Creating Knowledge Objects

A Knowledge Object is a packet of logic--encapsulated in a model--that you insert into a Macromedia Authorware piece. A Knowledge Object is different from a simple model in that it's connected to a wizard. A wizard is an Authorware piece that provides an interface for setting up, making changes to, or even adding new content and logic to the Authorware piece where you've inserted the Knowledge Object.

Knowledge Objects are powerful productivity tools that make inexperienced members of a development team productive by enabling them to do common tasks easily and efficiently. Knowledge Objects also make you more productive if you're an experienced developer by giving you a way to automate repetitive tasks. Knowledge Objects, in fact, fundamentally revolutionize the authoring practice.

The following are examples of some of the things you can do with Knowledge Objects:

• You're creating a psychological evaluation with hundreds of multiple-choice questions. After the content of the questions has been developed by experts, you create a Knowledge Object that allows a low-level Authorware specialist to import each question from a text file and set up an interaction for it--without using any of the detailed Authorware dialog boxes.
• You recognize that there's a need for templates that help trainers construct courses that embody good instructional design principles. You create Knowledge Objects that embody such templates. You package and sell them.
• You're creating a huge project in Authorware that has thousands of framework pages. You discover well into the project that you need to add a prefix to the name of every page. You can create a Knowledge Object that changes the title of every page icon automatically.
• You discover that you need to create a set of Knowledge Objects that all do very much the same thing. You can create a Knowledge Object that helps you build the other Knowledge Objects.
• You're a consultant, and after you deliver a project you've created in Authorware to your client, the client discovers a few minor bugs in it. You can create a Knowledge Object the client can run to fix the bugs.

A Knowledge Object works like this: A user drags a Knowledge Object from the Knowledge Objects window to the flowline. The Knowledge Object launches the wizard connected to it. Doing so launches another instance of Authorware in which the wizard runs. The wizard leads the user through the process of setting up content in the Knowledge Object or configuring the code it contains. As the user makes choices in the wizard, the wizard makes the appropriate changes in the "target" Authorware piece (the piece where the user has inserted the Knowledge Object). When the user quits the wizard and runs the file that contains the Knowledge Object, Authorware, instead of launching the wizard when it encounters the Knowledge Object icon, executes the logic inside the icon.

The simplest Knowledge Objects consist of a Knowledge Object icon and the wizard it launches. You save a Knowledge Object icon as a model. Knowledge Objects--as long as you save them in the proper folder--appear in the Knowledge Objects window, where they're easily accessible to users. They can be used over and over again. (See Knowledge Objects--step-by-step procedures for specific procedures.)