cmi.suspend_data.viewed - passing too many characters

[ted.roberts]

We have a number of courses created with Presenter 5.2. They're published as SCORM 1.2. Some of our courses are not setting a status of complete when they should. This occurs frequently but not consistently - in some cases, the same courses are correctly setting completion status.

According to our LMS vendor, the value being passed by LMSSetValue for cmi.suspend_data.viewed exceeds the maximum of 4096 characters allowed by the SCORM API.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might cause this?

[Justin]

This would be caused by a large number of slides. There is an upper limit on the number of slides that a presentation with resume functionality can have under SCORM. This limit is probably somewhere around 370 slides. Not sure how many slides you are using but you might want to think about splitting the course up into smaller courses.

If you would like to create multiple versions of the same Presenter presentation or Quizmaker quiz you should utilize the Publish -> Project Files option in both products. Please see:
http://www.articulate.com/support/he...ject_Files.htm
http://www.articulate.com/support/he...ject_Files.htm

Following the steps outlined above will give you a zip file that contains all of your project files that you can share with another employee, copy to a server, or copy to a different location on your hard drive to create a new version of your existing Presenter presentation or Quizmaker quiz.

For more details on the directory structure of your Presenter presentation or Quizmaker quiz, please see:
http://www.articulate.com/blog/directory-structure/
http://www.articulate.com/blog/quizm...le-management/

[ted.roberts]

This is great information. Thanks.

It brings up another question - if the user navigates back and forth a number of times, does Presenter pass something for each time they view a slide? In other words, if they go through every slide up to slide 200, then back up to 150 and go forward again, will slides 150 - 200 be included twice in the API call? I don't think any of our courses are over 370 slides, although a couple of them are probably over 250.

According to the vendor, we exceeded the maximum 4096 characters by over 1000 in the case they traced for us.

We've just upgraded to a new LMS. I was not aware of this problem with the old one.

[GerryWaz]

If AP's SCORM is like AP's AICC (we only use AICC), AP passes something back every 10 minutes. There's a "hearbeat" that posts the user's current status back to the LMS.

Other than that, things are sent to the LMS at course launch, after a quiz and at course exit.

[ted.roberts]

I got information from the vendor on what is actually being passed. It looks as the slide numbers go up to 346. I don't see any repetition (answering my own previous question) but maybe 346 is enough to push us that far over the limit.

