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Make a SplashScreen

Title: Make a SplashScreen What is a splashscreen? A splashscreen is an image shown to the user while the rest of the program loads. This tells us two things: 1. The splashscreen is NEVER the mainform of the project. 2. It will need to be closed (or at least hidden) at some point. Making the splashscreen itself is very simple: ------ METHOD 1: - First go to "Project | Options": Here you set the SplashScreen form to auto-create and the mainform of the project to available. - Next take a TImage and drop it on the form that you wish to use as the splashscreen. Drop on that same form a TTimer. Set the timer to the amount you want. Next you'll have to code what happens when the timer runs out, namely: Create the mainform. Something like: Application.CreateForm(TForm1,Form1); should get the desired results. The final step is to have the mainform dispose of the splashscreen. So you'll have to do something called form linking to let the mainform access the splashscreen: First make the mainform unit the unit you are currently viewing. Press Alt-F11 or go to "File | Use Unit" to select the splashscreen unit and hit Ok. Now you can add where ever you want the code to close the splashscreen. (I personally prefer the onCreate event of the main form) ------ METHOD 2: I only use this one if the loading of the mainform takes subtantial time: I have both forms auto-create. Obviously, the user won't see the mainform until the onCreate event has finished. Therefore you can use the form linking (see above) in the most simple way, link the splashscreen to the mainform and just add as the last line of code of the onCreate event the something like mySplash.Close; or mySplash.Hide; if you plan to store variables there for other units. This will cause the splashscreen to disappear as the mainform appears.