Create a Splash Window in VB.NET for Revit Addins

Splash window is a fancy feature and many applications have it. In Revit addins, it may also be necessary to display a splash window sometimes.

Here is a simple and functional splash window sample in VB.NET:

Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports System.Drawing

Public Class SplashWindow
    Private form As Form = Nothing
    Private timer As Timer = Nothing

    Public Sub New(ByVal width As Integer, ByVal height As Integer, ByVal interval_milisecs As Integer, ByVal image As Image)
        form = New Form()

        form.Width = width
        form.Height = height

        form.BackgroundImage = image
        form.BackgroundImageLayout = System.Windows.Forms.ImageLayout.Stretch

        form.StartPosition = FormStartPosition.CenterScreen
        form.FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.None
        form.TopMost = True

        timer = New Timer()
        timer.Interval = interval_milisecs
        AddHandler timer.Tick, New EventHandler(AddressOf timer_Tick)
        timer.Start()

        form.Show()
    End Sub

    Private Sub timer_Tick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal args As EventArgs)
        timer.Stop()
        form.Close()
    End Sub
End Class

The splash window displays a background image and its width, height and the display time can be specified.

As can be noticed, a windows Form and a Timer are used in the splash window class. The Form is to display the image and the Timer is to control its life time.

To use the splash window is also very easy, creating an instance of the SplashWindow class in the OnStartup of an external application and providing proper values for the width, height and time and feeding a good image to the constructor:

    Public Function OnStartup(ByVal uiApp As UIControlledApplication) As Result Implements IExternalApplication.OnStartup
        _cachedUiCtrApp = uiApp
        Try
            Dim ribbonPanel As RibbonPanel = CreateRibbonPanel()

            ''TODO: add you code below.
            Dim sw As New SplashWindow(300, 300, 30000, New System.Drawing.Bitmap("c:/temp/SplashWindow1.bmp"))

            Return Result.Succeeded
        Catch ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString())
            Return Result.Failed
        End Try
End Function

 
That is about it!

RevitAddinWizard  provide a Coder for the SplashWindow creation in both C# and VB.NET.