Progress Screen

[csd214]

In v6.0.0.3 it is possible to completely hide the progress screen through the variable %ShowActionProgressDlg%. (Can be toggled on/off between the screens.) I am a somewhat disappointed with the selected solution.

On 01-12-2002 Mark wrote: "From a design perspective we chose to show the Progress Screen to provide a seamless installation to the end user. This way there is always a "Screen" in the background, if we removed the Progress Screen, all the end user would see is a floating Message Box." This is correct if the Dialog action is performed. When running other actions, nothing is displayed at all; not even the hourglass cursor is displayed (seems to be bundled to the progress screen, not the perform action event). Think of actions running for two minutes! Still I want the possibility to toggle between a text/progress bar screen, or eventually a message box (editable) not requiring any user interaction (NOT the Windows API Message Box).

I think Lorne had the best suggestion (11-27-2001): "Actually, there is a workaround that you can use to do something pretty darn close to what you asked...but it involves a bit of work. The message IDs in the english.lng file are actually handled internally as variables...so, you can change the messages at run time by assigning different values to the IDs."

Previously I had a flickering screen with constantly changing the text (MSG_PROG_PARSE_STRING / MSG_PROG_CHANGE_FILE_ATTRIB) in a While-loop. By changing these variables to the same value, the screen at least had a steady appearance.

I know other designers have asked for the possibility to hide the screen. I should like to learn about how they implement this feature.

[Mark]

Re: Progress Screen

Hi,

I'm not exactly sure what you question is. At the bottom of your post you ask: "I know other designers have asked for the possibility to hide the screen. I should like to learn about how they implement this feature." But at the beginning of your post you explain that you know how to hide the Progress dialog?

Which screen or dialog do you want to hide? Is it the Action Progress Dialog? The one that appears while you perform actions, the one that appears during your WHILE loop?

mark.

[csd214]

Re: Progress Screen

I understand that my ability to use the English language is confusing. Sorry.

Yes, I am talking about the Action Progress Dialog (The one that appears while I perform actions, the one that appears during my WHILE loop).

It is not difficult to use the new %ShowActionProgressDlg% variable. But what is happening when an action is executed – let us say running for 2 minutes? What does the end user observe? Nothing at all. Should not the hourglass cursor be the minimum appearance on the screen, indicating that "something is still going on". If I hide the Progress Screen, I am afraid the end user believes the installer has stopped running. (It was my comprehension that it was just this situation you warned about on page 000500.html.) – That's why I am disappointed. I apologize if I have misunderstood the app's behavior or your intention.

When I ask "I should like to learn about how they implement this feature", the meaning is: It is now possible to hide the Action Progress Dialog. How do they want to use it? Do they have a background screen created with additional software? Or are they able to create a progress bar (my wish, page 000088.html – sometimes to be used as an alternative to the text based progress screen).

Of course I am free to not use the new feature. If I run into another situation with "the flickering screen", I will use the method that Lorne suggested in November. (On a slow machine "the flickering screen" is not flickering at all, but the user believes that the app has run into a loop. I do not want to give them that impression.)

If my mode of expression still is ambiguous, I should be pleased to mail you a sample project demonstrating what I am trying to describe. When watching the screen you will need patience, a sense of humor … and a nice cup of coffee.

[Mark]

Re: Progress Screen

Hi,

Alright, I understand your question now. Basically we designed the Actions Progress dialog so that if your actions will be "working" for two minutes then the designer would leave it visible, but if it was only visible for 1 or 2 seconds and produced a flash, then the designer could hide it.

Hopefully you will get some responses from other users.

mark.

[csd214]

Re: Progress Screen

I am glad to hear that you understood my message, Mark. Even better: NOW I understand what the basic intention was! We have been talking about two different kinds of a "flickering screen". I have not cared about "your flash screen"; I was concerned about "my text flickering screen". Do you now understand why I wanted a progress bar screen (without a counter) as an alternative progress screen (with no need for "the Lorne method"; a creative solution!).

If the very first command in Actions Startup is dialog_display = False, there seems to be a "single flash" at startup. Probably it has to be like that when True is the default (and it really should be like that). Eventually we need another command line option, but I think we (the users) then are becoming too sophisticated.