JS ScriptUI CS4: How to create an indeterminate progress bar?

Question

Hi Folks,
Does anyone here know if ExtendScript (I'm using the CS4 flavor of ES) can produce an indeterminate (i.e., "barber pole") progress bar using ScriptUI's progressbar control? I've tried a number of value settings for the progress bar control in hopes that they would trigger the barber pole behavior, but so far, no luck.
My current workaround is to "loop" the progress indicator. In other words, when the progress bar's value > maxvalue, I reset the value back to minvalue. Then rinse and repeat. Not really what I want, but the task being processed takes quite a bit of time, so I need to show some sign of something happening to the user.
Thanks!
-- Jim

Answer 1

Hi Jim and Jeff,
I can't find any practical solution to the original problem. It seems that an ExtendScript function call and a ScriptUI window cannot properly update synchroneously, except with a regular progressbar widget. I thought that a nonmodal window (='palette') might be fine, but I always get critical side effects using that approach, and generally the SWF is 'freezed' during the process. Curiously I found a kind of workaround using a pure modal dialog which mimics a nonmodal palette (!!) through the 'activate' event. But this still requires that the outer function perdiodically calls the update() method of the window from its own body, so this does not answer the question.
Here is a first draft, based on the SWF that Jeff posted above and only tested on a Win platform. I'd really appreciate feedbacks on this from Mac users.
// SpinProgressBar Object
// Tested in ID CS4/CS5+ Windows only
var SpinProgressBar = SpinProgressBar||function SB(/*str*/msg, /*fct*/process)
    // Caches the function resources
    SB.rc = SB.rc||{
