A few days ago, I was browsing the Captivate forums to see if I could give a helping hand to someone. I then stumbled on this post. The originator of the post was trying to create a widget that would extend the Likert question type. He was looking for the question header text but this information was not readily available. In order to tackle this task, he used class reflection and object introspection. This can be a very lengthy process when you don’t have the proper tools to help you out.

This need is actually quite common when you try to extend functionality of a Flash application. There’s a great tool out there that was created a few years ago and that perfectly fits that need. It is called De MonsterDebugger. It allows you to easily scan an object’s display hierarchy and to trace the object’s inner properties. You can even modify properties on the fly without recompiling the Flash application! The only part missing for us is to use it to explore presentations created from Captivate.

So, I would like to introduce you to my newest widget: the Cp X-ray Widget.  The widget, once inserted in your Captivate presentation, will enable you to discover and trace the presentation content with the assistance of De MonsterDebugger. You can find the widget (Cp5 only) on my Widget Page or download it below. You can also consult this page for a brief overview of how to use it.

Have fun!

In the last few days, I got at least two persons asking if the Interactive Label Widget was Cp5 compatible. It wasn’t until now. I finally found some time this week-end to port the widget to the Cp5 platform. At first, I thought it would be a simple thing to do but it took me several hours after all. I had to implement the new Captivate Widget API so I could properly set the size of the window allowing the user to configure the widget. I also had to rewrite some logic that was using the slideHandle variable. The slideHandle variable used to provide a direct access to the slide containing the widget but Adobe decided to remove that capability in Cp5. Finally, I discovered that Captivate is wrapping the widget in more containers than in Cp4.

Anyway, the widget is now available for both the Cp4 and Cp5 platforms. Those who bought the widget are entitled to a free upgrade and should already have received an e-mail about this. If you bought the widget and have not received the e-mail, please contact us.

I just saw that Michael at www.cpguru.com has just released a post on the new widgets and the widget API. He did a nice presentation highlighting some of the new stock widgets that Cp5 will be offering. I will try to complement his post with some information I learned from my short exposure with the Widgets.

Development Language – AS3

As Michael pointed out, Widgets in Cp5 must be written in AS3. This might be a relief for some developers (including me ) since they will not be asking themselves in which language they should develop their widgets. The downside is that by offering only AS3, some customers might be left alone with their legacy AS2 widgets and don’t have the means to convert all their old AS2 widgets to AS3. However, AS3 has been around for about 4 years now and Adobe had to make a move away from AS2 at some point. Lets just hope that this will not prevent people from moving to Cp5.

Backward Compatibility – Some Issues

Cp5 has been careful in trying to offer backward compatibility for Cp4 widgets. All the functions that were available in Cp4 are there in Cp5. However, there is one major difference that may cause your widgets (more…)

Wow, I’m really excited! I was invited to be part of the prerelease team for Captivate 5! I also just learned that the code name for it was … Hulk. Nice touch

Keep an eye on my blog since I will be posting some information about the new Widget API in the following days if not hours …