How-To... - Creating A Screen Saver
- Part 1
'How do I create a screen saver through Visual
Basic?' is a question asked by a lot of VB users. And the answer is -- well,
read on. Getting a form to act like a screensaver is easy, just a few properties
changed here and there and some lines of code. The hard part is getting an
actual screen saver design - like the Flying Windows saver - I for one do
not know, at the moment, how to get an effect like that.
Part 1 of this How-To will show you how you
can get your form to behave like a saver, and how to compile your file into
a .scr file. Lets begin...
Step 1
Insert a standard module and go to the General
Declerations section and type sub main
and press ENTER. In this new procedure,
insert the following code :-
If App.PrevInstance Then End
If InStr(Command, "/s") > 0 Then
frmSaver.Show
End If
What it does : The first line makes sure it only one instance
of your saver runs. This is required because Windows will try to run your
saver again(and any saver for that matter) after the set interval even if
it is already running. The next IF statement is when Windows passes the command
'/s' to your save, the form will be displayed. All the '/s' means is display
the saver. Ok, thats all the module code finished for the moment.
Step 2
On a form - give it a name of frmSaver (only for this
example). Set the following properties in the Properties box
Now, double-click on the Form and go to the Click procedure
of the Form. In this, insert the following code :
End
All this does is end the saver when you click
the mouse. In the MouseMove procedure, insert the following code :
Static OldX As Integer
Static OldY As Integer
If (OldX > 0 And OldY > 0) And (Abs(X - OldX) > 3 Or Abs(Y - OldY) > 3) Then
End
End If
OldX = X
OldY = Y
This tracks the positon of the mouse(X and
Y) and if it moves, then end the saver. You may also wish to put End in the
MouseDown, MouseUp, KeyPress and Keydown procedures. Thats all the code(for
the moment). All that is left to do is compile it into an .scr file. Also,
put a design or something on the form - black is a bit boring!.
Step 3
Before compiling, go into the TOOLS menu
and click OPTIONS(may differ with versions) and in the Project tab, make sure
Sub Main is selected in the Startup Form box and click OK to close the box.
Next, click on FILE, then MAKE EXE FILE(may differ with versions) and in the
filename box, type in a name for your saver followed by .scr .For example,
vbhowto.scr and click Save to save it. Its best to save it in the Windows/System
folder which means you can view it through the Screensaver tab in the Display
Properties.
And there you have it, you now have a working
screensaver. Part 2 will have more features, including a password and config
box.