Label Animation Style-2

Introduction

Last week we learned a simple label animation method to display Employee Names, and made them appear character by character from the right side of the label to full view. The animated label gives the Form a lively look and makes it more interesting for the  User to work with the Screen.

This week we will learn a different label animation method with the same set of labels. In the earlier method, we used two identical labels to give the employee name a 3D effect.  We will stick with the same design, but the labels will be put horizontally apart in the design as shown below:

In the Current-Event Procedure of the Form the Labels will be moved in the opposite direction and finally assembled into a 3D heading style as shown below:

This happens every time an employee record becomes current.  The labels will restart from their original design position and slowly move in the opposite direction and stay in place to form the 3D Style Employee Name.

If you have gone through the earlier label animation design task, then it is easy to implement this one very easily.  All you have to do is to set the following Property Settings of lbl1 and lbl2 and copy the VBA routines into the Employee Form Module.

The Label Animation Design.

1. Open your database where you have tried the earlier example.

2. Make a copy of the earlier Employee Form we have tried the Label Animation and name it Employee2.

3. Open the Employee2 Form in Design View.

4. Click on the top label on the header of the Form and drag and move it to the right so that we will be able to click and select the labels individually and set their properties.

5. Select the Label with the name lbl1.

6. Display its Property Sheet (View - -> Properties) and set the following Property Values:

   • Name = lbl1
   • Width = 2.9924"
   • Height = 0.3549"
   • Top = 0.1569"
   • Left = 2.5194"
   • Back Style = Transparent
   • Border Style = Transparent
   • Font Name = Verdana
   • Font Size = 18
   • Text Align = Centre
   • Font Weight = Bold
   • ForeColor = 0

7. Select the Label with the name lbl2.

8. Display the Property Sheet and change the following Property Values:

   • Name = lbl2
   • Width = 2.9924"
   • Height = 0.3549"
   • Top = 0.125"
   • Left = 5.5313"
   • Back Style = Transparent
   • Border Style = Transparent
   • Font Name = Verdana
   • Font Size = 18
   • Text Align = Centre
   • Font Weight = Bold
   • ForeColor = 16777215

9. Display the Code Module of the Form (View- -> Code).

10. Copy and Paste the following VBA Code overwriting the existing Code:

    The Form Module VBA Code.

    Option Compare Database
    Option Explicit
    
    Private Const twips As Long = 1440
    Dim i, j
    
    Private Sub Form_Current()
    Dim txtName As String
    Me.lbl1.Left = 2.5194 * twips: Me.lbl1.Top = 0.1569 * twips: Me.lbl1.Width = 2.9924 * twips: Me.lbl1.Height = 0.3549 * twips
    Me.lbl2.Left = 5.5313 * twips: Me.lbl2.Top = 0.125 * twips: Me.lbl2.Width = 2.9924 * twips: Me.lbl2.Height = 0.3549 * twips
    txtName = Me![first name] & " " & Me![Last name]
    Me.lbl1.Caption = txtName
    Me.lbl2.Caption = txtName
    i = 0
    Me.TimerInterval = 5
    
    End Sub
    
    Private Sub Form_Timer()
    Dim m, L1, L2
    i = i + 1
    m = i Mod 2
    Select Case m
        Case 0
            L1 = Me.lbl1.Left
            L1 = L1 + (0.084 * twips)
            Me.lbl1.Left = L1
        Case 1
            L2 = Me.lbl2.Left
            L2 = L2 - (0.084 * twips)
            Me.lbl2.Left = L2
    End Select
    DoEvents
    If i > 35 Then
       Me.TimerInterval = 0
       i = 0
    End If
            
    End Sub

11. Save the Employee2 Form.

12. Open the Employee2 Form in normal view

13. Click on the Record Navigation control to advance each record forward one by one.

    For each record change, you will find the Employee Name Labels move towards each other and assemble into place to form a 3D heading.

1. Textbox and Label Inner Margins
2. Animating Label on Search Success
3. Label Animation Style-1
4. Label Animation Style-2
5. Label Animation Variant
6. Label Animation Zoom-in Style
7. Label Animation in Colors
8. Label Animation Zoom-out Fade

Read More

Label Animation Style-1

Introduction

A Form with lively Objects like Animated Command Buttons, Animated GIFs, Moving Text, etc., makes it more interesting for the User to work with MS-Access Applications.  MS-Access doesn't have any of those things built-in or ready-made to use quickly. Our imagination and ingenuity is the only tool available to create something with the existing, strictly for business-like features in MS-Access.