        swf: "CWS\tP&\x00\x00x\x9C\x8D\x9A\x7FL\x15W\x16\xC7\xCF\x11\xC5\x11)\xE2oQ\xD0'\x0F}O\x14\x7F\xA0\xE2o|\xCA\x11\x04\x05\x04\x14\x14Q\x11\xF1'\x82\n\" \xA2(j-\xB6(Hmw[\xDB&m\xD3\xCDnKbRLI\x7F\xC4&\xEBn\xDCdmk\xB3j\xAD\x9Bvwm\xC4\xAD1\xDB\x8D\xA9Y\x93\x8D\xFB\xBD#2\xE3\xF0\xB6\xEF\xF2\xC7H\x8Egf\xEE\xB9\xF3\xFD\xDC\xF3\x9D;TS\x9F\b\xA2!\xC5D\xA1\xA1$\x03\t?I\xBD\x1E?~\x1Cc0UV4\xC6\xE7\xCD~\xDB\xC5\xD4\xD9\xD9\xF9\x98\xC2\x07\xF5o-\xCE:s\xB5\xE3\x8F\x1FT\x9CZ\x121\xFA\xB7\xF1t\xAB_/bj\t\x0Ec\xFCs\x99\xC8G\xBDh;\xF9\xC2{\xE37\"\xB7\x11D\xDB\xA8\xEF\x97\xD4\xA7\r\xFF\x8D\x1F\\#\xA4\x7F\xCA\x97\xEDWnf\x97/j\xFAK[yb=\xB9\x8C\xDE=\x93\x8C\x86\xF6\x92\xD7O\xBD}\xA1\xF5\xF5\xD3\x85\xE45\xFA c\x90\x8B\xFA\xFC`\xBB\x8C\x8F\xCE\x95\x95\x9ExT\x15W\xD9\xD8q\xF9^\xC4wi\xA9\xD7\x90\x19\xFC4\xB3\xDE\xCA\xCCv\x8D\xC9(\xAF\r\xAE\xBA\xDAR\xD9q\xC1\xFD\xE3\xAD\xF6k\x13\x90\xD9\x17\x99\xC3\xCFR\xEF\x13\xB6k\x12\x97t\xBC\x99|\xE9\xAFs\x1Fe\xDF9r\xFBa\xED\xD0a\x1F!\xD3\xF0\x93\x99w6aru|f\xD5\xF9\xD4\xEE3(\xDA\xE8\x87L\x9C\xC2\x0F\xAC\xCC\x90\x8BA\x9D\xF7\xF2\xEFL\x1Aq\xEF]\xCF\xC4NLIH\xCF\x9C\xFE\xB9\x1FQ\xD8\x9F\xB2\xCB?k\xBA\xD4V\xFEy=n\xD9\xDF\xCF-s\xDA\x9A\xC3\xB6^\xC5-3Z;\xBE\xFF\x03n\xF9C\x1By\x8CP\x95\xD9\xFALf\xC8\x9B\xBE\xA07Bw\xAE\xFB\xFA\xFD\xFC\xFB\xE6\t\xB9\xAD\xF5^\xE3\xB9\x9Es\x18\xF2m8\xDD\xF1\x9Cz\xAF\xFC\xBAg\xEDkE\x9F\x9F{\xF0n\xD1[\xB8y\x98\x9F9\\V\xF0\xC9g\xA5'1\x87/7\xD6\\\u00FE\xC7\xDD[\xED\x97\xAF\xD3;\xC1\x93{\xE1y\x9B\x8F=,\xAB9\xD9\xF7\xE4\xC9\xAF*+\xDBX\xBA\xB9\xD8\x95SSZ\xB4k'\x9D\x0E\x0E\x0B\xA2 \x8A<S?\xAAP%\x04\xA9Ho\xEA\x8DHC\x8B)\x16V\x91>\xD4\x87\"Sj3\xDF\xEA\x8E\x04S0E^X\x9A\xF9}w\xA4/\xF5\xA5\xC8\xC1\x8F\xBEquG\f2(\xF2\xEB\xBBQ\x17\xBB#\xFD\xA8\x1FE\xDE>\x92a]9\x84B(2\xF8\xEF]\x91\xA3\x88\xF4\xA7\xFE8\xEB\x9F\xB6\xEB\x84R(\x8D\xF4<\xA82sz\xA9\xC8s\xF4\x1C\x8Dl\xFA\xDB\xC2z3\xA2\xCE\n\xA30\x8Cg\xD9\xD3\x11\n+\xCD\xFB0_\x03\xFC\xA83\xF9\xF7\x9F\xB4\xFD\xD0v>o\xCE\x82\x86ywS\xE7\xDE\xFAv\xE0\x03d\x86\xFB\xC9\x84\x16\x9Ef\xDC\xCF\xFFqh\xC5\x99\x1BS\x919\xB0\xE7c\xB5\xD4y3\xFBNC\xCCSu\x0E\xF2\x93\x99\xD7\xDA\xA5\xCE\xAC\xEE3\xC0\xD9\xE0\x9E\xCA3\x1A^~\xB0/\xAE\xE2l\xE8\xBE\xEC\xD3\xD0\xE6\x10\xBF\xDALlZ=\xED\x9B\xB4\x8C\xBC\xAFn\xB4_\xC4\r\x87\xFAQ\xDC\xC5\xA0\xA2\xFB\xE7\x8A\xAEW$\xB6\xD4~\xDA\xF8\xE1\xBB_\x04'\xB8\x909\xCC\xEF\xD0\