Fade-In Splash Screen | Visual Basic.Net Snippet

Imports System.Threading

Public Class Form1
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

    Private Shared _form As frmSplash = Nothing

    Private Shared _mainForm As Form = Nothing

    Private Shared _thread As System.Threading.Thread = Nothing

    Public Shared ReadOnly Property Form() As frmSplash
        Get
            Return _form
        End Get
    End Property

    Public Shared Sub ShowSplash(ByVal mainForm As Form)
        If Not (_form Is Nothing) Or Not (_thread Is Nothing) Then
            Return
        End If

        _mainForm = mainForm

        If Not (_mainForm Is Nothing) Then
            AddHandler _mainForm.Activated, _
                AddressOf _mainForm_Activated
        End If

        _thread = New System.Threading.Thread( _
            New System.Threading.ThreadStart(AddressOf StartThread))
        _thread.Name = "SplashForm"
        _thread.IsBackground = True
        _thread.ApartmentState = System.Threading.ApartmentState.STA

        _thread.Start()
    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub CloseSplash()
        If Not (_form Is Nothing) And _form.IsDisposed = False Then

            If _form.InvokeRequired Then
                _form.Invoke(New MethodInvoker(AddressOf _form.Close))
            Else
                _form.Close()
            End If
        End If
        If Not (_mainForm Is Nothing) Then
            RemoveHandler _mainForm.Activated, _
                AddressOf _mainForm_Activated

            _mainForm.Activate()
        End If

        _form = Nothing
        _thread = Nothing
        _mainForm = Nothing
    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub ShowSplash()
        ShowSplash(Nothing)
    End Sub
     _
    Shared Sub Main()
        Dim mainForm As New SplashScreenForm
        SplashScreenForm.ShowSplash(mainForm)
        Application.Run(mainForm)

    End Sub

   Private Shared Sub StartThread()

        _form = New frmSplash

        AddHandler _form.Click, AddressOf _form_Click

        Application.Run(_form)
    End Sub

    Private Shared Sub _form_Click( _
            ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)

        CloseSplash()
    End Sub

    Private Shared Sub _mainForm_Activated( _
            ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
        While (_mainForm.Opacity < 1)
            _mainForm.Opacity += 0.08
            System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(100)
        End While
        CloseSplash()
    End Sub

End Class