Let’s solve a puzzle!

Someone read my blog about how to use text entry in Storyline by monitoring every letter typed, rather than waiting until “it loses focuses” and asked if that solution could be used for a crossword puzzle like challenge. The answer is I wouldn’t. It would be too many text entry fields to deal with one a page.

Instead, try something like this:

TRY IT

What makes it “crossword puzzle-type”?

You capture keystrokes from the keyboard. When you press a key, the system checks it against the letters allowed in the crossword puzzle (which is defined in a text variable). If the letter is allowed, the highlighted cell displays the letter the user pressed. Immediately after, it moves the highlight to the next letter. This way, you can simply type your solution letter by letter.

If the key pressed is not a letter allowed, the system checks for delete (remove the character), arrows (move left and  right), or Enter (switching between across and down).

The buttons demonstrate how you can reveal all correct letters, or check current ones.

This is just a prototype, a starting point for your imagination. You can download the source from here as well.