l i v e c o d e

Making Modal (but non-blocking) Progress Dialogs
Mac OS 9 Mac OS X Windows Linux

> Hi all:
>
> I have a series of modal windows that display the progress of
> current process. In these modal windows I have a label that lists
> the current action being taken.
>
> How can update these labels as new processes take place without
> closing the window?
>
> All the modal windows are substacks.

Here is a script I use in a progress dialog. It goes in the stack script. The scripts use a bunch of setProp/getProp handlers to show/ hide/update the dialog. The script expects that you have a scrollbar named "Progress" and a field named "Feedback" on the stack. Here is an example of how I use it:
set the uTitle of stack "MyProgress" to "Updating Database"
set the uFeedback of stack "MyProgress" to "I'm updating stuff.  Keep  
your pants on."
set the uProgress of stack "MyProgress" to 0

--> Do stuff to update progress
set the uProgress of stack "MyProgress" to currentAction/totalActions
The secret to having a modal dialog that you can update is this:
go invisible stack "MyModal" as modal
set visible of me to true
By opening the stack as invisible your scripts won't halt but you will display a modal dialog.

====
== START SCRIPT
====

local sEndValue			= 100
local sCenterOnScreen	= "true"

setProp uTitle pValue
  set title of me to pValue
end uTitle

setProp uFeedback pValue
  set htmlText of fld "Feedback" of me to pValue
  wait 50 milliseconds
end uFeedback

setProp uCenter pValue
  if pValue <> false then put true into pValue
  put pValue into sCenterOnScreen
end uCenter

setProp uProgress pValue
  if pValue is not a number then put 0 into pValue
  put round(pValue) into pValue
	
  if pValue >= 0 then
    if visible of sb "Progress" of me = false then show sb "Progress"  of me
    set thumbPosition of sb "Progress" of me to max(0, min(pValue,  sEndValue))
  else
    hide sb "Progress"
  end if
end uProgress

setProp uEndValue pValue
  if pValue is not a number then put 100 into pValue
  put round(pValue) into sEndValue
  set the endValue of sb "Progress" of me to max(0, sEndValue)
end uEndValue

getProp uProgress
  return thumbPosition of sb "Progress" of me
end uProgress

setProp uShow pValue
  local tTarget = ""
	
  if pValue = true then
    put line 1 of openStacks() into tTarget
    if sCenterOnScreen = false AND tTarget <> empty then
      put loc of stack tTarget into tLoc
    else
      put screenLoc() into tLoc
    end if
    go invisible stack (short name of me) as modal
    set loc of me to tLoc
    set visible of me to true

    --> GIVE IT TIME TO DISPLAY
    wait 100 milliseconds
  else
    put true into sCenterOnScreen
    set the uEndValue of me to 100
    --put 100 into sEndValue
    close me
    wait 0 milliseconds
  end if
end uShow

setProp uComplete pValue
  set the uProgress of me to 100
  close me
  wait 50 milliseconds
end uComplete

getProp uShow
  if short name of me is among lines of openStacks() then
    return true
  else
    return false
  end if
end uShow

getProp uVisible
  if short name of me is among lines of openStacks() then
    return true
  else
    return false
  end if
end uVisible


--> FOR TESTING
on mousedown
  if environment() = "development" AND commandKey() is down then close  stack (short name of me)
end mousedown

Posted on 12/8/05 by Trevor Devore to the Use Revolution list


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