LCU Logo

LiveCode University—Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What are the minimum system requirements for running LiveCode University?
  2. When I registered I chose to download the full course contents by clicking "Download Through Browser". But when I try to import the downloaded contents file through Help menu > Import Contents File... I get a SQLite error. How can I get the full contents of LCU?
  3. Why is there an item called Check for Content Updates in the Help menu? Isn't this a finished product?
  4. What are the limitations of the trial mode of LCU as compared to the licensed mode?
  5. Can I download LCU onto another computer? If I do, will it remember my login and user progress?
  6. I keep seeing references to a class or server called DigHT 210. What is that, and how do I get access to these resources?
  7. When I try to submit the first assignment, Robot Pseudocode Programming, I get an error message. And its tracking status doesn't update in the contents list. What's wrong?
  8. I am using the Windows version and I downloaded a new version. I get an error when installing the new Windows version.
  9. How do I get an assignment or exam to be marked as completed?
  10. I clicked on a button labeled "Launch Stack" and nothing happened. How can I open this stack?
  11. I clicked on a button labeled "Launch Stack" and I got on error that said the file was not found. How can I open this stack?
  12. Does LCU work offline?
  13. Does LCU run on iOS or Android tablets?
  14. I am running Windows and videos embedded in some of the lessons do not appear. How can I play videos in LCU on Windows?
  15. I forgot my password. Can I recover or reset it?
  16. I have a very slow internet connection, and when I try to download the complete contents after entering my LCU license code, the download stalls. Are there any other options for downloading the complete contents?
  17. Sometimes LCU reports that I am "offline", when I know my internet connection is working. What gives?
  18. Why does LCU ask me where I want to save downloaded stacks?

Q: What are the minimum system requirements for running LiveCode University?

A:
Macintosh:
MacOS X v. 10.9 or higher

Windows:
Windows 7 or higher
Windows Server 2008 or higher

Q: When I registered I chose to download the full course contents by clicking "Download Through Browser". But when I try to import the downloaded contents file through Help menu > Import Contents File... I get a SQLite error. How can I get the full contents of LCU?

A: This is a known issue that we are still trying to reproduce reliably. It this happens to you the workaround is to re-register:

  1. Choose Help menu > Reset LiveCode University.
  2. Click Reset at the warning dialog.
  3. Choose Register LiveCode University from the Help menu and enter your license key information again.
  4. You will be directed to download the full course contents again. Click Download & Install instead of Download Through Browser. The contents will download and install automatically. This may take several minutes depending on the speed of your internet connect.

If you encounter this error, please email devin_asay@byu.edu with the details: version of LCU, which OS you are running (Mac or Windows) and version of your OS. Screen snaps of the error message are also helpful.

Q: Why is there an item called Check for Content Updates in the Help menu? Isn't this a finished product?

A: LiveCode University is a finished product that I have used in my classes at BYU for several years. However, I am constantly working to keep it up to date with changes to the LiveCode interface, correct typos, improve examples and exercises, etc. When you choose Check for Content Updates from the Help menu you will get the very latest content, insuring the best possible learning experience. (Note: Make sure your computer is connected to the internet before trying this.)

Q: What are the limitations of the trial mode of LCU as compared to the licensed mode?

A. Trial mode limitations are as follows:

  • Access to around 30% of the content, including all of units 1 – 4 and portions of units 5, 6, 7, and 8.
  • Ten day time limit.
  • No ability to use the Content Updates feature.

Q: Can I download LCU onto another computer? If I do, will it remember my login and user progress?

If you are using the Personal Edition: Your license allows you to run LCU on any computer you own. However, the login and tracking information will be stored separately on each machine, so that information will not be kept in sync.

If you are using the Institutional Edition: You may install LCU on any computer you own or in your school's computer lab. Login and tracking information are stored on a server and will be synced to any computer you log in from.

Q: I keep seeing references to a class or server called DigHT 210. What is that, and how do I get access to these resources?

A: DigHT 210, or Digital Humanities & Technology 210, is the course number of the class at Brigham Young University for which this software was originally developed. We are working to update those references, but there are dozens of pages of documents to update, so rather than delay releasing LiveCode University, we released it with the Check for Content Updates feature. As we make these changes to lessons and assignments they will be made available through Check for Content Updates. If you see one we missed, or one you would like to have updated right away, drop us a note at support@livecode.com or devin_asay@byu.edu and mention the lesson or assignment name and number, and we'll move it up in the queue.

Q: When I try to submit the first assignment, Robot Pseudocode Programming, I get an error message. And its tracking status doesn't update in the contents list. What's wrong?

A: We discovered a bug in the Submit process for that assignment. It has been fixed. If you have upgraded to the full version you can get the fix now by going to Help > Check for Content Upates, and the fixed version should be downloaded for you. Then just log out and log in again and it should work. This fix is available to Trial version users starting with LCU v. 1.1.7.

Q: I am using the Windows version and I downloaded a new version. I get an error when installing the new Windows version.

A: Make sure you uninstall the old version first. Go to Start menu > All programs > LiveCode University > Uninstall LiveCode University.

Q: How do I get an assignment or exam to be marked as completed?

A: You must do a self-evaluation of the assignment. See Go menu > Self-evaluation Tool.

Q: I clicked on a button labeled "Launch Stack" and nothing happened. How can I open this stack?