xF2\xEF\xFF\x1C{\xF5\x95\xF9#n|\xFC\xDE\xEA\xF6[_\xBC\xF3\x062\x87\xFB\x99\x18H\xAE\xADKr\x1DO$\xA7\x00\x1F\xA1)\xE3h#\xA2\xE7\xB2\x12\xF2\x9D\x8Fn7D\xFD\xAE\xE0v]\xD4\x87\xEF\xA0\xE0\x91~\xD6'\x1F\xB5_I\xF9\xEA\xDB\xB4\x8C\xA5\xD3n\xA2`\xA8|\x80\x96\xCA\xC3i\x80\xA5WS\xE5\x03)\xDC\xA1\xE9A4\xD0T\xB0\xA5\xCE\xC14\bZ\xFC\xC9\xA6\xE0!4\xD8\xA6W\x15\x19JC\xA0\xE9\xFD\xB6\xC80\x1A\xEAP\xF0p\x1Af)\xD8T\xF9\b\x1A\x8E\xF1$\xD9\xEE\x1EA#l\x9AV\x91\x91\x14\x01\x0E\xAB\x9F\x90i\xAA|\x14\x8DD\xA4\xB6\xF9\xFB\xA7*W\x88\x0B+\x84\x85\x15\xB6\xC2\nUa\x85\xA7\xB0BRXa(\xAC\xD0\x13V\xB8\t+\xC4\x84\x15V\xC2\n%a\x85\x8F\xA2e\x94\x1FQ$u6\x87\xDD\xBD\x06QDx>\xBE\xF1\x1B\x88\xE2\xED\"dF\xFA\xC9\xCCy\x9F\xC2~\x8E\x8D\xAB\x9A\xDE\t\xF9\xACM+\xF8W\xF1\x1BPvT@e\x8F\x0E\xACl\x8F1\xE6\x17\xD6\xD26\xAC\xA5W\x9E\xAE\xA5.\xBF#\xEBZ\x9Es\xBB\x96\xE7Kjy\x1E\xEBG\xAE\xF5}\xBF\xEE(9\xF3\xC1\x9F\xCF\x17^y\x94\x8D%b~\x1D\x8A\x8D\xF6C@\xB6\xEB\\YW\xC6\xBC\xB3\x1DX\"\x86\x85\xA2\x14w`\xCDF\x1B1\x01\xC5\xEF5\xC6\xF9\xBDew\xAF\xFC\xCF\x05\xF7\x1D\xF4\xCAXd\x8E\xD7\xEC\xBF`%R\x8B\x95(\x1Ae\xAD\xDB&+\xA3)\xD2\xB1\xB6\x8F\xA1(\x07\x07.\x1A\xED\xE0`,\x8D\xB1\xA9^E\xA2\xC9e\x92aE\xDC4\xD6\xBEn#\x12C\xD1\x16\x07&+\xE3\xC8mW=\"\xE3)\xC6$\xC3b\xC5C\xE3p\x1D\xDF\x13\xBEMV\xBC4\x1E|WX\x1D\xA1\x17\x96\x00\xE1\x01\xC0^8\x1C\xA8\x0B\x0F\x04\xDE\xC2\x83\x80\xB4\xF0``,<\x04\xE8\n\x0F\x05\xAE\xC2\xC3\x80\xA8\xF0p`)<\x02(\nG\x00?\xE1\x91\x98\x1E\x1F\x9E\xA2G\xC3Ox\x03\xFB\t\x8F1A\xD7%\xC4j\x1A\x0F\xAF1\xB1\xA7K\xB0-\xC4\x1B\xB0\x10\xD7u\xF9\x89I\x9A~\xC2e\xC4\x05p\x82ncr`C\xE95\xA6\xF8\xB9!\xE4z\xB0K\xAE5O\xE4z\x1D\x99S\x7F\x19\x01\xD8\xC5\xBB]\bL\xD34\x81^#^\xD3X\x02\x96\tZ\xB0\xC4\x92\xC7\xB24&,\x13\xC9\xEB@c\x12Mp\x80\x10G\xB1\x8E\x161\x99&\xDAd\xAF\"Sh\x92\x03\x8D\xA9\x14\xA7@\xB0\x19\xB3i4\xD9\x02\xC1\x84%\x9E\xA6\xD8e\x8F\xC8t\x9Aj\xB5>\x13\x96\x194\xCD\x02\xDC\x84e&\xC5\xDB\x01W\xB0D\xE28\n\x94\x0BG\x82l\xE1(\xD0,<\x1A\x04\x0B\x8F\x01\xB5\xC2.