Using Text Entry Variables for Interactive Graphs

Hi Andrea,

If you want to create a bar chart natively in Storyline (without JavaScript or a web object), there are a couple of ways you might accomplish this.

1. The laborious method is to determine the maximum value the chart might have (whether it be 10, 24, 100 or whatever) and make a rectangle with the equivalent number of states, where the image of each state is incrementally taller. So, for example, if you wanted the maximum height of the bar to be 384 pixels and the maximum value is 24, you could make the first state of the rectangle 16 pixels tall, the second 32 pixels tall, and so on through 24 states. Whatever value the user enters, just display the corresponding state.

2. Ultimately, a quicker way might be to use a vertically oriented slider. Set your minimum and maximum values, make the track transparent, fill the thumb with a solid color and stretch it so it's the maximum height you want, and place a "mask" to hide the bottom of the thumb from the bottom of the chart to the bottom of the slide. Set the slider variable to the value the user enters and it will appear at that height on the chart. Be sure to place a 99% transparent shape (no border) over the slider so users can't drag it. You could even get fancy by using a couple triggers and layers to quickly and smoothly animate the bar into position.

Hope that gives you some ideas.