I thought I would start a thread about Cornerstone on Demand so there's a central place for people to read and add to. There seems to be a dearth of information about how CSOD and Storyline interact with each other as well as the unresolved issues surrounding it. I've spent many hours scouring the web and speaking with Cornerstone trying to find a solution. Hopefully this thread will serve as a resource for others going forward. On a side note, I love Articulate Storyline. I started with Adobe Captivate with limited success. It was a very steep learning curve, but I was able to get some basic functionality out of it. I tested out Storyline with it's 30 day trial, and I will say that time-to-effectiveness was drastically reduced. It really IS like using powerpoint. Granted there is less complex functionality and interactions available than Captivate, but so far it's given me everything I've needed to use. The benefit is that the learning curve is much less steep too. Think of it as the difference between iMovie and Final Cut Pro. The latter can do some crazy effects, but the former gives you 90% of what you need and can get you comfortable in 1/4 of the time. It's nice to have a properly-working content creation tool when you're in an LMS like Cornerstone. I have enough trouble in CSOD as it is. So some of the nuggets of wisdom that I've found are : Cornerstone does not track SCORM 1.2 content properly. You cannot pull a lot of the reports if they are not in SCORM 2004 format. You don't have the option to select that course in the reports. If you export into SCORM 2004, there will be an extra section on the left with text links to the module. This takes up 30% of the screen, and on smaller laptop screens may crowd out the module window. Cornerstone says this is a Storyline exporting settings issue. I couldn't find any settings that shows/hides that section. The workaround is to resize the module to the screen, which doesn't get rid of the section, but at least fits the module. When reporting, you can get the completion status for a course based on quiz result or last slide viewed. You can also get a final grade for course. Storyline passes the results information for each question (including short answer) but you cannot pull a list of the answers for an individual. Therefore, it may not be advisable to administer any testing where you'll need to review individual answers You can get a list of aggregate answers for a module. e.g. I can see how 100 employees answered this multiple choice question. This is helpful to determine if learners are absorbing the course information correctly. Web objects (such as websites, or links to sharepoint documents) work in modules if your IT has added csod.com to the trusted sites Popup windows that open up the articulate module in CSOD will work if you add csod.com to the allowed list for popup blockers. Your IT dept can also add this to everyone's computer. Otherwise when learners click the "launch" button, the module does not show up. I'll post more as I think or find them, but feel free to add to this list!

SCORM Cloud (scorm.com) is a great way to test out if your Articulate courses are working properly. I used this to confirm things that Cornerstone is telling me about whether issues are with my export settings or on their side. It could also be a way to host your files with better functionality and reporting capabilities by bypassing what Cornerstone uses by using their "dispatch" feature. Of course Articulate Online is probably the best way way to track, though I haven't tried their services yet.

SCORM versions with CORNERSTONE Hi all, our LMS administrator found a really helpful tool once CSOD upgraded allowing Storyline and SCORM 2004 compatibility. I believe the source is actually another LMS vendor but the results have been the same for us with CSOD. I've attached both the link and white paper pdf. In summary, they created some fantastic charts that shows the results of all SCORM publish variations. It helped us significantly when one of our training groups wanted to publish in SCORM 2004 in order to report on question level data versus the overall score and completion status we've been getting with SCORM 1.2. The settings we had been using didn't work with 2004 so this tool was invaluable to us. SCORM Publish Settings in Articulate Studio and Storyline Products

