Chapter 9: Widgets; About Widgets - Adobe CAPTIVATE 5 Help Manual

Last updated 4/22/2010

Chapter 9: Widgets

About widgets

In Adobe Captivate, widgets are configurable SWF objects created in Flash. Widgets can help provide enhanced
interactivity and rich content rapidly.
Developers creating widgets build the content structure, with interactivity, and provide some parameters for
customization through Adobe Captivate. When users of Adobe Captivate insert a widget, they can customize these
parameters based on the course content. For example, users of a pie chart widget can customize the size and colors of
the different segments of the chart.
The base code for creating different types of widgets for Adobe Captivate is available in Flash. Developers can use this
base code for widgets inserted in Adobe Captivate.
Note: Animated SWF files, unlike SWF files for widgets, are not configurable.
Developers can do the following:
•
Control the visibility of the widget. Developers can choose to make certain facets of the widget available to the users
in Adobe Captivate for preview or customization.
•
Define the behavior of the widget in response to user input.
Note: You must have Flash CS3 or Flash CS4 installed on your computers to create widgets for Adobe Captivate.
Types of widgets
Static widget
Static widgets are not interactive. They are meant to display information.
For example, you can use the certificate widget to create a certificate with the following information:
•
Name of the person taking the course
•
Name of the course
•
Score of the person taking the course
•
Grade achieved by the person taking the course
•
Date on which the course was taken
When you insert the certificate widget after the result slide, the certificate picks up the information from the result slide
and displays it on the certificate. This way, you can automatically generate a certificate for people who have obtained
a passing score.
To use this widget, do the following:
Create a user-defined variable.
1
Select Project > Variables.
a
b Select User from the Type menu.
c Click Add New.
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