by Lori Smith
Variables in Adobe Captivate 4 bring a lot of versatility to a project. Creating the variables you need for a project before you begin to add objects and create advanced actions is a best practice. But what happens when you are in the midst of creating a Text Entry Box and realize that you have forgotten to define a variable?
All you'll need to do to create the variable is close the Text Entry Box properties that you were working on, choose Project > Actions, select the Variables tab, create the variable, save it, close that dialog box, go back and re-open the Text Entry Box properties, click the Advanced tab and enter your variable. Whew! That was tiring!
Lucky for you, there is a little shortcut...
Assuming you have forgotten to create your variable beforehand, you can create it on the fly while still within the Text Entry Box properties.
Here is your Variables window before you create your Text Entry Box:
Next insert a new Text Entry Box onto a slide (or display the Properties of an existing Text Entry Box) and go to the Advanced tab.
You can see in the image below that there are no variables to choose from in the Variable Associated drop-down menu.
Type the name of the variable you'd like to create in the Variable Associated field.
Click OK to close the Text Entry Box properties and check out your list of variables (Project > Actions, Variables tab). Wow! There it is!
Very cool. Of course, I am now going to get on my soapbox and tell you that even if you create a variable on the fly, you should always update the Value and Description fields of the variable at some point.
Variables in Adobe Captivate 4 bring a lot of versatility to a project. Creating the variables you need for a project before you begin to add objects and create advanced actions is a best practice. But what happens when you are in the midst of creating a Text Entry Box and realize that you have forgotten to define a variable?
All you'll need to do to create the variable is close the Text Entry Box properties that you were working on, choose Project > Actions, select the Variables tab, create the variable, save it, close that dialog box, go back and re-open the Text Entry Box properties, click the Advanced tab and enter your variable. Whew! That was tiring!
Lucky for you, there is a little shortcut...
Assuming you have forgotten to create your variable beforehand, you can create it on the fly while still within the Text Entry Box properties.
Here is your Variables window before you create your Text Entry Box:
Next insert a new Text Entry Box onto a slide (or display the Properties of an existing Text Entry Box) and go to the Advanced tab.
You can see in the image below that there are no variables to choose from in the Variable Associated drop-down menu.
Type the name of the variable you'd like to create in the Variable Associated field.
Click OK to close the Text Entry Box properties and check out your list of variables (Project > Actions, Variables tab). Wow! There it is!
Very cool. Of course, I am now going to get on my soapbox and tell you that even if you create a variable on the fly, you should always update the Value and Description fields of the variable at some point.
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Join me in May for live, online training on Adobe Captivate Advanced Actions. And if you need to learn Captivate, we offer two online classes (Beginner and Advanced). Click here for details on the Beginner class. Click here for details on the Advanced class.
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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.
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