I am developing an SL360 course that our largest client needs to launch on Cornerstone. We are experiencing the common "black box" that many have described. Naturally, it's very time sensitive. I have to say that I was both relieved and horrified to find a 24 PAGE thread on Storyline and Cornerstone. YIKES! So, I have been reading through this thread and taking notes for the last 2 hours. I have compiled a list of all the things we need to do to make sure our SL360 course will work on CSOD. Please read through this and let me know if I have either missed something or gotten something wrong. Hopefully, this summary will come in handy for folks who are just beginning the SL3/CSOD journey. Here you go . . . Storyline/Cornerstone Compatibility Settings Storyline settings: · Browser size: Display at user's current browser · Player size: Scale player to fill browser · Do not check "Launch player in new window" · On restart: "When running in LMS, ignore Flash cookie" · Report status to LMS as: Completed/Incomplete · Publish as HTML5 w/ Flash Back-up (Remember, Flash is going away!) · Publish as SCORM 2004 (3rd. Ed) CSOD Settings · In the General tab of the catalog properties page make sure compatibility is turned off. (i.e., change CSOD Compatibility Mode setting to “none”) · Have CSOD turn off the table of contents for SCORM 2004 (i.e., Ask Cornerstone support to set Scorm2004TocMenuset to false.) · When updating a course, if changes are substantive at all, “Inactivate” any old courses and “Create/Publish” new course in CSOD Client's server environment: · Make sure csod.com is on client’s list of trusted sites Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Another helpful tip, at least for me - When publishing, I set my player settings using the Other Tab to Browser Size - Resize browser size to fill screen Player size - Scale Player to fill browser screen Check Launch player in new window Check Display Window with no browser controls Check Allow user to resize browser On my laptop screen, I ALWAYS have to resize the window, and/or fullscreen it as Cornerstone defaults the browser popup size to an odd size that's only about 1/2 the screen width. So at least this way, when I click the Launch button, the resulting browser window will fullscreen automatically.

Hi, I have several answers for you. We've been on Cornerstone for years and I've helped to implement it in various divisions of our org. Chris and Amy - you are correct that you can't delete, but that is good. We've had to find old courses and versions for audit purposes. If you delete the courses, you have nothing to show as to what occurred / was trained to - really important for Compliance courses. Rene - yes. I love it. I've worked with some others, each has their benefits and weak sides. It really depends on what your primary need is. I recommend getting a demo from each of your top runners. Carolyn - you have the option of using deep-linking - this is a new feature. Another option, which I use all the time is the "Curriculum". It allows you to group multiple learning objects together. You can even tell the system which one must be completed first, second etc.... Dawn - yes, When you proxy enroll, you have the option of selecting if the content should be pushed to users that already have it on their transcript. Bathre - if the changes that you have made are significant (ie, a new slide added) not just a minor update like a change of a picture or wording, you must inactivate the old published version and upload a new one. If you try to overwrite it, it will be all jumbled up. So, inactivate and then "create / publish" a new file and you're good to go. Everyone - no I don't work for CSOD, I've just been burdened with other LMS' in my career and love what this one can do in comparison.

Everything we know about Cornerstone on Demand and Storyline!

SteveFlowers
Community Member
7 years ago
Hey, Chris -

Here's the complete API reference for SCORM 2004. The second link is a printable poster:

https://scorm.com/scorm-explained/technical-scorm/run-time/run-time-reference/
https://scorm.com/scorm-explained/scorm-resources/reference-poster/

One of the easier ways to see what's going on is to register for a SCORM Cloud account at http://cloud.scorm.com

Using this tool, you can see the log of all of the API calls made in a Storyline module. It's one of the best ways that I have found to troubleshoot a module. I've pasted an example of a debug log below. Here you see:

Initialization of the API. In CSOD, when you click launch, the window changes state to loading. Then a new window is launched with your content. This window uses a unique identifier for the learning object and the user to tell the API where in the database to look for the user's information and where to put it.

The first thing Storyline does is get the lesson_mode. This will almost always return as normal. I have seen where some cases returned review but only in older versions of Moodle. This tells the course how to run (browse, normal, or review). I don't think storyline will set anything but normal but I could be wrong.

Then Storyline requests the lesson_status. Lesson status is how the LMS knows you're done or not. In a new launch, you'll probably see 'not attempted'. If SL receives not attempted, it will respond to the LMS to set it to 'incomplete'. In CSOD, this is translated to In Progress.

I expanded the line below at 05:32:772 to show what the SCORM Cloud is doing in response to a request.

The line you see for LMSGetValue('cmi.core.student_name') isn't something that Storyline requests. I added that in a Javascript trigger. I used that information to display the name of the participant in a text field and also to generate an xAPI agent (another complicated explanation) to report data to an LRS in addition to the LMS and enable a 'trainer's gradebook' of simulation actions that we could not provide in CSOD.

