Startup Screen Design

Introduction

A Startup Screen is a good beginning for an Application, and not only does this gives the user a taste of your design abilities, but also you can use this screen to launch some of your daily routine programs like Daily Backup of the database, checking the link status of the attached tables from external data sources, etc., in the background.

Sample Design

We will look at a simple design of a Startup Screen. The Completed design is shown below with an animated 'Website Address Image' at the center:

Click to Enlarge

We will look at the Form level and control level settings individually. Click on the Image above to look at its design in a bigger window.

NB: All Object specifications on this site are in U.S. Measurements. Those who follow the Metric System, please convert them or change the Regional Settings to the U.S., in the Control Panel on your PCs.

Form Property Values.

Open a new Form and set the Detail Section & Form level Properties as given below:

1. Detail Section Height = 2.85"
2. Back Color = 16777215 (white)
3. Form Width = 5.45"
4. Default View = Single Form
5. Allow Form View = Yes
6. Allow Datasheet View = No
7. Allow Edits = No
8. Allow Deletions = No
9. Allow Additions = No
10. Data Entry = No
11. Record Selectors = No
12. Navigation Buttons = No
13. Dividing Lines = No
14. Auto Resize = Yes
15. Auto Center = Yes
16. Pop Up = Yes
17. Border Style = None
18. Control Box = No
19. Min Max Buttons = None
20. Close Button = No
21. What's This Button = No
22. Allow Design Changes = Design View only

Create a Label with the Caption as shown at the top of the design. Display its Property Sheet and change the following Properties:

1. Fore color = 12632256 (gray color, good for a shadow-like effect)
2. Border Style = Transparent
3. Font Name = Times New Roman
4. Font Size = 18
5. Font Weight = Bold
6. Text Align = Center

Copy the Label and Paste it once again. Position the new copy of the Label slightly up and to the right of the original, so that the earlier label's text will be like a shadow to the new label caption. Change the new labels' property ForeColor = 0 (black) or any other strong color you prefer.

Create another label below it as shown in the design with the caption indicating the Version Number of your Application.

Create a Text Box at the bottom of the design and write the text as shown to display the Copyright information. Set the property Text Align = Center.

Select the Box control from the Toolbox and draw a Box around the design as shown and change the box color to Red. Copy the Box, click somewhere outside the box to de-select it, and paste it one more time. Drag and position the copy slightly up and to the right to look like a double-lined border.

Now, we come to the centerpiece of our design. Here you can insert any picture of your choice like the Logo of your company, WordArt, ClipArt, etc. If you insert WordArt or any other object copied from other Applications you must convert them into an Image after pasting it into the Form. Select the Object, select Change To from Format Menu, and select Image which will show a warning message saying that you cannot edit the Image, after converting, select Yes from the prompt.

In our design I have created a 3D Text, Design, which we have seen in one of the earlier Topics, on a white background, displayed and captured with Alt+Prt Scrn Keys, pasted into MS-Paint, cut and saved on disk in jpg format, and then inserted into the design.

Whatever object you insert, change the following properties to the values given below:

Image Properties.

1. Name = OLE1
2. Size Mode = Zoom
3. Picture Alignment = Center
4. Picture Tiling = No
5. Back Style = Transparent
6. Back Color = 16777215 (white. or change to your design background color)
7. Special Effect = Flat
8. Border Style = Transparent

Save the Form with the name Startup. In the form view, it will look like the sample below, of course after the completion of the programmed animation of the center image. When the Form is open the center image will not be visible and after a few seconds it will Zoom In from the center and end up in its original size as it was originally placed.

Click to Enlarge

Animation Code

Open the Startup Form again in the design view. Display the Form's Code Module, Click the Code Toolbar button, or select the Tools - -> Macro- -> Visual Basic Editor option. Copy and paste the following VB Code into the form module and save the Form:

Option Compare Database
Option Explicit
'Global declarations
Dim i As Integer, h As Long

Private Sub Form_Load()
   Me.OLE1.Visible = False
   h = Me.OLE1.Height / 10
   Me.OLE1.Height = h
   Me.TimerInterval = 100
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Timer()
Dim x As Long
i = i + 1
Select Case i
   Case 1 To 5
      'do nothing
   Case 6
      Me.OLE1.Visible = True
   Case 7 To 15
      x = Me.OLE1.Height
      x = x + h
      Me.OLE1.Height = x
   Case 40
      Me.TimerInterval = 0
      i = 0
      DoCmd.Close
 End Select
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
    DoCmd.OpenForm "Control", acNormal
End Sub

Select Startup from Tools Menu. Select the Startup Form in the Display Form/Page control. On the left side of Application Title control, you can type a suitable title for your Application which will appear in place of the 'Microsoft Access' Title. If you have an icon file with your company logo or a small .bmp file with the company logo you can insert it at the Application Icon control which will replace the MS-Access Icon on the Application title. You may remove the checkmark from the 'Display Database Window' to keep the database hidden when your Application is open.

When the Startup Screen is closed, the last three lines in the VB Code will attempt to open the Application's "Control" Screen. You must have a Screen named Control (Switchboard) or you can change the name of the form you would like to Open in the following code segment:

Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
    DoCmd.OpenForm "Control", acNormal
End Sub

Try out your design. Close and open your application and see that your design works as planned.

Download Demo Database.

Download Demo Database

• Opening Access Forms
• Control Screen Menu Design