Broken engage files

Oct 07, 2011

Hello,

I am having problems recalling engage files I create. Specifically when I create a new engage activity, return to the powerpoint presentation and then try to click the edit engage button I receive a message that says "Unable to access the engage file." I use the browse tool to find the file in the appropriate path and then open it and it still says unable to access. Could this be because I am saving on my company's network group drive? I need to share this file with my team so I really dont want to save it to "my documents".

What is really weird is sometimes when I create a new engage and click "Save as and return to presenter" two identical Engage activities are placed in my powerpoint deck. In this case I still receive an "Unable to access" message when I try to click the edit button in both slides.

I would appreciate your feedback.

1 Reply
Brian Batt

Hi Caitlin & welcome to Heroes,

Working from the network drive is likely the cause of the issue.  Here are some tips for managing your files which can help prevent issues.

1.  Work on your local drive (your C: drive). Working on a network drive or a USB drive can cause erratic behavior, including file corruption, loss of audio, and other unexpected behavior. 

2. You should also make sure the directory path to your project files and your published output is less than 260 characters (for example C:\Articulate).

3.  Avoid using special characters, accents or symbols in your file names.

Additional information regarding "Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces" in Windows operating systems can be found in the following Microsoft article:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365247(VS.85).aspx

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When working on an Articulate Presenter presentation in a collaborative environment with other developers, I recommend that you use the following workflow: 

1. Use the Send to Articulate Presenter Package feature to make an exact copy of the project and the included Engage interactions and Quizmaker quizzes per the method in the article below: 

http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/?p=457

If the project files are already located on a network drive, proceed to Step 2.

If the project files are currently located on your local hard drive, skip to Step 6.

2. When you need to edit or publish the presentation, copy the ZIP file (the Articulate Presenter Package) from your network drive to your local hard drive.

3. Extract (unzip) the project files onto your local hard drive. 

4. Edit and / or publish the presentation as necessary.

5. Use the Send to Articulate Presenter Package feature (from Step 1) to make an exact copy of the updated project files.

6. Copy the resulting ZIP file to your network drive for storage and sharing.

7. Repeat Steps 2 through 6 whenever you need to edit or publish the presentation in the future.

By working on the main project files on your local hard drive, you prevent any corruption or erratic behavior of the files that might have occurred by working on a network drive (ie: random backups). Also, this method ensures that all of your Engage interactions and Quizmaker quizzes stay properly linked together.

This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.