This module is set to not retain progress and start fresh with every launch. So you're not seeing any suspend_data calls. After each slide change, you should see an LMSSetValue('cmi.suspend_data') call. This sends the "LMS Cookie" to the LMS so when you resume the SL runtime knows how to suss it out.

When the learner has met the conditions for completion (Quiz result, slide count, completion trigger), the score and lesson status are sent from the SL file.
+ [00:05:47.364] LMSSetValue('cmi.core.score.raw', '100') returned 'true' in 0.001 seconds

+ [00:05:47.365] LMSSetValue('cmi.core.score.max', '100') returned 'true' in 0 seconds

+ [00:05:47.365] LMSSetValue('cmi.core.score.min', '0') returned 'true' in 0 seconds

+ [00:05:47.365] LMSSetValue('cmi.core.lesson_status', 'completed') returned 'true' in 0.001

And finally, when you exit the module, the session_time is recorded with a call from SL to set that value, the exit state is set to "suspend", LMSCommit is called, as is LMSFinish. This cleans everything up, ensures the right values are sent to the LMS, and closes out the API connection. You can't send anything else after LMSFinish (LMS dependent) until you again initialize the API.

[23:52:10.198] LMSCommit('') returned 'true' in 0 seconds
[23:52:10.198] Checking for Commit Error
[23:52:10.198] Call is error free.
- [23:52:10.198] LMSFinish('')
[23:52:10.198] Checking for Finish Error
[23:52:10.198] Call is error free.
[23:52:10.198] Close Out Session
[23:52:10.198] Mode = normal
[23:52:10.198] Credit = credit
[23:52:10.198] CompletionStatus = completed
[23:52:10.198] SuccessStatus = unknown
[23:52:10.198] MasteryScore = null
[23:52:10.198] Score = 100
[23:52:10.198] Sco was taken for credit
[23:52:10.198] Sco is completed so resetting credit to no-credit and mode to review
[23:52:10.198] Next entry is normal
[23:52:10.199] Session Time: PT12M43.35S (76335 hundredths)
[23:52:10.199] Previous Time: PT0H0M0S (0 hundredths)
[23:52:10.199] New Total Time: PT12M43.35S (76335 hundredths)
[23:52:10.199] New Tracked Total Time: PT12M45.98S

