Trouble with tacking variables and object states
May 02, 2014
Can someone confirm some Variable behavior for me?
Setup:
I have 3 slides in Storyline:
- Slide 1 - navigation menu with icons; icons are linked to specific pages; user jumps to each page when an icons are clicked; each nav icon has a normal state and a Visited state (Visited - grey version of the icon)
- Slide 2 - Topic 1; sets a variable labeled Visisted1 to TRUE when the timeline starts
- Slide 3 - Topic 2; sets a variable labeled Visisted2 to TRUE when the timeline starts
Question 1: Am I correct in assuming that when I use the Trigger 2 setup (below) that Storyline is looking for the variable to change within that slide only? If the variable changes outside of that slide, Storyline does not "see" it as being changed and so the trigger does not execute as one might expect.
Question 2: Is this a "feature", an expected behavior, or a possible bug?
Trigger 1
When I create this trigger, the icon changes state (all good):
Action: Change state of
On Object: Topic 1 Icon
To State: Done
When: Timeline Starts
Object: 1.1 Slide 1
On Condition: Visited == Equal to True
Trigger 2
When I create this trigger, the nothing happens; the icon does not change state:
Action: Change state of
On Object: Topic 1 Icon
To State: Done
When: Variable changes
Variable: Visited1
On Condition: Visited == Equal to True
Very frustrating to figure this out on my own. If this is in the documentation for Storyline, I would love to see it.
5 Replies
Hi Pedro,
In response to your first question, variables can be used throughout a project, so if a variable is changed on slide 1, a trigger can be executed on slide 2, 3 or 4 etc. based on the value of that variable.
Without seeing your project, it's a little hard to understand why trigger 2 isn't being executed, but my initial reaction would be to check the order or your triggers in the trigger panel. SL executes triggers from top to bottom so I'm wondering if your trigger to change the state of Topic 1 Icon is ABOVE the trigger that adjusts the variable to TRUE?
Antony
Hey Pedro!
The storyline changes a value of a variable only at the slide where its trigger of adjust variable is set. Neither before, nor after...And once the trigger is implemented (in case u have not set another trigger to reset the value in any of the slides), it evaluates it at its current value.
As far as states are concerned, u do not need to set a trigger for default states like selected, visited, hover and down, but some built in states do need a trigger like hidden, disabled etc. (unless u have set them as initial state).
If u are having a certain issue, I would recommend u to upload ur story file and describe what u want to do and highlight the areas where u r facing difficulty.
Best of luck!
Hassan and Antony,
I will certainly recheck my sample and upload it for review. The variable change from false to true is happening on slide 2 and the trigger to change the state of the icon is happening on slide 1.
All:
Here is the sample storyline file.
I set things up so there are two different attempts to trigger a state change that I implemented.
If you click on Topic 2, then click on the button to go to Topic 1 then click on the button to go back to the Nav Menu, you can see what I mean. The trigger for Topic 2 works fine.
No matter how many times you visit the Topic 1 page, the state for the Topic 1 icon never changes.
Hey Pedro!
I have done some alternations on slide one and the file is working fine now. What mistake u are making is that u have set the trigger to jump to next slide at rectangle instead of picture, whereas, u wanted to change the states of the pics...not rectangles....now as the pics have already built in state of visited, so i have removed both of the change state triggers as well.
C the file attached for a better understanding.
Best of luck!
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