Timing out on a page
October 8, 2008 12:00 AM
If you want to duplicate a timeout based on the last activity the learner did, then there is a more complicated version. Whether this is a better route or not depends on how much work you're willing to put forth on this.This is a crude outline, but you should be able to refine it into something more eloquent.You can define a variable. Let's call it varTick. It is initially 0.On the global level, define an action that adds 1 to varTick every 20 seconds, using the Timer trigger.On the global level, define an action to go to the Home page. This is also on a timer of about 20 seconds. Apply a condition that this happens only when varTick = 15 (300 seconds or 5 minutes). On the global level, define an action on Any Keystroke. The action is to set varTick equal to 0. (Caveat: putting an action on each Keystroke might slow your performance. It might also interfere with your user interface. Do extensive testing here.)If you have form elements and/or buttons/images, then you can define an action for each object so that when it is clicked, it also sets varTick equal to 0.Unless I miss my guess (and that's quite possible), if the computer is untouched for 5 minutes, then the project automatically navigates to the Home page. The timer is reset on every keystroke and when certain (if not all) objects are clicked or interacted with. If it's just a page turner with little or no interaction, you can possibly put a series of transparent images on the topmost layer and have actions on Mouse Enter to reset the varTick. That way, jiggling the mouse would also reset the timer.If you go this route, then I suggest another action that shows a new text box when varTick = 9. The text box tells the learner that there has been no activity in the past 3 minutes, and he will be logged off in 2 minutes. Clicking the text box can reset the timer.Hmm, come to think of it, just do my last paragraph. The rest is overly complicated. But I typed it all out, so I'm leaving it in. It might be useful in other ways. I just now realized the easier method.Kevin
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