Example log from SCORM Cloud

[00:05:29.786] Beginning prerequisites evaluation of activity loan_01
[00:05:29.786] Beginning prerequisites evaluation of activity loan_01
[00:05:29.786] Beginning prerequisites evaluation of activity loan_01_SCO
+ [00:05:32.771] LMSInitialize('') returned 'true' in 0 seconds
+ [00:05:32.771] LMSGetValue('cmi.core.lesson_mode') returned 'normal' in 0 seconds
[00:05:32.771] LMSGetLastError() returned '0' in 0 seconds
+ [00:05:32.771] LMSGetValue('cmi.core.lesson_mode') returned 'normal' in 0.001 seconds
[00:05:32.772] LMSGetLastError() returned '0' in 0 seconds
+ [00:05:32.772] LMSGetValue('cmi.core.lesson_status') returned 'not attempted' in 0 seconds
[00:05:32.772] LMSGetLastError() returned '0' in 0 seconds
- [00:05:32.772] LMSSetValue('cmi.core.lesson_status', 'incomplete') returned 'true' in 0.002 seconds
[00:05:32.773] CheckForSetValueError (cmi.core.lesson_status, incomplete, cmi.core.lesson_status, , )
[00:05:32.773] Element is: lesson_status
[00:05:32.773] Call is error free.
[00:05:32.774] StoreValue (cmi.core.lesson_status, incomplete, cmi.core.lesson_status, , )
[00:05:32.774] Element is: lesson_status
[00:05:32.774] StatusSetInCurrentSession = false, CompletionStatus=unknown
[00:05:32.774] Allowing status change
[00:05:32.774] RunTimeApi_ImmediateRollup called
[00:05:32.774] Transferring RTE data to Activity data
[00:05:32.774] Rolling up activity data
- [00:05:32.774] LMSSetValue('cmi.core.exit', 'suspend') returned 'true' in 0 seconds
[00:05:32.774] CheckForSetValueError (cmi.core.exit, suspend, cmi.core.exit, , )
[00:05:32.774] Element is: exit
[00:05:32.774] Call is error free.
[00:05:32.774] StoreValue (cmi.core.exit, suspend, cmi.core.exit, , )
[00:05:32.774] Element is: exit
- [00:05:32.903] LMSGetValue('cmi.core.student_name') returned 'Flowers, Steve' in 0 seconds
[00:05:32.903] CheckForGetValueError (cmi.core.student_name, cmi.core.student_name, , )
[00:05:32.903] Call is error free.
[00:05:32.903] RetrieveGetValueData (cmi.core.student_name, cmi.core.student_name, , )
[00:05:32.903] Element is: student name
[00:05:32.903] LMSGetLastError() returned '0' in 0 seconds
+ [00:05:32.903] LMSGetValue('cmi.core.student_name') returned 'Flowers, Steve' in 0 seconds
[00:05:32.903] LMSGetLastError() returned '0' in 0 seconds
[00:05:32.925] Beginning prerequisites evaluation of activity loan_01
[00:05:32.925] Beginning prerequisites evaluation of activity loan_01
[00:05:32.925] Beginning prerequisites evaluation of activity loan_01_SCO
+ [00:05:36.152] LMSGetValue('cmi.core.student_name') returned 'Flowers, Steve' in 0 seconds
[00:05:36.152] LMSGetLastError() returned '0' in 0 seconds
+ [00:05:36.152] LMSGetValue('cmi.core.student_name') returned 'Flowers, Steve' in 0 seconds
[00:05:36.152] LMSGetLastError() returned '0' in 0 seconds
+ [00:05:47.364] LMSSetValue('cmi.core.score.raw', '100') returned 'true' in 0.001 seconds
+ [00:05:47.365] LMSSetValue('cmi.core.score.max', '100') returned 'true' in 0 seconds
+ [00:05:47.365] LMSSetValue('cmi.core.score.min', '0') returned 'true' in 0 seconds
+ [00:05:47.365] LMSSetValue('cmi.core.lesson_status', 'completed') returned 'true' in 0.001 seconds
[00:05:47.516] Beginning prerequisites evaluation of activity loan_01
[00:05:47.516] Beginning prerequisites evaluation of activity loan_01
[00:05:47.516] Beginning prerequisites evaluation of activity loan_01_SCO
[00:05:47.668] Beginning prerequisites evaluation of activity loan_01
[00:05:47.668] Beginning prerequisites evaluation of activity loan_01
[00:05:47.668] Beginning prerequisites evaluation of activity loan_01_SCO
+ [00:06:00.778] LMSSetValue('cmi.core.session_time', '0000:00:28.0') returned 'true' in 0.001 seconds
+ [00:06:00.779] LMSSetValue('cmi.core.exit', 'suspend') returned 'true' in 0 seconds
+ [00:06:00.779] LMSCommit('') returned 'true' in 0 seconds
+ [00:06:00.779] LMSFinish('') returned 'true' in 0.001 seconds
+ [00:06:00.780] Pre-evaluation of exit action
+ [00:06:01.231] OverallSequencingProcess for SCORM 1.1 / SCORM 1.2 returned '' in 0.632 seconds
+ [00:06:01.912] OverallSequencingProcess for SCORM 1.1 / SCORM 1.2
ChrisUndery-aea
Community Member
7 years ago
Thanks Steve, lots for me to read through. If we allow a learner to take a quiz twice, do you know if there is a way to get CSOD to record both attempts along with all question attempts as I believe the SCO overwrites the records in the LMS as standard?
SteveFlowers
Community Member
7 years ago
All of the question attempts will be recorded.There is only one score and status field.
SteveFlowers
Community Member
7 years ago
There is a quiz attempt field in the custom transcript reports field list under SCORM 2004 Quiz Data but I've never seen it filled with anything other than blank or 1.
ChrisUndery-aea
Community Member
7 years ago
So if I've set a course to always restart from where the learner left off (in player) and set the max number of attempts at the quiz to 2 (disable retry quiz button after 2nd attempt) then are you saying every occurence of a question being attempted is being sent to CSOD so I should be able to create a report with trustable question level data? Just want to check your understsanding so I can run some more detailed tests. We want to start using question level data from elearning but need to be able to trust the data from CSOD.

