Do drop targets have states recording if drag object have been dropped into them?

Jan 11, 2016

Hi everyone,

I'm working on a somewhat complicated drag and drop interaction that, frankly, is probably a bit silly, but I am using it as an exercise to see if I can get it to work in Storyline 2.

My screen has 4 statements which learners must evaluate as either true or talse. There is a drop target to the right of each statement, and to the side, 8 drag objects: 4 labeled True and 4 labeled False. The idea is to not let the learners know how many of the statements are true or false by counting the number of True and False drag objects. So there are enough of each to fill all 4 drop targets (i.e., 4 True and 4 False).

I have the whole thing working under normal circumstances, but it fails if someone drops, say, a True drag object to a correct drop target, and then drops another True to the same drop target. I have triggers which count how many correct drops have occurred, and this count gets messed up if someone drops two correct drag objects to the same drop target.

My question: Can I check the state of the drop targets somehow to see if they are empty or have something dropped in them? If so, what are the names of those states? If not, what would you suggest instead as a work-around?

Thanks!

    -Ray

 

7 Replies
Ray Cole

Hi Wendy,

Wow! You are quick! :-)

I've attached a simple 1-slide .story file that shows my current implementation.

The idea is that you can drag any of the 4 True labels to either of the 2 true statements, and any of the 4 False labels to either of the two false statements. When you drag a True label to a false statement, or a False label to a true statement, it bounces back, so only correct drops are counted. The interaction is automatically completed when you drag 4 labels to correct positions.

The problem happens if someone drops a correct label somewhere, and then drops another correct label to that same drop target. For example, if someone drags all 4 True labels to the first true statement, my code incorrectly counts that 4 labels have been dropped correctly and shows the Correct layer.

I need a way to determine if there is a correct object already in the drop target. So my question is: do drop targets have states that I can check to see if they are empty or filled?

Thanks!

   -Ray

PS: This would be much easier if Storyline's "Allow only one item in each drop target" could be made to disallow substituting one correct item for another. That is, if there was an additional setting "Allow only one item in each drop target with no substitutions," I think my code would work as currently implemented.

Wendy Farmer

Hi Ray

I haven't checked your file yet but have you seen the D & D options - you can select 'allow only one item in each drop target'.

Let me know if that works - if not, I'm happy to take a look at the file.

Here is the tutorial that covers D & D

https://community.articulate.com/series/4/articles/drag-and-drop-questions-in-articulate-storyline-2

Here also is a link to a previous post about drag and drop with multiple targets that may hep

https://community.articulate.com/discussions/articulate-storyline/drag-drop-2-drag-items-multiple-drop-targets

Wendy Farmer

Hi Ray

see the attached.  I created a transparent shape that goes over the top of the drop target for the first True object. The shape is hidden to start with then changes to normal when an object is dropped on the target.  So the next time the user tries to drop something onto that first drop target it pings back...would that work for you?

Ray Cole

Hi Wendy,

Thank you! Your solution is brilliant and is just the sort of outside-the-box thinking that I was hoping for (in case there wasn't an obvious setting I was missing). That solution will totally work for me.

To the broader question, though, I assume the answer is "No, there are no states that Storyline gives you access to that would allow you to check if an object is or is not currently in a drop target." That's too bad because it seems like a useful thing to be able to condition actions upon.

But I'm delighted by your workaround. Thanks very much!

Cheers!

    -Ray

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