Alternatives to Msgbox in VBScript - windows

Question

I want to show status information after a VBS based login script runs. I could simply use a Messagebox, but would rather have this information appear above the clock briefly after the user logs in.
What alternatives do I have instead of a Messagebox?

Answer 1

What you are referring to is something like a balloon tip. There is nothing like this available in VBScript natively. You would need to use a third-party component.
As an aside, PowerShell IS able to do this.
[reflection.assembly]::loadwithpartialname("System.Windows.Forms")
[reflection.assembly]::loadwithpartialname("System.Drawing")
$notify = new-object system.windows.forms.notifyicon
$notify.icon = [System.Drawing.SystemIcons]::Information
$notify.visible = $true
$notify.showballoontip(10,"Reboot Required","Please restart your computer",[system.windows.forms.tooltipicon]::None)

Answer 2

If you can go pure powershell I highly recommend this snippet works great!
Example
Code
##################
# Messenger like popup dialog
# Usage:
# New-Popup.ps1
# New-Popup.ps1 -slide -message "hello world" -title "PowerShell Popup"
param(
[int]$formWidth=200,
[int]$formHeight=110,
[string]$title="Your title here",
[string]$message="Your message here",
[int]$wait=4,
[switch]$slide
)
[void][reflection.assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Windows.Forms")
################
# extract powershell icon if doesn't exist
$icon = "$env:temp\posh.ico"
if( !(test-path -pathType leaf $icon)){
[System.Drawing.Icon]::ExtractAssociatedIcon((get-process -id $pid).path).ToBitmap().Save($icon)
}
################
# Create the form
$form = new-object System.Windows.Forms.Form
$form.ClientSize = new-object System.Drawing.Size($formWidth,$formHeight)
$form.BackColor = [System.Drawing.Color]::LightBlue
$form.ControlBox = $false
$form.ShowInTaskbar = $false
$form.FormBorderStyle = [System.Windows.Forms.FormBorderStyle]::FixedSingle
$form.topMost=$true
# initial form position
$screen = [System.Windows.Forms.Screen]::PrimaryScreen
$form.StartPosition = [System.Windows.Forms.FormStartPosition]::Manual
if($slide){
$top = $screen.WorkingArea.height + $form.height
$left = $screen.WorkingArea.width - $form.width
$form.Location = new-object System.Drawing.Point($left,$top)
} else {
$top = $screen.WorkingArea.height - $form.height
$left = $screen.WorkingArea.width - $form.width
$form.Location = new-object System.Drawing.Point($left,$top)
}
################
# pictureBox for icon
$pictureBox = new-object System.Windows.Forms.PictureBox
$pictureBox.Location = new-object System.Drawing.Point(2,2)
$pictureBox.Size = new-object System.Drawing.Size(20,20)
$pictureBox.TabStop = $false
$pictureBox.SizeMode = [System.Windows.Forms.PictureBoxSizeMode]::StretchImage
$pictureBox.Load($icon)
################
# create textbox to display the message
$textbox = new-object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
$textbox.Text = $message
$textbox.BackColor = $form.BackColor
$textbox.Location = new-object System.Drawing.Point(4,26)
$textbox.Multiline = $true
$textbox.TabStop = $false
$textbox.BorderStyle = [System.Windows.Forms.BorderStyle]::None
$textbox.Size = new-object System.Drawing.Size(192,77)
$textbox.Cursor = [System.Windows.Forms.Cursors]::Default
$textbox.HideSelection = $false
################
# Create 'Close' button, when clicked hide and dispose the form
$button = new-object system.windows.forms.button
$button.Font = new-object System.Drawing.Font("Webdings",5)
$button.Location = new-object System.Drawing.Point(182,3)
$button.Size = new-object System.Drawing.Size(16,16)
$button.Text = [char]114
$button.FlatStyle = [System.Windows.Forms.FlatStyle]::Flat
$button.Add_Click({ $form.hide(); $form.dispose() })
if($slide) {$button.visible=$false}
################
# Create a label, for title text
$label = new-object System.Windows.Forms.Label
$label.Font = new-object System.Drawing.Font("Microsoft Sans Serif",8,[System.Drawing.FontStyle]::Bold)
$label.TextAlign = [System.Drawing.ContentAlignment]::MiddleLeft
$label.Text = $title
$label.Location = new-object System.Drawing.Point(24,3)
$label.Size = new-object System.Drawing.Size(174, 20)
################
# Create a timer to slide the form
$timer = new-object System.Windows.Forms.Timer
$timer.Enabled=$false
$timer.Interval=10
$timer.tag="up"
$timer.add_tick({
if(!$slide){return}
if($timer.tag -eq "up"){
$timer.enabled=$true
$form.top-=2
if($form.top -le ($screen.WorkingArea.height - $form.height)){
#$timer.enabled=$false
$timer.tag="down"
start-sleep $wait
}
} else {
$form.top+=2
if($form.top -eq ($screen.WorkingArea.height + $form.height)){
$timer.enabled=$false
$form.dispose()
}
}
})
# add form event handlers
$form.add_shown({
$form.Activate()
(new-Object System.Media.SoundPlayer "$env:windir\Media\notify.wav").play()
$timer.enabled=$true
})
# draw seperator line
$form.add_paint({
$gfx = $form.CreateGraphics()
$pen = new-object System.Drawing.Pen([System.Drawing.Color]::Black)
$gfx.drawLine($pen,0,24,$form.width,24)
$pen.dispose()
$gfx.dispose()
})
################
# add controls to the form
# hide close button if form is not sliding
if($slide){
$form.Controls.AddRange(#($label,$textbox,$pictureBox))
} else {
$form.Controls.AddRange(#($button,$label,$textbox,$pictureBox))
}
################
# show the form
[void]$form.showdialog()
save as New-Popup.ps1 to keep the usage the same. Kudo's to the author of http://scriptolog.blogspot.com/2008/02/windows-messenger-like-popup.html