Upload and access files in Engage 09 and Storyline

Jul 05, 2013

I decided to use an Engage interaction as a resource library for PDF-files and web links and to use the Resources feature of the SL Player for uploading the files into the SL file structure (/story_content/external_files). As I learned with Studio09 it is possible to access the individual file by defining a relative link (i.e. data/downloads/example.pdf) as a hyperlink in Engage09.

Well, it didn't work, here is why:

a) Resource feature of the SL Player puts files into \story_content\external_files folder ONLY if check-marked activ. Which means it shows the tab and is selectable and I didn;t want that.

b) Enage 09 acts as WebObject and has its own root directory; the Studio09 syntax will not do it.

Here is the solution I figured out:

  1. In the slide which is hosting Engage: create shape(s) offstage (one shape for each file), trigger 'when user click' (-will never happen, of course-), and use 'Jump to URL/file' to point to the file which needs to be uploaded. SL will prep it into /story_content/external_files.
  2. In Engage define the relative link considering the file structure as it appears after the course is published. Since the Engage root is two levels "higher" it is necessary to adjust the relative link to jump back or to go two levels lower to reach /story_content/external_files. The correct syntax would be  ../../external_files/example.pdf . One "../" stands for one jump back.

Anybody out there who was running into the same issue and found a better/different solution?

To the Articulate team: I recommend to allow the Resources feature in SL Player to upload files EVEN it is not check-marked and to act like Studio09 file Attachments feature. That way offstage shapes could be avoided.

2 Replies
Dennis Hall

Hi Reinhard:

My favourite solution is to create a separate scene and one slide inside it to use as my resources page. I do this because WebObjects are: 1. ALWAYS the highest layer and cannot have anything in front of them. 2. Will not resize when you zoom your browser in or out. 3. Not as flexible or integrated as Storyline pages.

One I make my page, I create a custom menu item in the player (while deselecting the existing resources checkbox. and display that page in a light-box slide.

Best Regards,

Dennis Hall

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