Q190350: HOWTO: Create Top-Level Splash Screen with No TaskBar Icon
Article: Q190350
Product(s): Microsoft FoxPro
Version(s): WINDOWS:6.0
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s):
Last Modified: 04-AUG-1999
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 6.0
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SUMMARY
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In Visual FoxPro 6.0, you now have the ability to make a top-level form that
displays, but does not appear in the Windows taskbar. The primary reason for
doing this is to create a splash screen that displays when an application
starts.
You can create a top-level form that does not show in the Windows Taskbar by
setting the following form properties:
Desktop = .T.
ShowWindow = 2
TitleBar = 0
MORE INFORMATION
================
The following code example demonstrates how to implement a splash screen. The
splash form displays until just after the main form displays. The splash form
then automatically releases. The SetAll method call in the Init method of the
splash form, sets the MousePointer property of all objects contained in the
splash form to the form's MousePointer setting. In this case, you set it to the
hourglass. The splash form also contains an image control that displays a
bitmap, and a label with the splash screen's caption. Code is added to the main
form Init method that causes the form to take some time to display, so the
splash form remains visible for a few moments. This allows you to see the
effect. If the main form is complex, the form load itself provides the interval
for the splash form to display. Otherwise, you could use a timer to provide the
interval for the splash form to remain visible.
Steps to Demonstrate Behavior
-----------------------------
1. Run the following code from a program (.prg) file within Visual FoxPro, or
add the program to a project and build it into an executable (.exe) file that
you can run outside of Visual FoxPro. If you build an EXE, be sure to create
a Config.fpw file with the line SCREEN=OFF in it and add it to your project.
This causes the Visual FoxPro desktop to remain hidden.
Sample Code
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#DEFINE MOUSE_HOURGLASS 11 && 11 = Hourglass, from FoxPro.h
LOCAL loSplash, loMain
loSplash = NEWOBJECT("splashform") && Create splash form
loSplash.SHOW() && Show splash form
loMain = NEWOBJECT('mainform') && Create main form
loMain.SHOW() && Show main form
RELEASE loSplash && Release splash form
READ EVENTS
DEFINE CLASS splashform AS FORM
ALWAYSONTOP = .T. && Make splash form remain on top
AUTOCENTER = .T.
WIDTH = 263
NAME = "Form1"
* Next 3 properties required for splash form to not show in
* TaskBar
SHOWWINDOW = 2
DESKTOP = .T.
TITLEBAR = 0
BORDERSTYLE = 2
MOUSEPOINTER = MOUSE_HOURGLASS
ADD OBJECT lbl1 AS LABEL WITH ;
TOP = 225, ;
LEFT = 10, ;
CAPTION = 'My Splash Screen Caption', ;
FONTSIZE = 14, ;
FONTBOLD = .T., ;
FONTNAME = 'Arial', ;
AUTOSIZE = .T.
ADD OBJECT img1 AS IMAGE WITH ;
PICTURE = HOME(2)+'Servers\Gopher\WTHOT.BMP', ;
TOP = 0, ;
LEFT = 0
PROCEDURE INIT
* Set mouse cursor to hourglass.
THIS.SETALL('MOUSEPOINTER', THIS.MOUSEPOINTER)
ENDPROC
ENDDEFINE
DEFINE CLASS mainform AS FORM
CAPTION = "Application Main Form - Click CloseBox to Quit"
SHOWWINDOW = 2
AUTOCENTER = .T.
WIDTH = 500
HEIGHT = 400
PROCEDURE INIT
LOCAL lni, ox
* The following loop makes form take some time to load.
* This simulates a complex form.
FOR lni = 1 TO 20000 && Adjust TO number to adjust load time.
ox = NEWOBJECT('custom')
RELEASE ox
ENDFOR
ENDPROC
PROCEDURE QUERYUNLOAD()
CLEAR EVENTS
ENDPROC
ENDDEFINE
Points to Note
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- For the duration of the splash form's display, its icon does not appear in
the Windows Taskbar or in the Windows list of running applications displayed
with the ALT+TAB key combination.
- The main form displays behind the splash form just before the splash form is
released. The AlwaysOnTop = .T. setting for the splash form ensures that it
remains in front of forms displayed subsequently.
- The oMainform.Show is called before oSplash is released. If the splash form
is released before the main form Show, the main form window does not receive
the focus. The ordering used in the example avoids this behavior.
- If you are using forms rather than form classes, you can still achieve the
behavior described earlier. Assuming your splash form is called
splashform.scx, and your main form is called mainform.scx, the following code
demonstrates this:
LOCAL loSplash, loMain
DO FORM splashform NAME loSplash LINKED
DO FORM mainform NAME loSplash LINKED
RELEASE loSplash
READ EVENTS
NOTE: Remember that the appropriate property settings for splashform must be made
to ensure that it does not show in the Taskbar and the form remains on top.
REFERENCES
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Microsoft Visual FoxPro Help File; search on: "DO FORM"; "NEWOBJECT()"; "Form"
(c) Microsoft Corporation 1998. All Rights Reserved. Contributions by Jim
Saunders, Microsoft Corporation
Additional query words: kbvfp600
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Keywords :
Technology : kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbVFP600
Version : WINDOWS:6.0
Issue type : kbhowto
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