CSOD told me this:

Setting cmi.exit to “suspend” will ensure that the current attempt is preserved and the run-time data is not reset the next time the SCO is launched. What this means is that when the user finishes the quiz, it suspends their attempt and resets them back to the beginning of the quiz without having them "exit" the course. This means that every attempt of the quiz is being recorded as one attempt as you are asking the course to re-route the user back to the beginning without exiting the course.

Instead, setting cmi.exit="normal" will indicate that the LMS should begin a new attempt with a new set of run-time data on the next launch of the SCO. This should then allow the quiz data to log each attempt.

PS. I have no idea how to change the setting of cmi.exit
- SteveFlowers
  Community Member
  7 years ago
  In my experience, each question attempt is recorded as a separate record in the database. As for changing the cmi.exit value, I think you would need to modify the javascript files generated in the output of your SCO. The only behavior I've seen is suspend.
ChrisUndery-aea
Community Member
7 years ago
Thanks Steve. Nothing is ever simple :)
- chrisboucher-d9
  Community Member
  7 years ago
  Hi Chris, I just came across this thread and read it with interest as I am considering something similar. I'm curious, did you have any success getting CSOD to log each attempt and finding a way to view it?
  
  Thank you,
  
  Chris
  - ChrisUndery-aea
    Community Member
    7 years ago
    Hi Chris (great name), I'm still testing this but it is proving far harder than I thought it would be. I've currently got a case open with Articulate as I want to check that they are happy it is sending what it needs to CSOD (to track all quiz and question attempts) so that I can then raise with CSOD if I can't get the reports to show accurate data.
    
    We publish SCORM 2004 3rd edition Incomplete/complete but I think I'm also going to have a go at testing whether SCORM 2004 4th edition or Tin Can has any impact on what CSOD reports.
    
    I've probably spent over 10 working days testing this so far and so far cannot trust the reports that I am pulling out of CSOD. I tracked (spreadsheet) and recorded exactly what questions were answered by whom, when and how often and then looked at various custom reports in CSOD and once you go past one attempt at a quiz it seems to start reporting odd things (& not even consistent.)
    
    It seems unbelievable to me that a simple thing (record all question attempts and answers etc) would be so difficult to achieve and I keep thinking I'm missing something but I don't think I am.
    
    I want to be able to utilise Storyline for testing in my organisation but I can't if I can't trust the reports. If I want antyhing more than they have passed or failed I can't trust it.
    
    I'll update this thread as and when I get final answers.
ReynaMunves-f64
Community Member
7 years ago
Can you run the same reports in CSOD using SCORM 1.2 as you can with SCORM 2004?
- ChrisUndery-aea
  Community Member
  7 years ago
  I think you need to be publishing as SCORM 2004 for question level data to be sent to CSOD.
JoyEliot-6357f1
Community Member
7 years ago
Recently, Cornerstone started giving a lot of baffling alphanumeric error codes with attempted SCORM 1.2 uploads of Articulate files. This happened all weekend. Did anyone else experience this? Any idea what the cause was?
DariusDela-Cruz
Community Member
7 years ago
is there a difference between Cornerstone on Demand and Cornerstone for Salesforce? Are they the same product or is there something different between them?
mkudrna
Community Member
7 years ago
With the new modern player what browser settings are you using? I chose Launch player in new window, display window with no browser controls, allow user to resize browser. As the first option indicates, it creates an odd launch page. I don't love that experience and also received error with reference to API a couples of time. I am no longer getting that error so I am not able to share exactly what it says. I do have a modify content in progress unchecking Launch player in new window to see what that experience is like.
- Will_Findlay
  Community Member
  7 years ago
  I don't use "Launch player in new window" unless there is a video embedded within the module (like a YouTube video) that I really want someone to be able to toggle to view full screen.
  - mkudrna
    Community Member
    7 years ago
    Okay thank you!