LMSSetValue(cmi.suspend_data,viewed=1,2,3,4,5,6,7, 8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,2 5,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41, 42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58 ,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,7 5,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91, 92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,10 6,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118, 119,120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,128,129,130,13 1,132,133,134,135,136,137,138,139,140,141,142,143, 144,145,146,147,148,149,150,151,152,153,154,155,15 6,157,158,159,160,161,162,163,164,165,166,167,168, 169,170,171,172,173,174,175,176,177,178,179,180,18 1,182,183,184,185,186,187,188,189,190,191,192,193, 194,195,196,197,198,199,200,201,202,203,204,205,20 6,207,208,209,210,211,212,213,214,215,216,217,218, 219,220,221,222,223,224,225,226,227,228,229,230,23 1,232,233,234,235,236,237,238,239,240,241,242,243, 244,245,246,247,248,249,250,251,252,253,254,255,25 6,257,258,259,260,261,262,263,264,265,266,267,268, 269,270,271,272,273,274,275,276,277,278,279,280,28 1,282,283,284,285,286,287,288,289,290,291,292,293, 294,295,296,297,298,299,300,301,302,303,304,305,30 6,307,308,309,310,311,312,313,314,315,316,317,318, 319,320,321,322,323,324,325,326,327,328,329,330,33 1,332,333,334,335,336,337,338,339,340,341,342,343, 344,345,346|lastviewedslide=346|s1=11011,s2=10011, s3=10011,s4=10011,s5=10011,s6=10011,s7=10011,s8=10 011,s9=10011,s10=10011,s11=10011,s12=10011,s13=100 11,s14=10011,s15=10011,s16=10011,s17=11011,s18=110 11,s19=11011,s20=10011,s21=11011,s22=10011,s23=100 11,s24=10011,s25=10011,s26=10011,s27=10011,s28=100 11,s29=10011,s30=10011,s31=10011,s32=10011,s33=100 11,s34=10011,s35=10011,s36=10011,s37=10011,s38=100 11,s39=10011,s40=10011,s41=10011,s42=10011,s43=100 11,s44=10011,s45=10011,s46=10011,s47=10011,s48=100 11,s49=10011,s50=10011,s51=10011,s52=10011,s53=100 11,s54=10011,s55=10011,s56=10011,s57=10011,s58=100 11,s59=10011,s60=10011,s61=10011,s62=10011,s63=100 11,s64=10011,s65=10011,s66=10011,s67=10011,s68=100 11,s69=10011,s70=10011,s71=10011,s72=10011,s73=100 11,s74=10011,s75=10011,s76=10011,s77=10011,s78=100 11,s79=10011,s80=10011,s81=10011,s82=10011,s83=100 11,s84=10011,s85=10011,s86=10011,s87=10011,s88=100 11,s89=10011,s90=10011,s91=10011,s92=10011,s93=100 11,s94=10011,s95=10011,s96=10011,s97=10011,s98=100 11,s99=10011,s100=10011,s101=10011,s102=10011,s103 =10011,s104=10011,s105=10011,s106=10011,s107=10011 ,s108=10011,s109=10011,s110=10011,s111=10011,s112= 10011,s113=10011,s114=10011,s115=10011,s116=10011, s117=10011,s118=10011,s119=10011,s120=10011,s121=1 0011,s122=10011,s123=10011,s124=10011,s125=10011,s 126=10011,s127=10011,s128=10011,s129=10011,s130=10 011,s131=10011,s132=10011,s133=10011,s134=10011,s1 35=10011,s136=10011,s137=10011,s138=10011,s139=100 11,s140=10011,s141=10011,s142=10011,s143=10011,s14 4=10011,s145=10011,s146=10011,s147=10011,s148=1001 1,s149=10011,s150=10011,s151=10011,s152=10011,s153 =10011,s154=10011,s155=10011,s156=10011,s157=10011 ,s158=10011,s159=10011,s160=10011,s161=10011,s162= 10011,s163=10011,s164=10011,s165=10011,s166=10011, s167=10011,s168=10011,s169=10011,s170=10011,s171=1 0011,s172=10011,s173=10011,s174=10011,s175=10011,s 176=10011,s177=10011,s178=10011,s179=10011,s180=10 011,s181=10011,s182=10011,s183=10011,s184=10011,s1 85=10011,s186=10011,s187=10011,s188=10011,s189=100 11,s190=10011,s191=10011,s192=10011,s193=10011,s19 4=10011,s195=10011,s196=10011,s197=10011,s198=1001 1,s199=10011,s200=10011,s201=10011,s202=10011,s203 =10011,s204=10011,s205=10011,s206=10011,s207=10011 ,s208=10011,s209=10011,s210=10011,s211=10011,s212= 10011,s213=10011,s214=10011,s215=10011,s216=10011, s217=10011,s218=10011,s219=10011,s220=10011,s221=1 0011,s222=10011,s223=10011,s224=10011,s225=10011,s 226=10011,s227=10011,s228=10011,s229=10011,s230=10 011,s231=10011,s232=10011,s233=10011,s234=10011,s2 35=10011,s236=10011,s237=10011,s238=10011,s239=100 11,s240=10011,s241=10011,s242=10011,s243=10011,s24 4=10011,s245=10011,s246=10011,s247=10011,s248=1001 1,s249=10011,s250=10011,s251=10011,s252=10011,s253 =10011,s254=10011,s255=10011,s256=10011,s257=10011 ,s258=10011,s259=10011,s260=10011,s261=10011,s262= 10011,s263=10011,s264=10011,s265=10011,s266=10011, s267=10011,s268=10011,s269=10011,s270=10011,s271=1 0011,s272=10011,s273=10011,s274=10011,s275=10011,s 276=10011,s277=10011,s278=10011,s279=10011,s280=10 011,s281=10011,s282=10011,s283=10011,s284=10011,s2 85=10011,s286=10011,s287=10011,s288=10011,s289=100 11,s290=10011,s291=10011,s292=10011,s293=10011,s29 4=10011,s295=10011,s296=10011,s297=10011,s298=1001 1,s299=10011,s300=10011,s301=10011,s302=10011,s303 =10011,s304=10011,s305=10011,s306=10011,s307=10011 ,s308=10011,s309=10011,s310=10011,s311=10011,s312= 10011,s313=10011,s314=10011,s315=10011,s316=10011, s317=10011,s318=10011,s319=10011,s320=10011,s321=1 0011,s322=10011,s323=10011,s324=10011,s325=10011,s 326=10011,s327=10011,s328=10011,s329=10011,s330=10 011,s331=10011,s332=10011,s333=10011,s334=10011,s3 35=10011,s336=10011,s337=10011,s338=10011,s339=100 11,s340=10011,s341=10011,s342=10011,s343=10011,s34 4=10011,s345=10011,s346=10110,LCS=21,) has been invoked