After working with MS-Access for some time I got bored with the repeated use of the same objects without any changes for designing the Applications.  I wanted to make something more eye-catching to kill the boredom. As the saying goes "Necessity is the father of inventions", I have developed some interesting features like Command Button Animation, Animated Floating Calendar, usage of Office Assistant in MsgBoxes, Animating Label on search success, Reminder Ticker, and others.

Today we will learn a simple Label Animation Technique with an example in the Employees Form from the Northwind.mdb sample database.

1. Import the following objects from the Northwind sample database.:

   • Table: Employees
   • Form: Employees

   If you open the Employees Form in Normal View you can see that the Employee's; Name; Firstname and Lastname joined together; is displayed in the Header of the Form in a Text Box. When you make some other record current on Form the employee's full name changes on the Form Header Textbox as well.

   We will add some animated effect to this and make the employee name appear slowly from the right edge of the label to the left, character by character, and move into place.

2. Open the Employees Form in Design View.

3. Delete the existing TextBox that displays the Employee's Name.

4. Create a Label on the Header of the Form.

5. Display the Property Sheet (View - -> Properties) of the Label and change the following Property Values:

   • Name = lbl1
   • Width = 3.5"
   • Height =0.32"
   • Back Style = Transparent
   • Border Style = Transparent
   • ForeColor = 16777215
   • Font Name = Times New Roman
   • Font Size = 18
   • Font Weight = Bold
   • Text Align = Right

6. Display the Code Module of the Form (View - ->Code).

7. Press Ctrl+A to highlight the existing VBA Routines and press the Del key to delete them.

8. Copy the following VBA Code and paste it into the Code Module of the Form.

   Label Animation Code.

   Option Compare Database
   Option Explicit
   
   Dim txt1 As String, txtlen As Integer
   Dim j As Integer, txt2 As String
   
   Private Sub Form_Timer()
   j = j + 1
   If j <= txtlen Then
     txt2 = Left(txt1, j)
     Me.lbl1.Caption = txt2
     'Me.lbl2.Caption = txt2
     Else
     Me.TimerInterval = 0
   End If
   
   End Sub
   
   
   Private Sub Form_current()
          
   txt1 = UCase(Me![FirstName] & " " & Me![LastName])
   txtlen = Len(txt1)
   j = 0
   Me.TimerInterval = 50
   
   End Sub

9. Save and Close the Employees Form.

10. Open the Employees Form in the normal view.

When you open the Form you will find the Employee Name is moving into place slowly from right to left, character by character, in the header label.


11. Click on the Navigation button to move the records forward one by one.

12. The names of the employees will be displayed in the same style by moving from the right edge of the label to the left.

Fancy Work to the Label.

We will add little fancy work to the Employee Name with a three-dimensional backlit effect by copying the Label and placing it over the existing one. See the finished design of the image is given below:

1. Open the Employee Form in Design View.

2. Select the header label.

3. Click on the Copy, Paste ToolBar buttons to make a copy of the label (or select Copy, Paste Options from the View Menu).

4. Click on the new Label to select it, if it is not in the selected state.

5. Display the Property Sheet of the Label (View - ->Properties).

6. Change the following Property Values as shown below:

• Name = lbl2
• ForeColor = 128

7. Move the label up and over the first label and place it slightly down from the top edge of the first label and to the left, about the thickness of a hair.  The sample image design view is given below:



I have already included the line of code necessary to run this trick.  All you have to do is to enable that line in the VBA code, do the following:

8. While the Form is still in design view display the VBA Module (View - ->Code)

9. You will find the following line of code in the Sub Form_Timer() Event Procedure in a different color (most probably in green color):

'Me.lbl2.Caption = txt2

10. Find the ' (single quote) character at the beginning of this line and delete it.

11. Save and Close the Form.

12. Open the Form in the Normal View.

    Now you will find the Employee Names appearing in animated characters, with the 3D effect, as shown in the second image above.

1. Textbox and Label Inner Margins
2. Animating Label on Search Success
3. Label Animation Style-1
4. Label Animation Style-2
5. Label Animation Variant
6. Label Animation Zoom-in Style
7. Label Animation in Colors
8. Label Animation Zoom-out Fade

Read More