How to hide access icon and everything but a form

[JJJJJJJJ]

I have an Access 2013 program that is launched from a bat file with an opening parameter. I have an autoexec macro that open a form that loads various data based upon the input variable.



I want my form to appear as if it were a compiled .exe program I would like all visual quest that I am using Access to be hidden. So when the user initiates the process I want nothing showing but the form. No Access or any other icon on the task bar, no access splash screen no indication at all that the app is an Access app.

Right now the red Microsoft Access opening/splash screen displays for a short time before my autoexec form is opened. I would like that default Access splash screen to not appear at all.

How can I do that?

[alansidman]

Look at this link: http://www.access-programmers.co.uk/...d.php?t=151711

[Micron]

I didn't see anything there that explains how to hide the Access splash screen. To do that you create a single pixel bitmap and give it the same name as the db; e.g. Mydb.bmp.

[JJJJJJJJ]

I found a better answer on stackoverflow.com. With your single bitmap icon solution it is still apparent that there is blank icon on the task bar and an observent user would find that odd. The method below has no icon what so ever.

I solved the task bar icon problem but how about the red Office Access red splash screen (I call it a splash screen for the lack of a better term)

I want to hide it and never even see a screen flash. How can I do that?


Option Compare Database
Option Explicit

Global Const SW_HIDE =0
Global Const SW_SHOWNORMAL =1
Global Const SW_SHOWMINIMIZED =2
Global Const SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED =3

PrivateDeclareFunction apiShowWindow Lib"user32" _
Alias"ShowWindow"(ByVal hWnd AsLong, _
ByVal nCmdShow AsLong)AsLong

Function fSetAccessWindow(nCmdShow AsLong)

Dim loX AsLong
Dim loForm As Form
OnErrorResumeNext
Set loForm = Screen.ActiveForm

If Err <>0Then
loX = apiShowWindow(hWndAccessApp, nCmdShow)
Err.Clear
EndIf

If nCmdShow = SW_SHOWMINIMIZED And loForm.Modal =TrueThen
MsgBox "Cannot minimize Access with " _
&(loForm.Caption +" ") _
&"form on screen"
ElseIf nCmdShow = SW_HIDE And loForm.PopUp <>TrueThen
MsgBox "Cannot hide Access with " _
&(loForm.Caption +" ") _
&"form on screen"
Else
loX = apiShowWindow(hWndAccessApp, nCmdShow)
EndIf
fSetAccessWindow =(loX <>0)
EndFunctionJust call fSetAccessWindow(0) to hide and fSetAccessWindow(1) to show. Alternatively, use fSetAccessWindow(2) and fSetAccessWindow(3) to show minimized/maximized. You can use the Global Const too. Be careful: Access will be hidden from the taskbar.

[Micron]

I want to hide it and never even see a screen flash. How can I do that?

The suggestion I made was for that only - nothing to do with the application icon. For that, I'd simply create my own application image and set that as the application icon in 'application options' in Access, but only if I was keeping the application window visible.

AFAIK, it is called the application splash screen. What I suggested has worked for me in any version up to 2007 (I have not upgraded since then). What I forgot to mention is that the image file has to be in the same folder as the db. For the sake of clarity, I'll also say that it is not an icon file (.ico) so I'm not sure what you mean when you use that term. It is simply a single pixel bitmap picture file which, as I said, has to have the same name as your db, but of course the file type extension has to be .bmp. If that doesn't work for your version, then I guess this solution has become outdated.

[ItsMe]

Your batch file is opening an Access file? What is the file extension of the Access file? Have you tried changing it to accdr ? What are you using as a Start In folder in your .bat script? If you are telling your computer to start Access, it is going to start Access. I would try to open the Access file as an executable or at least as accdr. Just open the file and use the computers default settings to figure out how to open it.

As for the task bar thing. IIRC, that will display until after you hide "Details" or something like that. I know I have hidden it before. I just can't remember how, exactly. I have hidden on Access Full Version only to have it pop-up with the free Run Time. I remember it being associated with the area that displays Description and details to the User. For instance, while in design view of a table, you assign a value to a column via description.