Adobe Captivate 4: Lock It Up

by Lori Smith

When creating Captivate eLearning lessons we, the developers, need to enable the student to be as successful as possible. By successful, I mean being able to complete the lesson as intended, not necessarily passing any quizzes.

In addition, developers often want the student to feel as if they have the power… the students are in control (when in reality the design of the lesson is forcing them to proceed in a given manner).

You can elect to have the TOC displayed in a lesson (Project > Table Of Contents, Show TOC) and allow it to be navigable (via the TOC settings, Enable Navigation checkbox). This gives the students a lot of power to navigate, but clicking the TOC while on the wrong slide (e.g. quiz slide) could derail the entire lesson.

Enter the system variable cpLockTOC. Yes, you can temporarily lock the TOC so it is not clickable during crucial slides and then re-enable the navigation later.

Disabling and enabling the TOC can be done via any interactive item as well as on slide enter/exit. In each case, the cpLockTOC should be assigned the value 1 to lock the Table of Contents.

To lock the TOC on slide enter, show the slide properties and set the On slide enter field as shown below.

On slide enter action

To re-enable the TOC navigability (unlock the TOC) set the cpLockTOC variable to 0. To unlock the TOC on slide exit, show the slide properties and set the On slide exit fields as shown below.

On slide exit action

This is a simple constraint to implement. Here's one piece of advice before forging ahead locking and unlocking your TOC: know your navigation. Be sure that the student will actually execute the locking/unlocking. For example, if the student is allowed to navigate away from a slide via a button, the student will not execute the OnExit commands. In that case, ensure your button unlocks the TOC before jumping away.

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About the Author: Lori Smith is IconLogic's lead programmer and Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) in Adobe Captivate. Lori has a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from MIT as well as a Master's in electrical engineering from George Mason University.  She has been working in the field of software engineering for more than 20 years. Lori will be teaching our Adobe Captivate 4: Advanced Actions online, instructor-led class. Click here for details. 

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Need to learn the basics of Adobe Captivate 4 fast? Attend a live, instructor-led online training class. Click here for more information. Looking for more Advanced Captivate 4 training? We've got you covered. Click here for more information.

Worried about your class canceling? You'll be happy to hear that IconLogic never, ever cancels classes (even if there's just one student registered).

12 Replies to “Adobe Captivate 4: Lock It Up”

  1. Can you help me with the issue of locking the TOC with the variable set to 1 in the preload file?
    I coded: this.parent[“cpLockTOC”] = 1; but no use.
    Or is there any other way we can do this?
    Thanks so much

  2. Can you help me with the issue of locking the TOC with the variable set to 1 in the preload file?
    I coded: this.parent[“cpLockTOC”] = 1; but no use.
    Or is there any other way we can do this?
    Thanks so much

  3. Can you help me with the issue of locking the TOC with the variable set to 1 in the preload file?
    I coded: this.parent[“cpLockTOC”] = 1; but no use.
    Or is there any other way we can do this?
    Thanks so much

  4. I am not sure why using a var in the preload file is not working. However, if you want the TOC locked upon start up, you can not check the “enable navigation” chexkobx on the TOC options dialog box and avoid using the preload file method.

  5. I am not sure why using a var in the preload file is not working. However, if you want the TOC locked upon start up, you can not check the “enable navigation” chexkobx on the TOC options dialog box and avoid using the preload file method.

  6. I am not sure why using a var in the preload file is not working. However, if you want the TOC locked upon start up, you can not check the “enable navigation” chexkobx on the TOC options dialog box and avoid using the preload file method.

  7. When using cpLockTOC = 0 on the last slide of a project, we can successfully create an unlocked TOC when the student visits the last page of the project (SCORM). However, if a student visits a different lesson and returns to the lesson that was successfully unlocked, it starts from the beginning again. Is there a way to keep it permanently unlocked? How is that data stored? Is it in session variables or somewhere else?
    Thank you!

  8. When using cpLockTOC = 0 on the last slide of a project, we can successfully create an unlocked TOC when the student visits the last page of the project (SCORM). However, if a student visits a different lesson and returns to the lesson that was successfully unlocked, it starts from the beginning again. Is there a way to keep it permanently unlocked? How is that data stored? Is it in session variables or somewhere else?
    Thank you!

  9. When using cpLockTOC = 0 on the last slide of a project, we can successfully create an unlocked TOC when the student visits the last page of the project (SCORM). However, if a student visits a different lesson and returns to the lesson that was successfully unlocked, it starts from the beginning again. Is there a way to keep it permanently unlocked? How is that data stored? Is it in session variables or somewhere else?
    Thank you!

  10. Hi Amy,
    The cpLockTOC var is not stored outside of a captivate lesson. To store the info, you would need to create a flash object. However, have you tried using the self paced learning flag? That may be what you need to allow a user to continue where they left off. You can set this flag via: Project->Table of Contents, settings, check the self paced learning box.

  11. Hi Amy,
    The cpLockTOC var is not stored outside of a captivate lesson. To store the info, you would need to create a flash object. However, have you tried using the self paced learning flag? That may be what you need to allow a user to continue where they left off. You can set this flag via: Project->Table of Contents, settings, check the self paced learning box.

  12. Hi Amy,
    The cpLockTOC var is not stored outside of a captivate lesson. To store the info, you would need to create a flash object. However, have you tried using the self paced learning flag? That may be what you need to allow a user to continue where they left off. You can set this flag via: Project->Table of Contents, settings, check the self paced learning box.

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