A: LiveCode University is programmed to use your computer's method of linking specific document types with the proper applications for launching them. Sometimes this feature doesn't get set up right on a computer and this process fails. If this happens to you, try the following:

  • Make sure you have downloaded and installed LiveCode on your computer. Launch LiveCode then try clicking the button again.
  • Find a LiveCode stack file on your hard drive (LiveCode files are normally saved using a .livecode or .rev* filename extension.) Right click on it and choose Open With > from the popup menu. Choose LiveCode from the list presented. This should cause your operating system to make the file type association with LiveCode and fix the problem.

If it still doesn't work, try this:

On Windows:

  • Right click on a LiveCode stack file and choose Properties. In the Opens with: section click Change. Select LiveCode from the list of Recommended Programs, then tick the box below labeled "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file."
  • If this process still doesn't fix the problem, that may indicate a problem with the Windows Registry, a hidden database that Windows uses to keep track of associations betweeen file extensions and applications. There are several good, free Registry repair utilities available. The author has used CCleaner successfully to fix problems like this. You can use CCleaner and similar software to delete old, invalid file associations from the Windows Registry. (Disclaimer: Neither the author nor Runtime Revolution have any connection to this product; I'm just a satisfied user. Use at your own risk.)

On Mac:

  • Right click on a LiveCode stack file and choose Get Info. In the Open with: section choose LiveCode from the list of applications. Directly beneath that you should click the Change All… button. Respond to the dialog box by clicking the Continue button.

As of LCU v. 1.1.6 the Launch Stack button features a contextual popup menu that gives you the option of saving the stack to your hard drive. Just right click on the button to access it. If the directions above fail to solve the problem, try saving the stack to disk and opening it from within LiveCode.

* Important update (23 March 2014): Before 2010 LiveCode was called Revolution, and it saved files using the file extension .rev, rather than the current .livecode. Many of the example stacks used in LCU were created before that date, and use the older file extension. This can cause problems when LCU attempts to launch stacks with the LiveCode application, because the file association for the older extension may not be present on the user's system. A quick way to correct this problem is to create a new stack in LiveCode and save it using a .rev file extension. Then repeat the process above to associate this file, with the .rev extension, to the LiveCode application.

Q: I clicked on a button labeled "Launch Stack" and I got on error that said the file was not found. How can I open this stack?

After some testing it appears that on some Windows system this error message appears when in fact the file is present. Contrary to the misleading error message, the problem is that the file type hasn't been properly set up to launch with LiveCode, and can be solved by following the instructions to the answer to the previous question; i.e., "I clicked on a button labeled "Launch Stack" and nothing happened. How can I open this stack?".

Q: Does LCU work offline?

A: Yes. LCU is designed to be completely self-contained, and all functionality is available when not connected to the internet. You must be online when upgrading from the trial to the full version, because at that point LCU wants to download the remaining content. Once LCU is licensed there is a Check for Content Updates feature in the Help menu that will download any changes that have been made to the online master content database. For that you would also need to be online. But otherwise LCU should run happily in a disconnected state.

Q: Does LCU run on iOS or Android tablets?

A: No, currently LCU runs on Mac OS X 10.4 and above and Windows XP and above. A Linux version is planned soon. Because there are parts of the LCU content where the user can enter and run various LiveCode commands it's unlikely that we'll be able to do a mobile version, as that sort of thing is prohibited by iOS application rules, at least.

Q: I am running Windows and videos embedded in some of the lessons do not appear. How can I play videos in LCU on Windows?

A: It is possible that the video file did not download properly. Try selecting Check for Content Updates from the Help menu.

Q: I forgot my password. Can I recover or reset it?

A: Because of the way LCU stores user login passwords, there is no way to recover a forgotten or lost password. However, starting with v. 1.3, in the Personal Edition it is now possible to change a user login password without having to enter the old password. To select this option check the Easy Password Reset option in the LCU Preferences window.

Q: I have a very slow internet connection, and when I try to download the complete contents after entering my LCU license code, the download stalls. Are there any other options for downloading the complete contents?

A: In v. 1.3 we added an offline download feature, which downloads the complete content database through the user's web browser, so that persons with a slow download speed can interrupt and resume download of the full content after registering. After the user enters the LCU license code they are prompted to download the complete contents. It is at this point that the new "Download Through Browser" option appears. There is also a new option in the Help menu that allows the user to import a downloaded Contents file.

Q: Sometimes LCU reports that I am "offline", when I know my internet connection is working. What gives?

A: In version 1.3.2 we beefed up the routine that checks for a valid internet connection while LCU is running. Previously there would be erroneous reports that the user was not connected to the internet. Those spurious reports should now be much more rare.

If you are running LCU v. 1.5 or earlier, upgrade to the latest version. The LCU online checking feature was disabled in v. 1.6 after we determined it caused more problems than it solved.

Q: Why does LCU ask me where I want to save downloaded stacks?

A: In versions prior to LCU v. 1.7 downloaded stacks were automatically downloaded to your system's designated Temporary folder for your user account. This folder is a bit hard to find if you don't know where to look, and its contents is flushed each time you reboot your computer. (Hence the name.) This sometimes caused confusion when users would download assignment stacks, work on them and save them, because they couldn't find where the stack was saved. As of v. 1.7 you can choose where to save these stacks. Some users prefer to download everything to their desktop, then move it to another folder after they have worked on it and saved it. Others prefer to create a folder on their drive for LCU project stacks and set that as their download destination. This setting can be changed at any time by logging in to LCU and opening the Preferences.

Last updated: Wednesday, March 27, 2024 2:30 AM