Converting PowerPoint to Authorware

Joseph Ganci

Dazzle Technologies Corp.

The New PowerPoint Converter

Among its many new features, Macromedia Authorware version 7 introduced one feature of particular interest to designers and project managers sitting on top of a great deal of learning materials in the form of Microsoft PowerPoint files. The Authorware PowerPoint converter can help kick start your e-learning by bringing PowerPoint storyboards or rapid prototyping materials you may already have into Authorware and then letting you change and build upon those converted files.

PowerPoint? Say It Isn’t So!

Let’s get one thing out of the way: I do not advocate the use of PowerPoint files as a delivery medium for excellent e-learning. I’m sure some of you out there will swear up and down that you have imparted the wisdom of the ages to your personnel or customers through the best PowerPoint presentation you brilliantly created in a moment of intense inspiration brought on by "The Ultimate e-Learning Muses." That may be so, but I haven’t seen your presentation, nor have I seen any PowerPoint presentation yet that did much more than present facts and knowledge points and conveyed very few “a-ha” moments of understanding. Of course, it is that understanding that is the goal of all good e-learning.

Without a doubt, over the years, PowerPoint has become more powerful and it is possible to build some limited interactivity, navigation, and progress tracking, but comparing PowerPoint’s features to what a product like Authorware or Flash can do for you is a bit like comparing the capabilities of a tricycle to those of a Harley-Davidson VRSCB V-Rod.

On the other hand, those who are designing e-learning often employ PowerPoint to create their storyboards or use PowerPoint when creating rapid prototypes. These are then often handed to developers or programmers who then copy and paste or rewrite the contents of those storyboards in Authorware. This is silly; wouldn’t it be much better to save a step and convert those materials in an organized manner and then build on top of those the proper interactivity, navigation, and progress tracking? It makes sense to me!

Requirements

To complete this tutorial you will need to install the following software and files:

Authorware 7

• Try
• Buy

The Authorware 7.0.2 Updater

• Download the Authorware 7.0.2 Updater (EXE, 4.66MB)

  The Converter is included in Authorware 7 and later. Some bugs in version 7 were fixed in versions 7.01 and 7.02. I highly recommend that you download the 7.02 update (free of charge) from Macromedia so that you don’t have to deal with any potential bugs in the prior versions.

  The converter has been tested most extensively with the latest versions of PowerPoint, but should work with earlier versions as well, at least back to PowerPoint 97.

What the Converter Can and Can’t Do For You

PowerPoint and Authorware are two very different products with different aims. It should come as no surprise that PowerPoint files sometimes cannot convert completely without losing something in the conversion, much like translating Chinese to English will result in a loss of nuance and words that don’t quite match perfectly between the languages.

For example, PowerPoint contains a set of transitions you can apply to objects and slides just as Authorware does. However, most of the transitions in PowerPoint don’t match those that Authorware offers. In this case, you can guide the converter in how to map transitions to your liking. Other features in PowerPoint may not have a direct equivalent in Authorware so may not come across as expected.

If you take any PowerPoint file and convert it to Authorware, you can expect that about seventy to eighty percent of the features will come through. Not good enough? Consider this: if eighty percent of a PowerPoint file converts correctly, you’ve just cut five days of work down to one!

Once you come to understand which features convert directly from PowerPoint, you can create templates in PowerPoint that avoid unsupported features, making converting PowerPoint files into Authorware an easy exercise. This article should help.

What’s Going to Happen?

This section is for the curious among you. You don’t have to be too concerned with the details of the conversion but it’s sometimes nice to know what’s happening behind the scenes.

Converting a PowerPoint file to Authorware is a two-step process, though there is an option to combine these two steps into one.

Step one creates a folder in a location you choose and will name it the same as your PowerPoint file followed by “(Internal Media),” such as:

Ganci - Developing Great e-Learning (Internal Media)

The folder will then contain a series of folders, one for each PowerPoint slide. Authorware names the folders slide followed by the slide number:

slide0
slide1
slide2
slide3

Each of the above folders contains the images and text from the respectively numbered PowerPoint slide. Note that the first folder is numbered zero, which contains the text and images from your PowerPoint file’s master slide.

