ActionScript 3 support

Thanks, Dwayne - I'll give that a shot.

-phs

Hello there, 

I am learning actionScript3 and created a small menu which I want to integrate into my PowerPoint/Articulate presentation. Is actionScript3 supported by articulate?

Thanks in advance for your reply,

Christian 

Hi Christian and welcome to Heroes,

ActionScript 3 is not currently supported by Articulate Presenter '09.  However, you can still integrate the SWF by using web objects:

Great Brian, thanks. And thanks a lot for this video!!! (very helpful) 

One question: will this still work to command pages in PPT? (my flash is a menu). If yes, would you happen to know the actionScript3 code for that? In actionScript2, I used to write: 

button1.onRelease = function() {

_level0.ArtAPI.PlaySlideNum(7);

};

Now I have: 

button1.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN,buttonfunction1)

function buttonfuntion1(evt:MouseEvent) {

///and here I want to say "play slide number 7 of my PPT/Articulate course"///

}

Hi Christian,

Since the SWF file is now being housed inside of the web object, you would lose any direct communication with the Articulate player.

Other gotcha with web objects is if you use tabs they will open up underneath the web object content.

If you wanted to get real tricky there technically is a solution.  You could use what is called 'Local Connection' to communicate between an AS3 web object and an AS2 file that maybe sits in the presentation panel or something that listens to these types of calls and then fires off Articulate API calls.

I've used Local Connection before in an AS3 based eLearning player that I developed to allow it to play older AS2 files and it works great. 

Hi Steve,

There's actually a really cool workaround for this that was created by one of our support guys:

http://www.builtbyburton.com/?p=430

When will QuizMaker start using/generating Actionscript 3.0? It's not exactly new :(

In my use case I'm developing eLearning content using Adobe Captivate, but I have to use an older version of it (Captivate 4.0) because QM quizzes can't be plugged into Captivate versions newer than that (due to AS2 vs AS3). The web objects solution and local connection won't work or don't apply to my situation.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Joe

Hi Joe and welcome to Heroes,

The next version of the Studio products (Quizmaker included) will have support for ActionScript 3.0.

When will the next version be available?

Hi Joseph,

We're currently working on a new product called Storyline and Studio will be released sometime after the release of Storyline.  For more information about Storyline, see the link below:

http://community.articulate.com/forums/p/1694/9102.aspx#9102

a lot of Flash-involved questions lately (mine included).

Looking forward to Storyline and Studio and seeing what between them gets addressed.

So, any general ideas about when the next version of Studio will be released? Next spring or summer, perhaps?

Dude, they are like commandos in here: you will not get them to crack.

...but it looks like end of this year. i think. you didn't hear it from me.

Hi Joseph,

Yes, Craig is exactly right...we're pretty tight-lipped about future releases.  We like to take the "when it's ready" approach to development instead of throwing a release date out there.  As soon as we have additional information, we'll definitely let the community know!

Brian,

Thanks for the info. How can I contact a Sales Rep to ask more questions offline?

Joe

Hi Joe,

You're welcome to submit a support case.  However, if your questions are regarding future releases, our policy is consistent in that we don't release additional information:

http://www.articulate.com/support/contact/

Actually, my questions are more along the line of current pricing and potential upgrades to future versions (that support AS3.0). We have several Articulate Studio licenses and are evaluating purchasing more licenses.

During this evaluation period I've been recommending QuizMaker to my training department peers, but until it supports AS3.0 its value cannot be fully appreciated nor utilized in our workflow.

On a related note, if I were to ask any company's Sales Rep about a product's roadmap and he couldn't/wouldn't give me any information about if/when his product could meet my needs, I'd be concerned.

Joe

Hi Joe,

We can give out basic information like support for ActionScript 3.0.  However, we stay away from the "roadmap" strategy because there's no guarantee that one feature or another will actually make the final release.  

Although I do not know what needs you specifically have, I have a feeling that our Storyline product will become a huge part of your development cycle.  If you would like to participate in the Beta of Storyline, please email beta@articulate.com explaining why you want to be part of the beta.  Due to the overwhelming response for participation in the beta, there's no guarantee that you will be apart of the beta.

Regarding upgrade plans, we do have a PMP membership plan.  You can read more about it here:

http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/kb/?p=58

I'll have your account rep contact you to see if you have any additional questions.

Hello Brian, 

Back to your video on how to integrate the SWF by using web objects.

My swf file is now a simple flash without commands for PPT. I followed your instructions and it worked perfectly fine.  ...until I copied all publication files to another computer (even to another location of my own computer). It seems that some connection is missing, my flash file doesn't appear on my page.

When I open the published files I can see, under "data" > "webobject_slide2", my "intro.swf" and the "index.html". If I click on index, the swf is playing fine.

Did I miss something?

In advance, thanks for your response. 

Christian 

Hi Christian,

Just to clarify, you moved the published files to a different location on your machine.  Is that correct?  If so, that shouldn't impact the relative links to your files.  However, you'll want to take a look at your entire folder path to see if there are any special characters or the length is over 256 characters as this could make it impossible for Articulate to actually find the files.

With that being said, you should always test your content online instead of locally, especially when you're using web objects.  Some web browsers don't like to display "local zone" content with "online content" like web objects.  You'll essentially run into security issues that prevent the file from being loaded.

Thank you very much Brian, that was it. I couldn't see it until I uploaded the course on the LMS. Cheers, Christian 

Hi Brian,

I am working with AS 3.0 .swf files imported as web objects in Articulate. I went through the video tutorial and have followed the steps exactly. The index.html files themselves open perfectly in firefox and they also work fine when the presentation is published. The preview of the slide, however, just displays a white square the size of the object and a scroll bar. The presentation is so big that pulishing everytime would take hours... So fixing the preview is really my only option!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much

Errol