ToolBookConsulting Blog

ToolBook menu not marking chapters as complete

tlund@elearningspecialist.com — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:22:00 GMT

This is just a short post with a fix to a problem that I have seen a few times.

The ToolBook menu object sometimes fails to update itself. The result is that chapters which should be marked complete are not or chapters are marked as complete when they should not.

The fix is relatively simple:

1) Open you ToolBook file in author mode and go to the page with the menu

2) Select the menu object on the page

3) Open ToolBooks command window (press shift + F3) and type (or copy/ paste) the following:

clear TBK_ChapterList of selection
send update to selection

4) Press enter

The menu will now rebuild itself based on the pages and chapters in the ToolBook file and the problem will be fixed.

-Tomas

Fixing ToolBook Book Corruption

tlund@elearningspecialist.com — Tue, 25 May 2010 21:12:00 GMT

This article will help you identify and fix ToolBook book corruption. It will explain how you can avoid book corruption going forward.

The “Quick fix” to Toolbook problems

tlund@elearningspecialist.com — Tue, 25 May 2010 21:00:00 GMT

The “Quick fix” to ToolBook problems

If you are having problems with ToolBook here is a list of the first things you should be trying. Some of them are quite basic but also quick to try.

Close ToolBook and open the file again.
Run the Validate ToolBook file and fix all problems it points out.
You can use the Devex version found in ToolBook Tools/LiveXtensions menu item. Then in the dialog which appear, click the Devex Tab (Devex used to be Developers Exchange). Then locate the Validate ToolBook File tool and click launch. When it opens click on Validate. Fix any problems it finds. Note you can also use my Enhanced Validate ToolBook File. (http://www.toolbookconsulting.com/blog/entryid/2.aspx). It finds the same issues as the Devex version plus a few more.
Run the Repair Kit.
Close ToolBook, and then go to the Windows Start Menu/ToolBook/Utilities/Repair Kit
If the file originate from and older version of ToolBook. Run the Version updater (aka. Script Walker)
Close ToolBook, and then go to the Windows Start Menu/ToolBook/Utilities/Version Updater
Reboot the computer and open the file again.

This article is part of a series of articles called Guide to fixing ToolBook problems. If your problem isn’t solved above then you might want to one of the other articles in the series.

How to get free ToolBook help

tlund@elearningspecialist.com — Tue, 25 May 2010 20:11:00 GMT

How to get free ToolBook help

If you do not have a paid ToolBook support contract, but still need ToolBook help this article is for you.

Here is a list of free ToolBook help resources.

Search Sumtotal Systems's official Toolbook knowledgebase for the error message if you get any. Try using short keyword searches. For example search for "HTML Audio" if you are having problems with Audio only when exported to HTML. You will find the Knowledgebase here.
Search the web for a solution to your problem. Sometimes you can find the solution on one of the ToolBook sites. Note www.toolbook.org has a customized version of Google which only searches Toolbook sites.
Use the free support resources offered by SumTotal Systems. You can find the details here. Note that the link also provides resources to free self help like the Toolbook FAQ and more.
Use the ToolBook Listserve. It is a forum where Toolbook developers, from beginners to Gurus, help each other. You can find an explanation on how to use the Listserve here. You might want to search the list archives in the case the question has been asked before asking the list. (Though it’s not a deadly sin not to do this before asking.)

This article is part of a series of articles called Guide to fixing ToolBook problems - if you problem isn’t solved above then you might want to one of the other articles in the series.

Guide to fixing ToolBook problems

tlund@elearningspecialist.com — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:56:00 GMT

Guide to fixing ToolBook problems

This is the first article in a series which all aim to help you solve your ToolBook problems.

The aim with these articles is NOT to provide an exhaustive list of all problems which may occur with ToolBook, but rather to provide a "hands on" guide for ToolBook developers who need help with solving their problems.

Here is a list of the articles in this series:

Planned articles (will be added as they are completed)

Troubleshooting ToolBook problems
Problems Publishing to HTML and AXF

Feel free to post a comment if you think I have left something out and I will update as time allows me to do so.

Cheers

Tomas

PS. I hope this will help you solve your problems. If it doesn’t, or you don’t have time to solve them, feel free to contact us for an estimate. Chances are that we can fix your problems in a few hours.

Formatted Question Feedback

tlund@elearningspecialist.com — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:23:00 GMT

Today I am launching my first product for sale:

Formatted Feedback Editor for ToolBook.

I am very excited about this launch and hope that you will find it useful.

In short the tool allows you to use text formatting in the feedback you specify for your ToolBook questions - without using hidden fields or any action editor code.

Here is a screenshot of the editor.

See a sample and read more here.

I plan to make more of my tools available for sale in the time to come. So stay tuned.

PS. parts of the code in this tool is based on code originally written by Simon Price. (XHTML to ToolBook Text Formatting)

Disable browser printing in ToolBook

tlund@elearningspecialist.com — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:08:00 GMT

Disable browser printing in ToolBook

UPDATE 20 January 2009: Updated the sample and download to include some protection against the user pressing Printscreen.

This sample demonstrates how one can prevent users from printing elearning content created with ToolBook .

Updated samples are here: Live version or download the source from the Download page (file is called DisablePrint2(9)).

~~See~~ ~~the old version of the live version of the sample~~ ~~or download the source from~~ ~~the Download page~~ ~~(file is called DisablePrint(9)).~~ Note to access the downloads page you need to create a free account on this site.

Here is how it works

On the background of this page there is an on load background action which calls a JavaScript function which is responsible for dynamically loading a css file.

The contents of the css file is a clever way to prevent printing:
@media print {
body {
display:none
}
}

Here is how to read it: The style sheet will only be in effect when the document is printed (eg @media print)
There is only one css selector (body) which basically means the html document for our purposes has its display property set to none (display:none) which will make it invisible.

To clarify: While the print dialog is still enabled, the result is that a blank page is printed. Note I didn’t invent this CSS trick, I merely integrated it into ToolBook. To test this try printing this page by pressing CTRL+P (if you know how to, please print to a pdf or similar file to save some trees:-))

Note 1. Despite the added security of the printscreen prevention measures in this sample in this updated sample- This is NOT a 100% certain approach - nothing is 100% certain (except taxes and death). However in case this level of security is sufficient for some, I will refrain from providing "inspiration" to those trying to bypass the protection by going in more detail on how one might do that.

Note 2. This builds on a previous blog post I did on using an external css style sheet to change the visual appearance of ToolBook content when published to HTML.

Note 3. The css file is included in a hidden file placeholder on the last page of this book. The page has skipnavigation set to true to prevent it from being displayed. This automatically ensures that the file is copied to the media directory when the file is published to html. (For some reason my trick described in "Adding files to HTML media directory" doesn’t work with css files)

Using ToolBook to create Surveys

tlund@elearningspecialist.com — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:32:00 GMT

Did you know that you can use ToolBook to create surveys and use your LMS to collect the information you collect?

The only thing that is required is ToolBook and an LMS which is able to show question level feedback in reports.

I have created a sample that you can download but will also explain what is required.

Download a free ToolBook SmartStyle and learn how to build one yourself

tlund@elearningspecialist.com — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:10:00 GMT

Build a smartstyle, or download a free SmartStyle, or win a custom SmartStyle

ToolBook 9.5 HTML Content on Google Chrome

tlund@elearningspecialist.com — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:44:00 GMT

I have tested HTML output from ToolBook 9 and ToolBook 9.5 on Googles new internet browser called Google Chrome and guess what, it works!