Accessing layers on the master slide by changing a variable

Oct 16, 2013

I've just started to experiment more with the in-built stuf f of storyline and have begun playing with the player buttons. I'm trying to access a layer I have on the master slide using a button I've made in the player tabs.

Since these have a limited amount of triggers that can be used, so what I've done is, I've made the button go to a blank slide which changes a variable to true at the start of the timeline. On the master slide, I have the layer I want to appear show when this variable is turned true, but it doesn't work.

Has anybody tried this or can confirm my theory that layers on master slides can only be accessed by triggers on the master slide itself.

Thanks

6 Replies
Steve Flowers

Yep. Two things going on. There are definitely limited things you can do with tabs. I use JavaScript to change a variable whenever I want to trigger an action on the stage or master from a tab.

You're correct that nothing on the master slide can be targeted from a trigger from the base slide. "Remote controlling" using a variable change and an "event listener" to listen for this variable change is the way to go. No other way to do it. You'll notice that there are some things you can't do with triggers in master slide layers. Stuff just doesn't work exactly like a base slide layer.

Steve Flowers

Adding this to a JavaScript trigger will add one to a number variable you create in Storyline. Add this to a tab and it will increment the value every time you hit the tab. I use this to transmit remote signals to listener triggers in a base slide or master slide. You can view the results by putting a text reference on your slide %myStorylineVar%. For better luck seeing the results, publish to CD to bypass the Flash player security sandbox.

//***

var player=GetPlayer(); 

var tempValue=player.GetVar("myStorylineVar"); //grab the variable

tempValue++; //add one to the variable

player.SetVar("myStorylineVar",tempValue); //plug the new value into the Storyline variable

//***

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