How to create a top-level splash screen with no TaskBar icon

   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
         -----------
   
         #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
               DECLARE integer Sleep IN WIN32API integer
               Sleep(2000) && This adjusts load time, time is in milliseconds.
               CLEAR DLLS Sleep
            ENDPROC
   
            PROCEDURE QUERYUNLOAD()
               CLEAR EVENTS
            ENDPROC
         ENDDEFINE
   						

Points to Note

• 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.