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Loading Screen

Customizing Loading Screen for HTML Executable Applications

During their initialization phase, applications created with HTML Executable can show a splash screen (an image briefly displayed at the beginning), and/or a "Please wait..." dialog box. These features can enhance the user experience, making the startup phase more interactive while informing users that the application is being initialized.

Splash Screen

The splash screen is a great way to display your company's logo or any imagery related to your application's content.

To enable the splash screen, you must specify the image file to be used (absolute path required) and determine how long it should be displayed (in seconds).

HTML Executable supports a variety of image formats including PNG, BMP, GIF (including animated GIFs), JPEG, and TIF.

Don't forget to tick the option named "The splash screen is an animated gif" if you choose an image that is an animated GIF, otherwise it will be displayed statically.

HTML Executable supports non-rectangular alpha-blended (semi-transparent) splash screens if you use 32-bit PNG files. This can give a unique look to your application.

Additionally, you have the option to allow users to close the splash screen by clicking on it, which is generally recommended for a better user experience.

Please take note of the following:

ØTry to use small splash screens: large splash screens may take longer to draw because, in some cases, data needs to be decompressed first (like for PNG or JPEG).

ØThe splash screen file is not stored in the project file. It should be available as an external file when the application is being compiled. Path variables like [PROJECTPATH] are allowed.

"Please Wait" Dialog Box

The "Please wait..." dialog box is another feature to enhance the user experience. It displays a custom text of your choice, such as "Loading application, please wait...".

To change the displayed text, navigate to the Language tab and modify the resource string: `SLoadingPublication`.

You can also opt not to display this dialog box by enabling the "No initialization dialog at startup" option.

"Please Wait" Panel at Startup (CEF only)

Instead of a blank window at startup, HTML Executable can show a panel bearing a "Please wait" text while the application's contents are loading. You can customize this text by editing the resource string named `SCEFPleaseWait`.

Only for the CEF rendering engine.

Splash Screen with Progress Bar

The splash screen can also serve as a progress indicator while loading the application. With this option, a progress bar is displayed at the bottom of the splash screen, letting users know that the application is busy loading.

This option is not compatible with "Display Time". Moreover, the splash screen in progress mode can't be closed by users.

You can customize the progress bar's colors by clicking on Customize Progress Bar and editing the available properties.