Triggers - does it matter which section they are in

Hi Brian

here is some information about how SL executes triggers and yes, order is important.

https://en-au.articulate.com/support/storyline-2/the-order-in-which-triggers-are-executed-in-articulate-storyline-sl2

Short answer is yes. The order of object triggers is relevant only in relation to other triggers on that object.  Better stated, order is relevant for triggers that have identical "When" components. The "When" takes first priority in deciding when triggers are executed, followed by physical order in the trigger list.

The longer answer is that if you have a slide trigger to set a variable when control loses focus, then you did not put an object in the object slot when you built it. That particular trigger is automatically attached to the correct object when it is built.

Some triggers must depend on an object, and when you specify the object, they are automatically attached to it.

Others can exist as either a slide or object trigger, although the results may vary depending on where they run. They are attached to the object that is selected when they are created or pasted. If no object is selected, they are attached to the slide.

This is one of the easiest to miss, yet most important details about trigger creation. Be sure you have the right object selected when you create the trigger.

Hi Brian,

Walt and Wendy have provided a lot of good context here and if you're struggling with a particular file or set up, we'd want to take a look at it. You can attach it using the "add attachment" button at the bottom of the reply window. 

Hi Wendy

Thanks for this reply and very useful link.

Regards

Brian

Hi Walt

Thanks for the information. Very useful.

I am thinking now that there is a section for slide triggers and another for player, but that object triggers have a heading in the list that is the name of the object e.g. "button 1".

The thing I am struggling with slightly is if I attach a "when input text box loses focus" trigger to the slide and another to the input field itself, is there a rule for which will trigger first.

I understand that similar triggers on the same object will operate in the order in which they are in the list but what about the others.

Is there some sort of hierarchy of types etc? e.g slide then object (button then picture then text) etc?

If there are 30 triggers attached to the slide will they operate in list order, in object name order, in a hierarchy of the objects they are attached to?

Sorry if these are daft questions, but I have read all of the documents I can find on the subject and I cant get a complete picture in my head.

Thanks again

Brian

Hi Ashley

I will take another look armed with the information and advice here and if I am still struggling I will post my file.

Thank you

brian

OK i admit it. I do indeed think this was a daft question (almost).

I think I am confused by the "object oriented" nature of the thing. The triggers sit there waiting for something to happen (event?) so they do not operate in order of the list, but when several actions are triggered by the same event they so operate in the order of the list.

Slide starting and ending and objects doing things will occur and trigger other events will occur when they occur i.e. slide start will be first and slide end last.

I would be interested to know whether others find the same as me. The more you know about Storyline2, the more you realise what you don't know.

Thanks and regards

Brian

ps......i am now trying to find a way to get the triggers panel/listed printed out without copying and pasting every trigger into word

Hi Brian,

There isn't a way to copy/paste or print the trigger panel. If you're looking to review the listing, I'd recommend expanding it out to the largest size or undocking the panel and taking a screen capture/print of it so that you could look at that within an image set up or word doc. 

I wouldn't worry about this sort of thing. For example, the Text box question. When you create it, it asks you to input the control, and when you do that, it attaches the trigger to the control.

It is the same with almost any of the triggers. They are automatically placed in the category of the object that will trigger them.

I think your later post shows that you are grasping how things work.

Thanks Walt. Yes I am starting to see the ways things work.

The order only seems relevant for triggers attach to the same object with the same action and for those on the slide and those on the object.

Steep learning curve for me but has the potential to re-engineer the way I teach in high school economics with flexibility and without the hassle of having to work with LMS (although LMS is valuable in context).

Although there are slide, object and player triggers.........slide and object triggers all seem to be under the main slide heading but with some attached to and object and some not.

As always, help much appreciated and apologies if questions seem daft.

Best wishes and have a nice weekend

Brian

Hi Brian,

If you go back to the article that Wendy originally posted, you'll see the information in terms of the order of triggers and how they'll be executed. Depending on how you've set up the triggers and the "when" element associated with them will determine if they're slide, player or object triggers. 

Hope that helps, and if you have specific questions or ones you need clarification on, sharing a screenshot of those would be helpful. 

Ashley

Thank you for your reply. Indeed all of the information shared has been very useful and I think I have a good grasp of the sequence of triggers now. My original issue has not beeen directly answered by anyone but I believe the answer is that there is no "object trigger" heading in the triggers panel. Objects are simply listed with triggers attached.

The way that Storyline 2 allocates triggers to objects as you describe is clear to me now and as Walt says I need to be careful when adding triggers that the selected object is considered.

Thanks again

Brian

Sorry Brian if we missed the initial query - it got long! The isn't a header for each object, as the triggers will only be specific to that particular object. But all the object triggers are in the middle after slide triggers and before player triggers in the list.