Adobe Captivate 4: User-Defined Variables

by Kevin A. Siegel  

Last week I covered System Variables, which grab data from your project or computer and allow you to manipulate it. System Variables come with every new Captivate project. This week, I'm going to address User-defined Variables.

User-defined Variables are typically created to store data (created on the fly by the Captivate developer) that will be used throughout the project. For example, you could create a variable that gathers a user's first name. Once the data has been collected by the variable, the name can be displayed over and over again in the project.

During the steps that follow I'll teach you how to create a User-Defined Variable that will personalize your eLearning lesson for every user. When user's open your lesson, they'll be prompted to type in their first name. From that point on, the name they type will appear throughout the project. Cool!

1. Go to a slide near the beginning of your project and insert a text caption that encourages users to type their first name into a box on the slide
   
   
   
   
   
2. Create a User-defined variable by choosing Project > Actions
   
   
3. On the Variables tab, select User from the Type drop-down menu
   
   
4. Click the Add New button at the right of the dialog box
   
   
5. In the Name field, type a name (in the image below, the variable has been called v_Name)
   
   
   
   
   
6. Click the Save button
   
   
7. Click the Close button
   
   You can now attach the variable to a text entry box. If users type in the text entry box, the data can be used later in the project.
   
   
8. On the same slide containing the text caption from step 1 above, insert a text entry box by choosing Insert > Standard Objects > Text Entry Box
   
   
9. From the Options area, deselect Validate user input
   
   
   
   If you were interested in checking what a user typed in the text entry box and ensuring they typed something specific, you would certainly leave this option selected. However, you might want every user to type their first name... since every user will be unique, there would not be anything to validate.
   
   
   
10. On the Advanced tab, select your variable from the Variable Associated drop-down menu
    
    
    
    
    
11. The last step will be to go to a slide later in the project and insert the variable directly within a text caption (use the Insert Variable button) as shown in the picture below
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. Preview the project. When you get to the slide containing the text entry box, type your first name as instructed. And when you get to the slide containing the variable you'll see that the name you typed has been collected and stored by Captivate and appears in the text caption automatically.

 

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Comments

[Charlie R Chisholm]

Hi, I am trying to use captivate 4 to meet our training needs. We have an inhouse developed HR system that tracks training records and certifications, but is not really a LMS or scorm complient. I simpy want to pass an employee number into captivate and get a score, captivate file name, and the employee number back out. Can you direct me to any information that would help me understand how to 1) pass data in, and 2) pass data out without in just about any format except email. Any help would be GREATLY appricated. I am having trouble justifying my decision to purchase Captivate 4 for this project.

[Brice]

Hi,

Thanks for this explanation. I use it in my projects and it's very useful. But when I create a user variable, it is only available in my current Captivate project. When I close the project and start a new one, the variable is not more in the list. How can I save it definitively ? In a project template ?

Thanks,
Brice.

[Edgar Bina]

I have been developing data in Captivate for quite some now and recently bought the New Captivate 4, I saw that Captivate 4 is a new great product and has all the the features that was lacking in 3.
I need to know how to get user information as I am creation a quiz in my company and I want to put an Information page that will have the following fields;
1. Name:
2. Email:
3. Country:
4.Reasons for taking this test:
and all these information will be send to an email address along with a score report of the quiz.
I saw a feature of this at this url: http://www.myshbp.com/captivate/cap4demo.htm

But I do not know how. Can Anyone help me I need expert help or anyone who know how to get this feature. Please help me

[Scott]

Has anyone noticed that during playback of a captivate file that text captions referring to a user variable may 1) delay before showing the variable text, 2) show he variable label ($$variable$$) instead of the value of the variable, or 3) appear blank????

Any thoughts on this?

[Melissa]

Answer to Scott's - we had the same issue and had to make sure the Captivate file was using AS3, not to 2 and it fixed it.

I still need an answer to how to save the user variables created so we can use them with other projects?

Thanks!

[BobRoman]

I have a Captivate 4 course I am working. I have some click boxes set to jump to specific slides but everytime I run the course, it goes to the very next slide when I click on the Clickbox. Any Ideas on what is happening?

Bob Roman

[Marcia Johnston]

I'd like to use a variable for the product name in Captivate 4. Maddeningly, when I do, the introduction of the variable into the slide has an unpredictable effect on the formatting -- for example, making the bullet smaller, creating extra indentation, or changing the color or size of subsequent text. Any clue why a variable would impact formatting? More important, how can I prevent this from happening?