In addition to the folder, the converter creates an XML file with the same name as your PowerPoint file. This XML file contains all of the information needed to reconstruct the slides in Authorware.

Step two imports the XML file and all of the image and text files from these folders and creates an Authorware file containing a Framework icon and a Framework page for each PowerPoint slide converted. Voilà! The conversion is complete.

Getting Started

Before you can use the converter, you must close PowerPoint if it is currently open. To access the command in Authorware, select Commands > Converters > Microsoft PowerPoint to Authorware XML, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Choosing the PowerPoint Converter

The dialog box in Figure 2 will appear. Next, click the Folder icon in the first field to choose the PowerPoint file to convert. The Output Directory field automatically fills in with the same folder you chose, though you can change it if you wish.

Figure 2. The PowerPoint Converter Dialog Box

Setting Options

If this is the first time you’re using this command, set some options before performing the conversion. Click the Options button. The Options dialog box in Figure 3 appears.

Figure 3. The Options Dialog Box

It’s important to review these options and set the appropriate ones to address your needs. They can be the difference between an easy conversion and one fraught with problems. Once you’ve set the options, Authorware remembers them for future conversions. In the following list, you can see all of the left and right-pane options and their settings.

Left Pane Options

Rich Text Export

The text in the PowerPoint file will be exported to RTF (Rich Text Format) files before being imported into Authorware. Say that in your PowerPoint file, your text changes format sometimes from character to character within the same word, for instance:

Text example

In this case, choose the Character Level option. Otherwise, leave it as Word Level, as this is a faster conversion.

Exported Image Format

The images in the PowerPoint file can be exported in one of four formats: Bitmap, JPEG, PNG, or TIFF. Choose your preferred format.

• Bitmap (default)
• JPEG
• PNG
• TIFF

Draw Mode

You can choose how both text and graphics should be shown in Authorware. The choices include all six of the standard Authorware formats. You may want to choose transparent for both graphics and text. However, you should experiment to find the best choices for you.

• Alpha
• Erase
• Invert
• Matted
• Opaque
• Transparent

Navigation Model

You can apply navigation to the converted PowerPoint file in Authorware by choosing one of four options.

• Click Screen or Space Bar (default)
  Move to the next PowerPoint slide whenever the user clicks the presentation window or presses the space bar. You have to add your own provisions for moving backward.
• Next and Back Buttons
  Include a set of Next and Back buttons that take the user between slides.
• None
  Don’t include any navigation. You are responsible for adding your own.
• Spacebar
  Move forward only when the user clicks the space bar. You have to add your own provisions for moving backward.

Presentation Window Size

Choose the size of the presentation window from the options given, which include all of the ones normally available within Authorware. By default, Based on PowerPoint file is chosen, which will result in the Authorware file being set to Variable and then to the specific dimensions of the PowerPoint file. If you choose the Variable option, you can supply the exact width and height desired.

The choices in the right pane of the Options dialog box are all checkboxes that you can either select or leave unselected.

Right Pane Options

Show dialog when unsupported shape is detected

Some shapes in PowerPoint cannot be converted. Selecting this option displays a dialog box each time Authorware detects a shape that it cannot convert.

Include Master Slide in output

Select this option when you want to include the text and images from the PowerPoint master slide as a background in Authorware.

Use images for text blocks

Select this option if you want to bring PowerPoint text blocks as images in Authorware. This option preserves the appearance of the text box more faithfully but you won’t be able to edit the text. Also note that because you turn the text into an image, the draw mode you choose for graphics will be used for the converted text as well, and that the draw mode you choose for text will be ignored.

Keep log file

Selecting this option creates a log file, called LOG.txt, in the same folder showing each step that was performed.

