AUTHORWARE

Authorware Attain is the leading visual rich-media authoring tool for creating Web and online learning applications. It allows training developers, instructional designers, and subject matter experts to develop trackable learning applications and deploy them across the Web, LANs, and CD-ROM.

Authorware follows the iconic/flow control paradigm with a limit per individual file of 32,000 icons. It supports jumping between files (the maintainer has worked on projects greater than 100 MB in content), jumping out to apps and even printing from them. This has unparalleled external media support, and can encapsulate all non-motion media content into apps and content libraries, or leave media files external for dynamic access. Authorware supports character-styled text and extensive navigation structures including hypertext. This tool is optimal for CBT and rapid prototyping.

Wizards and customizable Knowledge Objects allow users to easily develop learning applications. Advanced authors can create their own Knowledge Objects to simplify and automate authoring processes for subject-matter experts or production authors. The development environment for both the underlying model and the associated wizard is Authorware itself.

Authorware provides the ability to perform full text search and retrieval on any text within the application. Search capability allows users to quickly navigate to the information they need.

Full support for hypertext makes for interactive, highly navigable applications. The framework and navigation icons help authors quickly create complex paging and navigation structures.

You can extend Authorware with third-party plug-ins called Xtras. Examples of functionality available through Xtras include printing, encryption, and advanced database support.
Authorware developers can store media externally and easily manage those links with the external media browser. External content can be updated quickly and easily without having to modify the Authorware application itself. One can create hybrid applications that combine internal media with external links. Authorware libraries and the external media browser allow authors to separate application content from logic and still effectively keep track of their files.

Basics
Authorware uses an icon and diagram approach to authoring. Projects are created by placing icons onto a flowchart and then setting various parameters. There are several basic icon types representing functions such as playing a video clip, providing navigation facilities or performing a calculation. Some icons represent content entities: text, graphics, images, etc., while another represent actions. Example actions are moving of object along the path, erasing the content, decision making depending on certain condition or event.


Fig.1 Authorware working space


Applications are built by pulling icons from the fixed set of 15 icons (Fig.1) in the toolbox. These icons include start and stop flags for development testing and a group icon used for collecting icons within a flow and condensing them to a single composite icon. Composite icons expand to a "next level" of icon flows. Icon flow windows are non-scrollable and therefore cannot be longer than roughly a dozen icons before grouping is required. The overall construction of a course is represented in separate, multiple windows of flow icons which are identifiable by comment names and color (using a palette of six colors). These windows are arranged in levels, requiring users to navigate down several levels in order to find a specific icon. This requires several groups to be opened before events deeper into each branch can be manipulated.

The system may decide to branch to certain section in the course and this decision is based on the received feedback from the user. A decision structure is actually an icon with several possible paths attached to it. The mechanism of branching can be based on a random choice or on the value of variable or expression.

In order to provide the users with feedback as they work through the course and keep track of their performance an object called Knowledge Track is provided. It makes possible to exchange information about student's performance with Computer-managed instruction (CMI) system. Macromedia developed such a system called Pathware.

Users can accelerate authoring tasks from creating application frameworks and quizzes to installing fonts or locating a system's CD-ROM drive, with the help of the Knowledge Objects - pre-built templates with wizards. Authors can use the Knowledge Object gallery to organize Knowledge Objects, custom models or pre-defined icons. Knowledge Objects or models can be stored on a server to enable sharing among several authors.

Learning Curve
Unlike some other authoring tools, Authorware lacks an explicit programming language but most operations can be achieved using the interface or via icons.
See some Web-based learning examples created with Authorware. Here you can find some Authorware tutorials.

Supported Media Formats

Format Type Supported
Graphics GIF, JPEG, BMP, PICT, DIB, TIF, EPS, WMF, PNG, TARGA
Animation FLC, FLI, Director
Audio WAVE, AIFF, SND, PCR/I, PCM, SWA, Windows Waveform and MIDI formats
Video MPEG, MOV, AVI


Delivery
Authorware was originally marketed as a CD-ROM authoring tool. Now Authorware applications can be delivered on diskette, hard disk, CD-ROM, DVD, and over corporate networks, intranets, and the Internet. Authorware supports the streaming Shockwave technology for fast playback across intranets.

Shockwave is the name for series of viewers and authoring utilities that enable many of Macromedia products to be viewed on the Web. Macromedia's Shockwave plug-in for Netscape Navigator was one of the first animation Plug-ins. Shockwave for Director is also an ActiveX control for Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE). Shockwave animations created on either the Macintosh or Windows computers will playback in any browser that supports the Shockwave plug-in. Shockwave movies are an easy way to add sound to a Web page. The Shockwave for Audio Xtra enables you to compress sounds that are embedded in Director or to create external, streamable audio files, using SoundEdit for the Macintosh. Saving a movie as a Shockwave movie removes all the information needed to edit the movie and does not include the software that plays the movie. Therefore, Shockwave movies can be played in a web browser, only if the proper Shockwave player is installed.

Shockwave also allows compression and streaming of sounds, animations, graphics, and text. Advanced compression and streaming deliver the most interactive learning experiences available on the Web. Knowledge Stream and the Authorware Advanced Streamer extend rich-media courseware to users with dial-in (28.8) connection. In order to be played in a browser, a file first must be segmented in several smaller pieces for downloading over the web. This task is accomplished by the Web Packager. A map file is also created during this process which tells the Authorware Web Player what and when to download. Web player downloads and runs the pieces according to this map file. In this way the player runs segments as they are needed.

System Requirements
Windows authoring Windows playback Macintosh Playback Integration with other products
Authorware 5 Attain is part of the Attain Enterprise Learning System of integrated, open, scalable, learning tools and technologies. Although you can create some text and graphics with Authorware's tools, you'll get the best results with applications designed specifically for creating the type of media you want to include.

The latest version of Authorware integrates seamlessly with other Macromedia products such as Director and Shockwave. Director movies can be imported into and controlled directly by Authorware. The integration of Shockwave technology allows users to upload and view Authorware programs on the World Wide Web. Authorware now includes an implementation of Macromedia Open Architecture (MOA) allowing Macromedia and other software developers to write plug-ins that are compatible with all applications supporting MOA.

You can import and control industry-standard Flash vector graphics and animations within Authorware. The Flash's timeline-based animation offers you the capability to create sophisticated animations with extremely small file sizes. Your animations will be more interactive by capturing and responding to Flash events in Authorware.