'===========================================================================
' Subject: SMOOTHER CONTROL ANIMATION        Date: 02-12-99 (14:34)       
' Author:  Eric Bernatchez                   Code: VBWIN                  
' Origin:  CapeCanaveral/Lab/1961/         Packet: VBWIN.ABC
'===========================================================================
Smoother Control Animation

If you ever tried making a Label scroll from the right side to the left side of the
screen, you know how bad the result is. A traditional approach of doing so would
be:

Public Sub Scrolling()
        Label1.Left = Screen.Width
        Do
        Label1.Left = Label1.Left - 15 
                ' 15 is the equivalent of 1 pixel
        DoEvents
        Loop Until Label1.Left <= -(Label1.Width + 15)
End Sub

VB makes too many redraws in a small period of time, so you can hardly read the
text of the Label. The solution is to slightly increase the duration of each
appearance of the Label so the human eye has enough time to see it. To obtain
the same scrolling speed, you must increase the steps of the Label from 15 to 30,
or even 60. Here's how to do it:

Public Sub Scrolling()
        Label1.Left = Me.Width
        Do
        Label1.Left = Label1.Left - 60
                temp = Timer
                Do
                        DoEvents
                Loop Until Timer - temp > 0.1
        Loop Until Label1.Left <= -(Label1.Width + 15)
End Sub

Doing so also makes the animation independent of the CPU's speed.

Eric Bernatchez, Montreal, Quebec, Canada