Use PowerPoint names for icon titles

If you do not select this option, icons in each Framework page will be titled generically Shape 1, Shape 2, and so on. Selecting this option names the icons according to PowerPoint names, such as Picture 1 and Rectangle 1.

Output PPT.xml (raw PowerPoint XML data)

Selecting this option outputs a file called PPT.xml in the same folder. The file contains very detailed data regarding the conversion.

Include text shapes starting with “Click to edit”

In PowerPoint, when you create a new text object, it will start with the words “Click to…” to remind you to change those words to your text. Setting this option forces Authorware to convert those text objects that you haven't changed yet in PowerPoint. I don't recommend that you select this option.

Include text shapes contained in brackets (<text>)

When you set up a new PowerPoint file, you will see at times text shapes in brackets. For instance, you will see the following on the Master slide when you create a new file.

Figure 9. Include text shapes contained in brackets

Selecting this option converts the text shapes. I don't recommend selecting this option.

Automatically import into Authorware

Select this option to combine the steps of exporting the PowerPoint file and importing the resulting files into one step.

Create output directory

This option allows you to specify the output directory. Otherwise, it will be named “Exported Files.”

Use System Separators

It is important to set this option to your local settings before converting a file. You will need to set the System Separator in the spaces provided for both List and Decimal. You can easily find the List separator in Authorware by looking up the value of the system variable ListSeparator. This will be either a comma (,) or a semicolon (;). Second, for the Decimal separator, use either a period (.) or a comma (,) depending on your local standard. For instance, if you write numbers in your country as 1,234.56, use the period as your decimal separator. If you write numbers as 1.234,56, use the comma.

Note: To change the values of the list and decimal separators, you must deselect this option. After you’ve set the separators, select the option to turn it on.

Setting Transitions

Remember that many PowerPoint transitions don’t have direct correlations to the Authorware transitions. You have the ability to map any transition you may be using in PowerPoint to the Authorware transition you wish. Of course, you could change all your transitions one by one in Authorware, but using the converter option is much faster, letting the conversion take care of all the transitions at one time. However, after Authorware finishes the conversion, you can still change any individual transition in Authorware to your liking. You have the best of both worlds. Figure 4 shows you the Transitions dialog box. Table 1 at the end of this article shows you how Authorware maps each transition by default.

Figure 4. The Transitions Dialog Box

Performing the Conversion

After setting the options you wish, close the Options dialog box and click the Convert button. As shown in Figure 5, you will see the Slide Number and Shape Number fields count while it is converting the file.

Figure 5. The Transitions Dialog Box

When the conversion is done, if you had not chosen the “Automatically import into Authorware” option, Authorware tells you that you can import the XML file and give it a location. To import the file, Select File > Import and Export > Import XML. When you do so, Authorware tells you that this will create a new file so your current file will be saved and closed.

Reviewing the Results

As I mentioned earlier, the results in Authorware will take the form of a Framework icon and attached pages. An example appears in Figure 6.

Figure 6. A typical resulting flowline

Each object from PowerPoint has been placed in its own Display icon, which allows each to have a separate transition applied to it. The Framework icon itself contains whatever navigation you had chosen when performing the conversion.

This is now an ordinary Authorware file. You can build upon or make changes to the Authorware file any way you wish. Note too that you don’t need to deliver the PowerPoint file or the XML file that was just created to your end users.

Potential Pitfalls

Most of the time, you’ll find converting PowerPoint files to Authorware is a smooth process, especially as you get a few conversions under your belt. If you run into a problem, see if one of the following situations applies to you.

If You Get the Error Message “XML was aborted.”

You may receive the error message in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Error Message

As you can see, you can view the error log by clicking the View Log button. However, most of the time, this error message will appear because you forgot to set one of two options in the Options dialog box:

• You haven’t set the list and decimal separators correctly.
• You haven’t set the draw mode to one of the choices provided.

