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Multi-threaded splash screen in C#?

Asked 2008-09-08T00:10:07.490
62

I want a splash screen to show while the application is loading. I have a form with a system tray control tied to it. I want the splash screen to display while this form loads, which takes a bit of time since it's accessing a web service API to populate some drop-downs. I also want to do some basic testing for dependencies before loading (that is, the web service is available, the configuration file is readable). As each phase of the startup goes, I want to update the splash screen with progress.

I have been reading a lot on threading, but I am getting lost on where this should be controlled from (the main() method?). I am also missing how Application.Run() works, is this where the threads for this should be created from? Now, if the form with the system tray control is the "living" form, should the splash come from there? Wouldn't it not load until the form is completed anyway?

I'm not looking for a code handout, more of an algorithm/approach so I can figure this out once and for all :)

c# .net winforms multithreading splash-screen
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4 Answers

14

After looking all over Google and SO for solutions, this is my favorite: http://bytes.com/topic/c-sharp/answers/277446-winform-startup-splash-screen

FormSplash.cs:

public partial class FormSplash : Form
{
    private static Thread _splashThread;
    private static FormSplash _splashForm;

    public FormSplash() {
        InitializeComponent();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Show the Splash Screen (Loading...)
    /// </summary>
    public static void ShowSplash()
    {
        if (_splashThread == null)
        {
            // show the form in a new thread
            _splashThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(DoShowSplash));
            _splashThread.IsBackground = true;
            _splashThread.Start();
        }
    }

    // called by the thread
    private static void DoShowSplash()
    {
        if (_splashForm == null)
            _splashForm = new FormSplash();

        // create a new message pump on this thread (started from ShowSplash)
        Application.Run(_splashForm);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Close the splash (Loading...) screen
    /// </summary>
    public static void CloseSplash()
    {
        // need to call on the thread that launched this splash
        if (_splashForm.InvokeRequired)
            _splashForm.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(CloseSplash));

        else
            Application.ExitThread();
    }
}

Program.cs:

static class Program
{
    /// <summary>
    /// The main entry point for the application.
    /// </summary>
    [STAThread]
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // splash screen, which is terminated in FormMain
        FormSplash.ShowSplash();

        Application.EnableVisualStyles();
        Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
        // this is probably where your
answered 2011-02-14T17:01:42.570
6

I think using some method like aku's or Guy's is the way to go, but a couple of things to take away from the specific examples:

  1. The basic premise would be to show your splash on a separate thread as soon as possible. That's the way I would lean, similar to what aku's illustrated, since it's the way I'm most familiar with. I was not aware of the VB function Guy mentioned. And, even thought it's a VB library, he is right -- it's all IL in the end. So, even if it feels dirty it's not all that bad! :) I think you'll want to be sure that either VB provides a separate thread for in that override or that you create one yourself -- definitely research that.

  2. Assuming you create another thread to display this splash, you will want to be careful of cross thread UI updates. I bring this up because you mentioned updating progress. Basically, to be safe, you need to call an update function (that you create) on the splash form using a delegate. You pass that delegate to the Invoke function on your splash screen's form object. In fact if you call the splash form directly to update progress/UI elements on it, you'll get an exception provided you are running on the .Net 2.0 CLR. As a rule of thumb, any UI element on a form must be updated by the thread that created it -- that's what Form.Invoke insures.

Finally, I would likely opt to create the splash (if not using the VB overload) in the main method of your code. To me this is better than having the main form perform creation of the object and to be so tightly bound to it. If you take that approach, I'd suggest creating a simple interface that the splash screen implem

answered 2008-09-08T02:18:28.663
4

I posted an article on splash screen incorporation in the application at codeproject. It is multithreaded and might be of your interest

Yet Another Splash Screen in C#

answered 2010-01-22T12:41:42.363
3

I like Aku's answer a lot, but the code is for C# 3.0 and up since it uses a lambda function. For people needing to use the code in C# 2.0, here's the code using anonymous delegate instead of the lambda function. You need a topmost winform called formSplash with FormBorderStyle = None. The TopMost = True parameter of the form is important because the splash screen might look like it appears then disappears quickly if it's not topmost. I also choose StartPosition=CenterScreen so it looks like what a professional app would do with a splash screen. If you want an even cooler effect, you can use the TrasparencyKey property to make an irregular shaped splash screen.

private void formMain_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
  {

     Hide();
     bool done = false;
     ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(delegate
     {
       using (formSplash splashForm = new formSplash())
       {
           splashForm.Show();
           while (!done)
              Application.DoEvents();
           splashForm.Close();
       }
     }, null);

     Thread.Sleep(2000);
     done = true;
     Show();
  }
answered 2011-11-22T21:27:34.640

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