[GerryWaz]

At one time, quite a few months back, I though Articulate was going to change how they bookmark things with the LMS to be simpler and shorter. Maybe it can't be done?

BTW, does your course have a final quiz or is it completion by number of slides viewed?

[Justin]

You've definitely maxed it out there. Here are some words of inspiration that might help. I think your best option, though, is to figure out a way to split this presentation up. Even if you split it up into two presentations it should work fine.

[robjordan]

I have a similar problem, but using Presenter / Quizmaker '09. The presentation is short (28 slides) with quiz questions interspersed within the presentation slides. Our LMS (OCCAM) fails to record completion status or quiz results. We asked for support from the LMS vendor, who ran the ADL compliance suite and told us that it failed due to suspend_data greater than 4096 characters. Here is the relevant extract from the compliance test report:

LMSSetValue(cmi.suspend_data,viewed=1,2,3,4,5,6,7, 8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,2 5,26,27,28|lastviewedslide=28|26#3##,7,3,3,7,3,3,3 ,7,3,3,3,3,3,3,7,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,7,3,11,1#0,0, 0,0,0#1ed3604d-7f32-4267-bd2c-559eb68a4aa9=a^A^6Bi@^6o@^6m@^6pB^6sC^6uE^6rE^6lF^ 6nF^6tF^6dK^65P^6$Q^66S^67T^6bV^6fW^6~Y^69Y^6cY^68[^6a_^6ec^64j^6-k^62x^63~e~^61d@0sAEL^6^6^AGn^2)^9aH~b0}vr !B!H!8!^7!
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By
tip`oc1 {(>9^3Ld7J_OyY.2DW~e~FVa{ rU*FrXn8$7J_OyX7w1^0^6"UQsw^1OoV-^2uLFy~p~^3y5^5w6k56U*Ca^ALQUX7l^6^7Xkw :r^3OTzzYz93v^2@ e /y^5.xNpL7]~e~V5m5ZF~^7og^0Ne9*V{^2A ,#-1) has been invoked
***********************
ERROR: LMSSetValue() call was NOT successful
ERROR: Incorrect Data Type
***********************

[Justin]

Have you ever updated your Studio '09 products? That would be the first thing I would do. You can get the latest versions at the Downloads page above. If you have then edit the quiz with Quizmaker '09 Update 1 installer, Save and return to Presenter. Republish. We changed how we handle suspend data in that release.

[robjordan]

Update on my experiences with this issue.

Problem with Articulate:
Our LMS vendor has run our course through the ADL compliance checker and finds that the suspend_data returned by Articulate exceeds the maximum allowed by SCORM and therefore the course is shown as non-compliant. This is not an excessively long course. It's 26 slides, with around 8 quiz questions. This is after updating to the latest version of Articulate Presnter '09 (V6.0.811.3020 Pro)

Problem with the LMS:
Our LMS falls over even on shorter suspend_data strings from the Articulate-generated SCORM module. We guess that this is because of the 'unusual' characters in the suspend-data, even though I understand from Articulate that these are valid in SCORM.

Workaround:
We have found that one can eliminate the long strings of 'funny' characters in the suspend_data by setting the following option. Player Template > Player Controls > Miscellaneous > Prompt to resume = No.

I will test whether this runs correctly in the LMS tomorrow, but for now I'm more confident that this will prevent the tracking issueswe have been seeing.