> Oh I agree with that. Like it said, this is just the quick and dirty > way of doing it. You have to lock up the computer to stop the > animation (something which we've managed to do a couple of times). A > real progress indicator is much better. Instead of just saying "Please > Wait" on screen you can also add an animated GIF.
There are two types of progress bars. I'll call them qualitative and quantitaive. The qualitative bar only indicates that progress is being made, but can't predict when it will complete. This is appropriate when waiting on a computer or other resource. The qualitative progress bar shows a percentage or n of m display so that it is possible to know rougly when it will complete. And please don't do multiple progress bars showing individual steps, the old PC installers with their three progress bars, each bouncing around, and still giving you no idea of when the installer will complete. To do the first, use a gif, a ring, a message, etc. To do the second, use a slider, meter, progress bar, etc. Greg McKaskle
