Progress Indicators 

Progress indicators are non-interactive, visual cues that indicate that a process is underway. They provide “busy” feedback to the user. Progress indicators can be displayed as mouse pointers, which typically change into an hourglass to indicate a “busy” state, as progress bars, and as .avi animation.

The progress bar, also erroneously referred to as a status bar or slider, shows the estimated percentage of completion of a lengthy operation, such as printing or setup. The percentage of completion shown is only an approximation; it does not always correlate precisely with the process underway. Progress is indicated by a solid or segmented rectangular bar that “fills” from left to right, as shown in the following figure.

You can use progress bars and .avi animation to reflect the progression of a background process, leaving the interactive mouse pointer (for example, the arrow) intact for performing tasks in the foreground.

See Also

Concepts

Status Bars