Bob, Through trial and error I have discovered the follwing things about this kind of feedback. 1. Animated GIF's stop working during any heavy processing time. RBase simply demands 100% of the processor (that may be an oversimplification and not intended to offend. 2. The ProcessMessage option for PAUSE also falls into this category. It does not really work well for APPEND and PROJECT but does work well inside a CURSOR. Also the Meter for the PAUSE works inside a cursor very will. The ProcessMessage is very nice for things like the before generate on a report. 3. If I determine that a process will take several minutes that I could do with an APPEND, I change my thinking to run a CURSOR so I can either use the ProcessMessage or the Meter in a PAUSE or if I will remain in a form I use the METER tool to display a moving bar until completion. I may also use a STATIC TEXT that I change do provide even more feedback to the user. 4. If all else fails I display a PAUSE and tell them to keep their fingers off the keyboard and go get a cup of coffee. If I have an idea of how long the process may typically take I might simply state that. To often the user checks email and the PAUSE is now in the way.
Good luck. Jan -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] (RBASE-L Mailing List) Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:57:56 +0000 Subject: [RBASE-L] - Animated GIF object I have not used animated gifs much in the past, but just placed one on a form. I have an EEP that projects a temp table from an ODBC table that takes 30-40 seconds to complete. I wanted a visual queue to the user that processing was indeed taking place, so I displayed a text message and placed the animated gif beside it. Property Gif001 visible 'TRUE' Property Gif001 refresh 'TRUE' Project temp Table ....... Displays the gif object but it does not move (animate) until the PROJECT operation completes. Then it moves quite nicely. What is the correct process to give the user a moving visual notice while the PROJECT is occuring? Thanks, -Bob -- Thompson Technology Consultants LaPorte, IN 46350 219-363-7441