\x90*<\x16t\nG\x83Ha7(\x14\x8E\x01y\xC2\xE301\xC2\xE31\x19\xAA\xB1L\xD7\xF6%3\xB4}\xC9Lm\xD3\x9C\xA0\xE9`\xA2\x8DY\x1A\xBEdv\xE05\xDEk\xCC\xD1v\x93s\xB5\x1D\xEA\xBC@\xBE\xB3\xF8a\xED\x90\xB3\xCAw\xCE\xD7\xF4\x9DncA\xE0\xDE\xEB2\x12\x03\xB4p\xD0\x92\xA0E\xCB,\x9An\xE9\xDE\xA4e6\xCDp\xB01\x87f:H\x98K\t\x0E\xB34\x8Ff\xD9t\xAF\"\xF3i\xB6\xA3I,\xA09\x0E\x12\x12i\xAE\xED\xA5E\xE9~!\xCDsX>\x1F\xCD\xB7\xB1\xA1\"\x8Bh\x81jl\xE9VkYL\x89 \xFCf\xBA\xCD\x86M\xC0\xD1\x03\xA8\x85\xBD\x00Yx\x02\xE0\x15\x8E\x05\xB0\xC2\x13\x01\xA9\xF0$\x80)\x1C\x07\x18\x85'\x03@\xE1)\x80Nx*\xA6Dx\x1A\xA6A8\x1E\xA5\xFB\xD0\x11\x16\xEA\x1A\x13\x9F\xA61\x896\x16i\b{\xB1\x8E\xB0\x93\xB4We\xD1\xDE\x18X\xA2i&\xBDF\xB2\xA6Au\x19)\x01m\xE7R\x9D\x17\xAATm7\x99\xA6gP\xC1J\x92\x16+B\x0B\xAD\xF5\xDFde\tNy\x96\x8CdZd\xBD\"\x98\x91\x14Z\xEC\xE0`)%Y\xD6\xC8\x8C\xA4\x928\xC8H\xA3%\x0E\x83\xB7\x8C\x92m/\xEFJ\xF5\xCB)\xC5\xAEzD\xD2i\xA9\x8D\f\x15\xC9\xA0T\x9C\xF5\xEF'<\x99\xACdR\x9A\x9Do\xC5J\x02\x8E\xD3\x01\xB0\xF0\f@+<\x13\xA0\n'\x00N\xE1Y\x00Rx6 \x14\x9E\x03\xF0\x84\xE7\x026\xE1y\x98\f\xE1\xF9\x98\x00\xE1\x05(Z8\x11\x85\xFA\xF0\x9C\x97\x05\xB4%\xCBulI\xBA\xF6\xDET\x86\xB6\x81\xC9\xD4\xB6%+4m\x89\xDB\xC8\n\xEC(\xA3\x8D\xEC\x80\xD6\xD4c\xE4\xF4\xBC\xE53\xAE\xF3\x9A\xE9)\xE1:Wj\x12\xE05V\xFD\xFF6\xFB\xD0\xF2\x92\n\xF8\\M\x7F\nXVh\xC1\x92E\xCB,kd\xC2\x92M\xCB\x1D-\"\x87\xD2\x1D{V+)\xC3\x01\xC2*\xCAt\xECY\xE5\xD2\n\x07\x1Ay\x94\xE5\x00a5e+\x13\x98n5\x965\x94\xE3hk\xF9\xB4\xD2j}&,ki\x95\x05\xB8\tK\x01\xE5\xDA\x01W\xB0$\xE1\b\xE9\xE3\xE8\x03\xA3\xC2\x8B\xC0\xA5\xF0b\xB0(\x9C\x04\xFE\x84\x05\xCC\t/\x01g\xC2\xC9\x98\x06\xE1\x14\x94.\xBC\x14\xE5\n\xA7\xA2D\xE14\x94\xA5lX\x9E\xB6+Y\xAD\xEDJ\xD6hz\r\xAF\x91\xAF\xE9_\xDC\xC6Z\x1DWR\x10`\x85\xF7\x1A\xEB\xB4\xBD\xE4zm\x7F\xBA!\xA0\xEB\xFC\x14\xD2Uw/\xD4t\x9Dnc\xA3\xCE\xAEAQ\xC0\x0E\x0EZ\xD6i\xD1\xB2\x9E\xF2,\xDD\x9B\xB4l\xA0\xD5\x0E6\ni\x8D\x83\x84\x8D\x94\xEF0KE\xB4\xD6j\x00fd\x13\x158\xD8(\xA6u\x0E\x126\xD3z\xDB\xCB\x8F\xD2\xFD\x16\xDA\x00\xDD\xFFdkl[\xA9\xD0\xB2|&-\xDBh\xA3\xDA\x95n\xB6l\xD8v*\xB27?E\xCB\n\x1C\x97\x01O\xE1\xE5@R8\x1D\x18\ng\x00=\xE1L\xE0&\xBC\x02\x88\tga\x02\x84\xB3Q\xB4p\x0E\n\x15^\x89\xE2\x84W\xA1 \xE1\\\x14\xA1h\xD9\xA4mK\x8A5m\x89\xDB\xD8\xAC\xA3\xEC-\x01\x95\xBDU\xDB\x96l\xD3\xDD7\xDB\xAE\xE9%=\xC6\x0E={\x1Am\x94h\x98\xCE\x9D:\xA6\xB3T\xDBJ\x96i\xEE\x9B\x81\x95\x1DZ\xAC\x94\xD0&k\xFD7Y\xD9I\xC5\x0E2Ji\xB3\x83\x832\xDA\xE2\xE0`\x17m\xB5\xAC\x91\x19\xD9\x8D\xA1>K\xC6\x1E\xFC\xFA\xAC\xC1+\xA7\x1D\xB6M\x00\xA5\xFA\n*\xB1\xBE\xD7\x989{i\xA7\x8D\f\x15\xA9\xA4R\x93o\xEB\x05\x7F\x1F\x95\xD9M\xA0be\x1D\x8Ey@Qx5\xF0\x13^\x03\xE4\x84\xF3\x81\x99\xF0Z\xA0%\\\u0080\xD2\x85\xD7\xA1\\\u00E1\xF5(Qx\x03\xCA\x12.D)\xC2j\xD1\x12.R\xA3\xC7c\xDC\xA5\xE3Kv\x07\xF4%^c\x8F\xBFM.\xA5\xECk\xB6M.S\xD9\xE5\xBA\x0E\xA6B\xFB\x03\xC6^M_\xE26*u>\x9E\xEE\x0B\xF8\xF1\xB4J\xDBvVk#P\xA3\xFDyj\xBF\xA6A\x05,UZ\xB0T\xD3.K\xF6&,5\xB4\xDBf\x8DTd?\xEDq\xEC}\xD5R\xB9\x03\x84\x03T\xE1\xD8\xFB\xAA\xA3\xBD\x0E4\x0ER\xA5\xE3\xDD\xE7\x10\xED\xB3}\xB8T\xB2\xAF\xA7*G[;L\xD5V\xEB3a9B5\x16\xE0&,\r\xB4\xDF\x0E\xB8\x82e\x07\x8E\x9B@\x9Ep1h\x13\xDE\f\xC2\x84\xB7\x80*\xE1\xAD(Zx\x1B\n\x15\xDE\x8E\xE2\x84w\xA0 \xE1\x12\x14!\xBC\x13\x03\x17.\xC5`\x85\xCB0@\xD5Xj\xB5}\xC9\x01m_R\xA7-\xF2\x83\x9A\xFBfn\xE3\x90\x8E/\xA9\xD7\xF8\x9AqX\xDBM\x1E\xD1v\xA8\r\xDA\xBE\xF3\xA8\xA6\xEFt\x19\xC7\x02n\x1A\x1C\x0F\xDC\xBFA\xCBQ-Z\x8EQ\xAD\xA5{\x93\x96\xE3t\xC0\xC1\xC6\xF3T\xE7\xD8\xFB:A\x07\x1D$\xBC@\x87\xAC\x06`F\x1A\xA9\xDE\xD1$N\xD2a\x07\t/\xD2\x11\xABI\x98\xB4\xBCD\r\xA6\xEE\xAD\x9C&:jY>\x93\x96StL\x11\x9Ea\xBD\xE1\x9F\xA6\xE3\xF6\x0F?\x8A\x96*\x1Cw\x014\xE1\xDD\x80Kx\x0F\x80\x12.G\xB9\xC2\x15(Qx/\xCA\x12\xAED)\xC2\xFB0|\xE1*\fY\xB8\x1A\xC3\x14\xAE\xC1\xD0\x84\xF7c8\x8A\x96\xE7\xB5\x8D\xC9\t=c\xE26^\xD0\x11v\xA3\x86\xB0Oj\xAF\xCA/j\x7F\xD0{I\xFB#l\x93\xA6A\x8D1N\xFD\x82l\xD7\x1F\xFA/\x14\xBE\x1B\xF2?\x1D@\xFE\x1E\xA3Y\xD7M\xB6h\x1AT\xC0\xD2\xAC\x05K\x0B=o\xC9\xDE\x84\xE5\f\x9Dp4\x89Vz\xC1\x01\xC2\xCB\xD4\xE8\x00\xE1,\x9D\xB4\xC9^E^\xA1\x17\x1D\x1Bd\xAF\xD2K\x0E\x87\xF7+j\xB2\xED\x02(\xD9\xFF\x9AN9\xBEw\xBEF\xA7mh\xA8\xC8\xEB\xD4l\xFB\xCB\x15u\xD69j\xB1\x7F\x01U\xB0\x1C\xC5\xB1\x16T\t\x1F\x00I\xC2u(T\xF8 \x8A\x13>\x84\x82\x84\xEBQ\x84\xF0a\f\\\u00F8\b\x06+\xDC\x80\x01\n\x1F\xC5\xA0\x84\x8Fa \xC2\xC7qs\x1F\r\x0EcL\xA6c\xF2\x88\xFE\x07WG@D",
