Forum Discussion
hashed filenames in published output
Problem: when storyline files are published, media filenames are replaced with hashed filenames in the published output (a 11-character series of apparently random alphanumerics). We have a search to...
if you are really precise, the filename is not a hash - it is independent of the content.
It is generated when the medium is imported - a GUID-4 is generated, e.g.
- "06a3dc93-48e9-4ac5-97d2-cec1cd3df540"
- the guid is then split into its 5 blocks
- the last two blocks are removed
- the first three are put together backwards
- the whole thing is now converted to base62
- at the end, an “R” is added in front and the appropriate file extension is added
- result: "R5wlhTmswUhH.png"
if you now parse “story/story.xml” in the .story file, you can find out the mapping between the original file name and the generated file name
- "06a3dc93-48e9-4ac5-97d2-cec1cd3df540"
I made a tool that automagically creates a base course from Googlesheets, PSDs, Illustrator files and/or images. This works perfect for quite some authoring tools ( Lectora and Captivate ), however due to Storyline's closed environment where each asset gets hashed it is almost impossible to get working. When you change the .story of a Storyline file to .zip, you can unzip it and check/search the content. However its hashed/confuscated the moment you import it into Storyline. Would be great if Articulate opens this up somewhat more for developers. Maybe the upcoming Javascript API gives better access.
if you are really precise, the filename is not a hash - it is independent of the content.
It is generated when the medium is imported - a GUID-4 is generated, e.g.
- "06a3dc93-48e9-4ac5-97d2-cec1cd3df540"
- the guid is then split into its 5 blocks
- the last two blocks are removed
- the first three are put together backwards
- the whole thing is now converted to base62
- at the end, an “R” is added in front and the appropriate file extension is added
- result: "R5wlhTmswUhH.png"
if you now parse “story/story.xml” in the .story file, you can find out the mapping between the original file name and the generated file name
Thats nice Jurgen. So with this logic you could regenerate the filename and thus generate a working .story from other tools... im really gonna see if i can get this working in my setup.
Works just as you described Jürgen, except that my media files don't have an 'R' appended to the beginning; just the base62 conversion of the reversed GUID fragment. Thanks!
