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Shared actions in Adobe Captivate Classic projects

Last updated on Oct 27, 2023 | Also applies to Captivate

If you have Advanced Actions to be applied to similar scenarios within a project or across projects, you can save the script as a template, and reuse them wherever required.

Drag-and-drop Shared Actions from Library on to Objects. Now, you can parameterize variables. You can use variables as parameters and set different values while creating the project. Associate actions to different interactive triggers (Success and OnEnter of objects and Slides).

Note: You can open Adobe Captivate Classic 7 projects in Adobe Captivate Classic 8, and share the Advanced Actions that you have used in those projects.

Share actions

Open the Advanced Actions dialog box (Project > Advanced Actions), open the action you want to share, and click Save As Shared Action.
In the Save As Shared Action dialog box, specify a name for the shared action, and type a description that describes the action, for example, the purpose of the action.
Type a description for each of the parameters used in the action. Generalize the description based on the scenario in which you are likely to use them. These descriptions are made available for you to select when you reuse the action.

The shared action becomes available in the Advanced Actions dialog box and as a resource in the Adobe Captivate Classic library. Now your action is ready to be shared within a project or across different projects.

Best practices

Insert all the required slides and objects in the project, and then share actions.
Provide appropriate description for the shared action and parameters to help you easily identify them when you want to reuse.
Object groups can be used as parameters in shared actions. By doing so, you save both time and effort.
Do not use custom effects in shared actions.
Do not use placeholders as parameters in shared actions.

Using shared actions within a project

Open the Advanced Actions dialog box (Project > Advanced Actions), and click a shared action from Create From list. The actions from the shared action are reflected in the dialog box.

For information on how to share actions, see Share actions.

The Advanced Actions dialog box
Do one or all of the following:
- Click the required objects from the drop-down lists.
- Add or delete actions as required.
Click Save Action to save the advanced action. If you have made many changes, and want to reuse the modified action, click Save As Shared Action.

Using shared actions across projects

You can reuse shared actions across projects in any of the following ways:

Export and import the shared action from the Advanced Actions dialog box or from the Library. For details, see Export and import shared actions.
Copy and paste the shared action into the target project(s). For details, see Copy shared actions.
Drag-and-drop the shared action by opening the source project Library from the target project's Library (Open Library option). For details, see Drag-and-drop shared actions from an external Library.

Export and import shared actions

Export the required shared action as a .cpaa file and save it on your computer using one of the following methods:
- In the Advanced Actions dialog box, click the shared action from the Create From list, and click Export ().
- Click the shared action in Adobe Captivate Classic Library, and click Export ().
Browse to specify the location for the .cpaa file, and click Export.
Import the .cpaa file into the required project using one of the following methods:
- In the Advanced Actions dialog box, click Import ().
- Click Import () in Adobe Captivate Classic Library.
Assign the shared action to the required objects:
1. Click the object on stage and click Execute Shared Actions from the On Success list in the Property Inspector (Action accordion).
2. Click the action from the Shared Action list, and click to edit the parameters.
3. From the drop-down lists in the Parameter Value column, click the appropriate options for the corresponding Parameter Description.
Note: If the parent Advanced Action involves creating a variable, the variable is automatically created in the target project too.

Executing shared actions

Parameter descriptions and values of the shared action

Parameterize variables and literals

Now, you can apply parameters to variables and literals and add different values at runtime. You can also choose which objects and variables can be parameters.

From Advanced Actions panel, choose any variable (such as Assign Action) and set value as variable and literals
Click Save as Shared Action button.
In the pop-up window, you can see both the variable and literals being listed as Parameters.
You can save the shared action.
When you execute this shared action on any object, you can set new parameter values for the object.

For information on how to create Shared Actions, see Share Actions

Copy shared actions

To copy, select the slide containing the object executing the shared action and also the other objects that are used as parameters in the shared action. For example, consider that the shared action 'CommonAction' shows the text caption 'Welcome' and is assigned to a button 'Enter'. Ensure that you copy the text caption along with the button and then paste them into the target project.

Drag-and-drop from an external project Library

Click the Open Library icon in the Library of the source project. Browse and select the project from which you want to import the shared action. The external Library opens in a separate window. Drag-and-drop the shared action into the Library of the source project.

Drag-and-Drop Shared Actions on to Objects

Create an advanced action and save as Shared action item.
Click Libraries icon, available next to Properties icon.
By default, Libraries icon does not appear. Click Windows > Libraries to view.
Create an object in the slide.
Click the shared action from the Library and drag on to the object as shown in the screenshot below.
The Shared Action is applied on the object.

Dragging and dropping shared actions on to objects

Duplicate, Rename, and Delete shared actions

To duplicate, right-click the shared action in Adobe Captivate Classic Library, and click Duplicate.

To rename, right-click the shared action in Adobe Captivate Classic Library, and click Rename.

To delete, right-click the shared action in Adobe Captivate Classic Library, and click Delete.

View Usage details of Shared Actions

Click the shared action in Adobe Captivate Classic Library, and click the Usage icon. Adobe Captivate Classic lists the scenarios in which the shared action is triggered.

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