AUTHOR™ contains a number of System Variables. The value of these variables will change during the lesson.  They may change because of a normal computer function (e.g. TIME), or by trainee interaction (e.g. ANSWER).

System variables can be:

  • used in a condition where you test for the value of the variable, and then act upon the condition
  • displayed on the screen as text (using the Action Toolbar to add Text/Feature Text to an Action List). 

More information is contained in the following sections:

Conditions related variables

Use of ANSWER variable

Other System variables

General System variables


There is a System Variable called TIME. The value of TIME will be constantly changing as seconds tick away during the day. Here are two examples of using the TIME system variable.

Example of using TIME in a condition

You could construct an Element that contains a response to provide feedback to the user depending on the value of the TIME System Variable.

To do so:

  • choose TIME from the second dropdown list in the condition tab of the Response Add/Edit dialog
  • type the value you would like to test for in the Values (last) drop down list.

 


When the lesson runs and encounters the Response section of this Element, it will check whether the value of the TIME system variable matches the value you have entered. If they match, the condition is true and the Lesson moves to the Feedback section defined for the response.

Example of displaying the value of the TIME system variable

You can display the value of the TIME system variable, during the lesson, by placing the variable name, enclosed in square brackets, in a Text action or Feature Text action.  

Example:  In the Text action you type:

The time is [TIME].

When running the Lesson the following text would be displayed to the trainee:

The time is 14:10:03.

You can see that the TIME system variable has been replaced by the actual time of day according to the trainee's computer (assuming that it was 2:10 pm and 3 seconds).

Typing the name of the System Variable in uppercase helps to make it stand out from ordinary text but is not a requirement as long as the name is contained within square brackets.