need to have hidden the Continue button initially so that it is not visible.)
7. Finally set this Advanced Action to be executed On Slide Enter of the slide where you placed your PDF.  

Please share your results with the forum when you have it working.

[lkonior]

Thank you Rod for taking the time to not just answer but also provide some very clear steps. I will give these steps a try and report back with the results.

[Lilybiri]

Reading a long pdf doesn't seem to be 'eLearning to me'... Rod's elaborate answer is telling exactly the same in his way...and had me smiling, thanks Rod!

It is OK to provide learning assets to the learner of different types, but including a long 'novel' inside a Captivate elearning course is to me an ANACHRONISM. 

[lkonior]

Well the PDF is actually a slide deck with different information relating to a certification that is required by some employee's. So some pages may only include pictures and others may have definitions that apply to the subject at hand. I don't believe there are more than maybe 25 slides that would require reading more than 2-3 sentences. With that being said, I don't disagree with your point of view on this. However, this is the content that I have tasked to work with and can not alter the formatting of the content itself. In the future I'd like to sit down and translate the PDF materials into a true Captivate elearning Course with no PDF's but for now this module will already improve upon the current process that takes place for this course.

[Stagprime]

I get daily reminders of why I am grateful to work for a company that allows me the freedom to develop learning assets that will benefit our employees and customers.

Today - this thread is my reminder.

Have an awesome day, everyone!

[RodWard]

Not wanting to ruin anyone's day...but...I thought I should just mention that there is no ScanPDFWords action in Captivate.

[lkonior]

Thank you for the update Rod. I'll continue working with my initial game plan in that case and work with what I have.

Have a great day everyone and stay safe out there.