CSplashScreenEx : a non rectangular splash screen class with Alpha blending

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• Download demo project - 277 Kb

Introduction

A little time ago I was looking for a Splash Screen class which would allow me to display a non rectangular bitmap without masking the background. Since I didn't find a class that matched with my needs, I developed my own Splash Screen class :- CSplashScreenEx

Compatibility

This class needs MFC to be either statically or dynamically linked in your project; it has been written, compiled and tested under Visual Studio .NET (but should work well with VC6)

How to use the Class

The class is very easy to use: Just add SplashScreenEx.h and SplashScreenEx.cpp into your project, then include SplashScreenEx.h into your application. To display the splash screen just include these lines in your OnInitDialog() function:

CSplashScreenEx *pSplash=new CSplashScreenEx();
pSplash->Create(this,NULL,2000,CSS_FADE | CSS_CENTERSCREEN | CSS_SHADOW);
pSplash->SetBitmap(IDB_SPLASH,255,0,255);
pSplash->Show();

And that's it, the splash screen appears for 2000 ms and then disappears and frees the memory allocated.

Important note - The class must be allocated on the heap since it is automatically destroyed when it disappears.

CSplashScreenEx *pSplash=new CSplashScreenEx()

The splash screen can also be used to display the loading progression of your app, as seen in the Sample number 2:

CSplashScreenEx *pSplash=new CSplashScreenEx();
pSplash->Create(this,"CSplashScreenEx dynamic text:",0,CSS_FADE | 
                        CSS_CENTERSCREEN | CSS_SHADOW);
pSplash->SetBitmap(IDB_SPLASH,255,0,255);
pSplash->SetTextFont("Impact",100,CSS_TEXT_NORMAL);
pSplash->SetTextRect(CRect(125,60,291,104));
pSplash->SetTextColor(RGB(255,255,255));
pSplash->SetTextFormat(DT_SINGLELINE | DT_CENTER | DT_VCENTER);
pSplash->Show();

Sleep(1000);
pSplash->SetText("You can display infos");

Sleep(1000);
pSplash->SetText("While your app is loading");

Sleep(1000);
pSplash->SetText("Just call Hide() when loading");
	
Sleep(1000);
pSplash->SetText("is finished");
Sleep(1500);

pSplash->Hide();

Class Documentation

CSplashScreenEx::Create

BOOL Create(CWnd *pWndParent,LPCTSTR szText=NULL,DWORD dwTimeout=2000,DWORD dwStyle=CSS_FADE | CSS_CENTERSCREEN | CSS_SHADOW);

Create the Splash Screen which stays hidden until Show() is called

Arguments

• pWndParent: The parent window (this)
• szText: The text displayed in your splash screen
• dwTimeout: The time in milliseconds before the splash screen disappears. if 0 the splash screen stays forever :)
• dwStyle: Can be a combination of the following values:
• CSS_FADEIN : Fade In animation while appearing
• CSS_FADEOOUT: Fade Out animation while disappearing
• CSS_FADE=CSS_FADEIN | CSS_FADEOUT : Fade in + Fade out
• CSS_SHADOW : Displays a shadow under the splash screen
• CSS_CENTERSCREEN : The splash screen is centered on the screen
• CSS_CENTERAPP: The splash screen is centered on the parent window
• CSS_HIDEONCLICK: The splash screen disappears and is destroyed when a key is pressed or it is clicked with the mouse

CSplashScreenEx::SetBitmap

BOOL SetBitmap(UINT nBitmapID,short red=-1,short green=-1,short blue=-1);

BOOL SetBitmap(LPCTSTR szFileName,short red=-1,short green=-1,short blue=-1);

Associate the splash screen with a bitmap

Arguments

• nBitmapId: Resource ID for the bitmap
• szFileName: Path for the bitmap on the hard drive
• red,green,blue: Transparency color for the bitmap (RGB color). Set these to -1 to disable bitmap transparency

CSplashScreenEx::Show

void Show();

Show the splash screen

CSplashScreenEx::Hide

void Hide();

Hide and destroy the splash screen

CSplashScreenEx::SetText

void SetText(LPCTSTR szText);

Change the text displayed in the splash screen

CSplashScreenEx::SetTextFont

void SetTextFont(LPCTSTR szFont,int nSize,int nStyle);

Change the Font of the text

Arguments

nStyle can be one or a combination of the following values:

• CSS_TEXT_NORMAL
• CSS_TEXT_BOLD
• CSS_TEXT_ITALIC
• CSS_TEXT_UNDERLINE

CSplashScreenEx::SetTextDefaultFont

void SetTextDefaultFont();

Set the system default font for the text displayed in the splash screen

CSplashScreenEx::SetTextColor

void SetTextColor(COLORREF crTextColor);

Change the text color

CSplashScreenEx::SetTextRect

void SetTextRect(CRect& rcText);

Change the text rect boundaries

CSplashScreenEx::SetTextFormat

void SetTextFormat(UINT uTextFormat);

Change the text format; see the DrawText function in the MSDN for the different values (default is DT_CENTER | DT_VCENTER | DT_WORDBREAK)

Technical issues

When SetBitmap() is called, if a transparency color has been specified, a GDI region is generated (thanks to Davide Pizzolato code) and this region is applied to the splash screen window (SetWindowRgn(...)). Thanks to this, the window is not anymore rectangular. The rest of the code is basic stuff, in the WM_PAINT handler, the background bitmap is blit on the window. Please refer to the code for more details about the implementation.

Conclusion

I hope this class will be useful to you, if you find any memory or GDI leaks or if you have suggestions to enhance this class, please post a comment. If you use this class in a freeware, shareware or commercial app, please let me know, I'll be happy :)