Ampersands and Text Variables

Feb 07, 2013

Good Morning All, 

I've got a text variable that stores a value which includes an ampersand. (i.e. P&C)

If I place a condition on a trigger that is based on that value, the trigger doesn't doesn't fire.

If I remove the ampersand and replace it with the word "and" everything works A+. Bracketing the value/condition with quotes doesn't seem to make a difference either.

I've noticed that ampersands are  removed from names/values shown in the layer and trigger windows (P&C appears as PC).  However, even with the ampersands removed all the values/triggers shown in those windows appear to be consistent with each other and to my mind should trigger as expected - but they don't. 

In practical terms I'm fine using "and" instead of the "&" for the time being, but for peace of mind I'd like to know what gives so I can continue to grow my understanding of how things work in Storyline land. 

Thanks!

5 Replies
Christine Hendrickson

Hi there Greg!

I remembered seeing an issue with ampersands and Articulate Online reporting, but I hadn't heard of this particular issue. However, I did double check our records and I found a report for using ampersands in triggers and some layer names. It looks like our guys are currently working on fixing this issue and plan on releasing a fix for it in the future. For now, the best workaround is the one you're currently using.

Thanks!

Malcolm Creen

Just in the last few days, I have copied and pasted text containing an ampersand into a text box and the application froze – requiring Ctrl Alt Del>Task manager> End Task.

Anything with XML behind it has always been twitchy about ampersands...

I have had similar issues with x̄ (x bar) used in statistics. Storyline freezes every time.

Becca Levan

Hello Malcolm!

Thanks for reaching out and sharing what you're experiencing. This does sound like a unique issue, and I don't get the same result when I copied and pasted text containing an ampersand into a Storyline 360 text box from Word.

As a next step, I'd recommend connecting with one of our support engineers so they can help troubleshoot!

CONNECT WITH A SUPPORT ENGINEER HERE.