Authorware Tips, Samples, Help, FAQ, Downloads, Products, Books, and MORE!
 
A'ware Samples
Find here various tips for creating Adobe Authorware applications. From traditional CD computer-based training (CBT) to web-based training (WBT), the below tips will hopefully help you in creating effective programs with a little less frustration. If the samples on this site don't meet your needs, click the Other Sites link for more helpful Authorware websites!
 

Mac Packager ZIPPED not Stuffed - A'ware Support Center - Web Player 2004 notes
 

eLearning Chef

 


Sending E-mail
Several methods for sending email from Authorware are described on the Tomorrows-key website (see Links page). But here's a freebie method using IE, javascript, and mailto: for users who already have email accounts setup on their machines.
Contains a simple HTML file. For CBT or WBT.

Find Client IP Address
Determining the IP address of the computer running your Authorware application could be very useful for tracking users and/or access. This solution requires access to a webserver running a free Java applet. The applet detects the client-side address so this approach will likely report an internal, private IP as opposed to the 'live' IP in most situations. For CBT; WBT may require customizing. Sample in v6.5.

Detect Adobe Acrobat Reader (or QuickTime)
Use Authorware's included 'ActiveXControlQuery' function, or BudAP, to detect the Acrobat's CLSID in the system registry to determine if the Reader is installed on the client's system. The same methods can be used to detect a QuickTime installation. For CBT or WBT. Sample in v6.
Update: With each new release of Acrobat, detecting and working with the Reader activeX control becomes more and more problematic. While this tip is good for environments with older versions of Acrobat installed, we now prefer to convert such documents to FlashPaper for easier implementation through the Flash asset.

Integrate PDFs into Authorware
With the hassles of working with the Acrobat Reader control (see above), Stefan Van As created a .u32 to assist with showing PDF files with Authorware. This .u32 only supports a few functions but is certainly more reliable than depending on the Reader ActiveX control itself.
Sample in v7 + 'PDfix.u32'. Tested with Reader 6 and 7.

Detect System Screen Resolution
Use Authorware's included 'ScreenWidth' function to detect the user's screen size. If not the preferred size, inform how to open the display control panel, or open that control panel directly from the onscreen message. For CBT or WBT. Opening control panel requires WinAPI.u32. Control panel code from Apurva. Sample in v5.2.

Change System Screen Resolution
Changing the user's screen resolution is generally not recommended. One common reason is how changing the resolution often results in jumbled desktop icons - which can be very annoying to the user. Mark Tomlinson has provided this .u32 which not only will change the desktop screen size (to supported resolutions) but will also restore the desktop icon locations! No sample included. Only tested for Windows NT, 2000, and XP.
Note: There is no expressed or implied warranty in using this .u32. Use at your own risk.

Detect Length of Screen Text
Determine the length of a text string in pixels with this .u32 generously provided by Chris Forecast.

Windows Media Player (WMP) ActiveX Control
Playing movie in Authorware can be easy or difficult. If you're having trouble getting a movie to play, try embedding the WMP aX control. This sample details a large number of properties and features. For CBT or WBT. Dload the referenced movie (edison.avi - 2.7mb). Sample in v6.
Update: As with Acrobat, with each new release of WMP, working with the activeX control has become more difficult. This sample might continue to work if you reuse the sprite in this file (as it might be hard-linked to the old 6.0 activeX control) but no guarantees. Authorware 7 will now use the WMP engine if the referenced movie has a .wmp extension. Try that if you're having problems with your movies playing well through either the movie icon or the WMP control.
Update: Steve Gannon has a sample for WMP 9 and 10 on his site!

Draw Line While Dragging
Ever need to follow an image the user drags with a line - dynamically? This small sample shows how to follow an image using the Line() function. For CBT or WBT. Sample in v6.

Drag an Image with the Right Mouse Button
Dragging an image with the left mouse button is easy, but dragging with the right button - not so much. Here's a basic example. The Overlapping and/or PointInRect functions could be added to simulate a drag'n'drop exercise. For CBT or WBT. Sample in v6.5.

MojoWinViz
MojoMole's MojoWinViz.u32 offers a neat way to customize the presentation window to be non-rectangular. Here's a demo of some possibilities. For CBT or WBT. Sample in v5.

Buddy Menu with PDFs
Gary Smith's BudMenu.u32 is a great way to simulate drop-down menus, but can be difficult to understand. Here's a sample ripped from a former project which uses such menus to load PDFs. For CBT or WBT. Sample in v5.

FTP in Authorware
Authorware's FTP.u32 provides all the functionality you need to implement true FTP functions within A'ware - but it's not the easiest thing to do. Download this excellent demo for a thorough implementation example. For CBT or WBT. From an original A'ware ShowMe. Sample in v6.
Update: FTP functions through Authorware seem to fail if a proxy server is involved.

DibAPI - Docs
To manage and manipulate images beyond what Authorware offers, DibAPI.u32 is the way to go. This .u32 allows operations such as copying an image to the system clipboard, like a screenshot. Few reported problems with WinXP. For CBT or WBT. Not sure of origination.
Update: Several users have reported excellent results using this .u32 as an alternative to using Authorware's lame PrintScreen function - though it is a bit more complicated. The Docs definitely help!

Dynamic Images
Linking to external media resources is one of Authorware's strengths. Keeping media, such as images, outside the A'ware application can result in a much more manageble product. This example illustrates how to link to external media in a 'slide show' manner where the same structure can show different images, based of variable values. For CBT or WBT. Sample in v6.

IE Web Player
There have been a few reported problems with installing the Authorware Web Player for IE, perhaps having to do with Adobe's site response. Until Adobe asks to not do this, click the above link for an alternative download. No guarantees this will work! But it's something else to try.
 

This site is a member of the Authorware WebRing.
To browse visit Here.