SCORM, Storyline variables, and suspend / resume
Oct 25, 2012
I just read a KB article that states Storyline variables are not saved across SCORM suspend / resume. (SCORM suspend / resume is invoked when a student logs out early and resumes where he left off at a later time).
I read of a workaround by creating one hidden quiz question per variable the course author could force variable values to be stored in SCORM's suspend_data string. This may be OK for an emergency, but it adds complexity, debugging time and well, it just shouldn't be necessary in a product that shines like Storyline.
I was hoping someone with knowledge of Storyline development planning might have some comments on why the variables feature, which is marketed as a way to communicate values across all course slides is not retained in the suspend_data as is so much other internal information such as pages visited, quiz scores, resume location, and more.
Were the storing author-defined variables just overlooked? (That would make the most sense to me.) and are there any plans to include variables in suspend_data in a coming release?
14 Replies
I would also like to know the answer to this question and if there is a workaround as stated above, how to do it. The ability to save user defined variables significantly impacts my decision on whether or not to go with Storyline over Lectora. Storyline has come out with features around HTML5 and ipad/iphone publish that lean me toward Storyline, but if I can't do some of the more advanced programming I know is in Lectora, I'm going to have to reconsider.
If you resume or force resume then the variables will resume. However if you do not resume then the variables will be set to their initial value.
during the initial beta put. In feature requests for persistent variables, however it did not make it into the final product but is being considered.
http://www.articulate.com/support/kb_article.php?product=st1&id=fdoq1b7qv49l
I misread this article. It doesn't state that suspend resume doesn't store user variables. The article is about storing user variables in the LMS for later reporting / analysis and or scoring.
Ahh, the good old days.
And Sighle, yes, I urged this because of Lectora and its ability to do this easily.
Be sure to put in feature requests if you want persistent variables despite resume settings.
Gerry, your not started that old "I was proved right" argument again are you
Hey, it's part of "My Storyline Greatest Hits" package . . .
Bringing you over to the dark side, young Jedi, was fun . . .
Usually it's you who are the Master and me the Padiwan. 
I'm not clear from the discussion. Does Storyline persist values of user variables across SCORM suspend/resume?
If you force resume in the player.
If you give the learner the choice to resume or not, and they decide to start over, the variables could be lost.
I'm a bit confused, but then again I am new to the suite of Articulate software.
1. Is the player a required plugin? or is brought in with each Storyline SCORM publish somehow?
2. Where are the variables saved if I use the "force resume" feature in the player? Can I leave the course, come back tomorrow and have those variable values from the last session still available?
3. Is there a sooner rather than later plan to include suspend/data user defined persistent variables for Storyline?
Thank you for all of your helpful information. Sighle
bumping this up.
So SCORM output stores/persists user variables if they choose to resume from where they left off...
Does the web (HTML/SWF) output do the same thing? We're working on a project to be delivered outside the LMS, and we can instruct them to complete it in one session, but it'd be nice to know if the web only output will preserve variables as well.
My testing indicates this is true.
Sam
Hi all, and pardon my ignorance as I may have missed something here...
But is there any way to turn the "resume" feature off completely in Storyline? I have a client that is using a shared computer to access the identical course. They are also accessing the course via an LMS. So, I need to make sure that after Student A access the course, takes some of it, that Student B will start fresh (not being prompted where Student A left off).
These are very short modules that are being tracked via SCORM "Slides Viewed" (there are no quizzes).
Eric,
If you are using a SCORM LMS, Student B must login as "Student B" and will not be given resume data from Student A. There is no possibility of slides viewed by one student being credited to another via resume.
Would you mind posting a description of how you are finding resume to be a problem?
Last, if these are SCORM courses running on an LMS, the LMS may have a way to disallow resume as a configuration option.
Sam
Hi Sam,
I'm not finding resume to be a problem, per se - I typically don't put a lot of faith in LMS functionality (my client doesn't trust their LMS either). I just wanted to do everything preventative as I can on the Storyline side.
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