The Save As Browse action allows your publication to open the standard Windows Save As dialog box on the screen. The user can locate files of a certain file type (e.g. bmp files), select the filename and Opus will save the pathname of the file in a variable you specify in this action.
Note:
This action does not attempt to open the file name selected. This action simply copies the pathname of the file to a specified Opus variable. You can then use this information to perform a number of operations within Opus; for example, you could copy the file to a new location using the Copy File action or use the filename in an Image object to display the graphic in the object.
1. Add the Save As Browse action to your trigger, as described in adding actions. The Save As Browse tab will automatically appear when you add the action.
2. Use the File Types panel to set up the list of file types Extensions (e.g. exe files, imp files, and so on) that a user can search for on their system using the familiar Windows Open dialog.
There are two methods of entering an Extension:
(i) Use the Extension box to enter the name of the file type and the description in the Description box.
(ii) Use the Defaults button to display a list of common Extension and Description names found on Window systems.
Both options are described below.
Note:
If you do not enter any extensions in the Extension table then the user can search for any file type on their system.
3. In the Extension box, type the file type name (e.g. imp) and its description in the Description field (e.g. Illuminatus Opus files). The Add button will become active. Click the Add button to add the new file type and description to the Extension table. Each new extension added to the Extension table will automatically appear as the bottom entry in the table.
Note:
The Extension name should NOT be prefixed by a full stop e.g. .exe – simply enter exe.
4. Click on the Defaults button to add an Extension and Description from the Defaults List box. Use the scroll bars to locate the entry you want from the Defaults List box. If your extension does not appear in the list, simply type the name in the Extension box, as described in point 3 above.
5. Once the Extension table has more than one entry, the Delete, Up and Down buttons become active.
6. Use the Delete button when you want to delete an entry from the Extension table. Select the name from the Extension column of the table and press the Delete button.
7. Use the Up button to move an entry up in the Extension table list. Select the name from the Extension column of the table and press the Up button – this will move the entry one place up in the list every time you press the button.
8. Use the Down button to move an entry down in the Extension table list. Select the name from the Extension column of the table and press the Down button – this will move the entry one placed down in the list every time you press the button.
9. Use the Store results in variable option to store the pathname of the file the user selected from the Windows Open dialog into an Opus variable. Click on the down arrow to the right of the box to list all of the variables in your current publication. Alternatively, click on the New Variable… button to open the Insert New Variable dialog box.
Note:
Remember, it is the pathname that is stored in this variable (e.g. c:\student\answers.txt). You can then use this information with other actions in Opus to perform a different task. For example, now that you have found a pathname to a file, you could delete the file or copy it to a different location on the computer.
10. Click on the Apply button to save your changes.