Timer in WinForms

Question

I'm using a timer to create a Splash Screen. What I want to do is to make the form fade-in and fade-out. I started with making the form opacity 0 in the form's constructor, and by triggering the timer in the Form load method. Now in my Timer_Tick method, I keep increasing the opacity by, say, 0.2. I figured that I'd start decreasing the opacity once the timer hits half its interval, but I'm unable to do that.

I'm not very clear with how the timer works as it is, but I wanted to implement something like this:

if(Whatever_Timer_Value_Is <= Interval/2)  //Can't achieve this :s
this.Opacity += 2;
else
this.Opacity -=2 ;

So..is there a way to get the value of the Timer at any instant? Or is there any other way to do this? Please keep it simple. I'm just an amateur. X(

Create a counter variable in the form which you can increment and check in the tick event. Also check the opacity range of values! — TaW, Jul 13 '14 at 08:10

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited Sep 08 '15 at 20:12

Try creating a second form for splash:

Form splash = new Form();

public Form1()
{
    InitializeComponent();
    this.Visible = false;
    splash.Opacity = 0;
    splash.Show();
    _timerShow();
    _timerHide();
    this.Visible = true;
}

private async void _timerShow()
{
    while(splash.opacity!=1)
    {
        await Task.Delay(50);
        splash.opacity +=.01;
    }
}

private async void _timerHide()
{
    while(splash.opacity!=0)
    {
        await Task.Delay(50);
        splash.opacity -=.01;
    }
}

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:14

Try this method suggested by Servy in this post. I have modified method for Form Fade-Out to hide form.

public Form1()
{
    InitializeComponent();
    this.Opacity = 0;
}


private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{            
    ShowMe();
}


private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    HideMe();

}

private void ShowMe()
{
    int duration = 1000;//in milliseconds
    int steps = 100;
    Timer timer = new Timer();
    timer.Interval = duration / steps;

    int currentStep = 0;
    timer.Tick += (arg1, arg2) =>
    {
        Opacity = ((double)currentStep) / steps;
        currentStep++;

        if (currentStep >= steps)
        {
            timer.Stop();
            timer.Dispose();
        }
    };

    timer.Start();
}
private void HideMe()
{
    int duration = 1000;//in milliseconds
    int steps = 100;
    Timer timer = new Timer();
    timer.Interval = duration / steps;

    int currentStep = 100;
    timer.Tick += (arg1, arg2) =>
    {
        Opacity = ((double)currentStep) / steps;
        currentStep--;

        if (currentStep <= 0)
        {
            timer.Stop();
            timer.Dispose();
            this.Close();
        }
    };

    timer.Start();
}

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 13 '14 at 10:35

Just remember the time when you start the timer. That way you can always tell how much time has passed.

You can use Environment.TickCount for that. This is a monotonic clock.

Incremental computations (like Opacity += 0.2;) are to be avoided in timers because it is not guaranteed to receive all ticks or too receive them at the right points in time. You better calculate how much time has passed and calculate the right opacity value from that.

score -1 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 13 '14 at 07:18

-1

have a look to this, a sample for a splash screen in c#: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/5454/A-Pretty-Good-Splash-Screen-in-C

answered Jul 13 '14 at 07:18

Mohamed Al-Hosary

488
8
25

That's where I'd started. But since it was too complex for me, I tried to break it down; which is where I'm stuck. – BlitzkriegLove Jul 13 '14 at 07:29

Timer in WinForms

4 Answers4

Linked