        bkg: [232,232,232],
        tmpFile: function FN(/*?str*/s)
                FN.file && FN.file.remove();
                FN.file = null;
                if( !s ) return null;
                return FN.file = (function(fx)
                    fx = new File(''+fx);
                    if( !fx.open("w") ) return null;
                    fx.encoding = 'BINARY';
                    fx.write(s);
                    fx.close();
                    return fx;
                })(Folder.temp+'/_'+(+new Date)+'.swf');
    // Creates the UI
    var    rc = SB.rc,
        w = new Window( 'dialog', '', undefined, {borderless:true} ),
        p = w.add( 'panel' ),
        fl = p.add( 'flashplayer', undefined, rc.tmpFile(rc.swf) ),
        t = p.add( 'statictext', undefined, msg),
        r;
    rc.tmpFile(); // kills the tmp swf file
    // UI Skin/Style
    with( w.graphics )
        backgroundColor = newBrush(
            BrushType.SOLID_COLOR,
            [rc.bkg[0]/255, rc.bkg[1]/255, rc.bkg[2]/255, 1 ]
    p.orientation ='row';
    p.alignChildren = ['left','center'];
    fl.preferredSize = [50,50];
    // Fire!
    SB.win = w;
    w.onActivate = function(){ process(); w.close(-1); };
    r = -1==w.show();
    // Cleanup and return
    SB.win = null;
    w.onActivate = null;
    rc = w = p = fl = t = null;
    return r; // true=>OK, false=>broken
// SAMPLE CODE
var myHugeLoop = function()
    var i = 500000;
    while( i-- )
        // you have to periodically call SpinProgressBar.win.update()
        // but not necessary at each iteration
        SpinProgressBar.win.update();
        Math.cos(i)*
        Math.cos(i)*
        Math.cos(i)*
        Math.cos(i)*
        Math.cos(i)*
        Math.cos(i)*
        Math.cos(i)*
        Math.cos(i)*
        Math.cos(i)*
        Math.cos(i);
if( SpinProgressBar("Currently processing a huge loop...", myHugeLoop) )
    alert( "All is fine." );
else
    alert( "The process has been broken by the user!" );
@+
Marc