Be sure you have set those options correctly. If you haven’t:

1. A typical log might contain the following when you haven’t set the separators correctly:

   Message:Function --> SetFileProperty
   Args --> [AWWindowSize, [#type:#variable #size:point(720540)]]
   Error KO.LastResult: 1
   

   If you’re an experienced Authorware scripter, you might notice the error in the above snippet. If you’re not an experienced Authorware scripter, don’t worry: it’s not important. If you’re curious as to what is happening, notice the number 720540 on the second line. This number is incorrect. The Point function requires two arguments, not one. The numbers 720 and 540 in this case represent the width and height to set the Authorware presentation window. Because the list separator was not set in the Options dialog box, the two numbers 720 and 540 were not separated properly.

2. If you haven’t set the draw mode correctly, you might see something like this in the log file:

   Message:Function --> BuildDisplay
   Args --> [65545, [[#rect:rect(54,180,666,270), #type:#rtf, #antialias:1, #fileName:"D:\\Projects\\PowerPoint to Authorware\\Ganci - Developing Great e-Learning 2 (Internal Media)\\slide1\\3.rtf", #attributes:[#drawMode:#]]]]
   Error KO.LastResult: 0
   

   Notice that the drawMode property is incorrect.

If You Get the Message “Unsupported Shape”

If you’ve set the option “Show dialog when unsupported shape is detected” you may see the following dialog box appear (see Figure 8), perhaps more than once. In fact, you see it each time an unsupported shape is detected.

Figure 8. Unsupported Shape Message

You can stop the dialog box from appearing again by clicking the checkbox shown in the dialog box.

Many times you will see this box appear even when all shapes appear to transfer correctly. This is because there may be an unsupported background object that does not cause any visual effect in your file.

If You Get the Message “Cannot Create File”

You may see a message such as this one:

Cannot Create file H:\Tests\Test.xml

The most common reason for this is that you have chosen to output to a drive such as a CD-ROM or a restricted network drive. If you can’t write to a location, you will receive this message. Change the location to an unrestricted drive.

If You Get the Message “Microsoft virtual machine cannot be found”

You may see a message such as this one:

Unable to start the application. The Microsoft virtual machine cannot be found.

Update your version of Authorware to 7.02. Earlier versions of the PowerPoint converter relied on the Java Virtual Machine which is normally not included in Windows. It has to be downloaded and installed separately (http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/java/). However, using the latest version of the converter eliminates this need.

PowerPoint Slides with No Transitions Get Converted to “Wipe-Right” Transitions in Authorware

If you have slides in PowerPoint that don’t use any transition but, when converted to Authorware, have a Wipe Right transition applied to them, you can change the default setting easily.

1. Open the PowerPoint Converter Command.
2. Click the Transitions button.
3. Choose the Cut transition in the left panel.
4. In the right panel, select [internal] in the Authorware Transition Category.
5. Choose None for the Authorware Transition.
6. Click the Generate XSL button. You will be told that the Export is complete.

You should see the problem no longer occurs for any subsequent conversions you perform.

Note: This will apply to all PowerPoint Cut transitions.

Text in PowerPoint Does Not Appear in Authorware

This problem appears at times in version 7.01. Update your version of Authorware to 7.02. If you must stay with version 7.01, follow the directions in No text on import when using PowerPoint Converter command (TechNote 18999).

Conclusion

The PowerPoint converter is a very useful feature in Authorware for anyone who needs to convert storyboards, rapid prototyping documents, presentations, or any other PowerPoint-based materials into Authorware. Following the directions above, you should find the process easy and should also find it will save you a considerable amount of time.

Thanks to Macromedia, particularly Jamil Zainasheff, Mike Baker, Stefan van As, Tom Neuhold-Huber, and to two gentlemen who were instrumental in ensuring this feature was implemented. Mr. Christopher Swenson of Dazzle Technologies Corp. created the first step of the process, reading the PowerPoint slides and outputting the correct XML and XSL files. Mr. Erik de Bruin of S-5 Multimedia created the second step, creating Authorware code from the XML and XSL files.

Table 1. Transitions

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