Loading an image to remove gray box, then unload the image.

Question

I have been searching for this solution for awhile and I can not seem to find an answer.
What I want to do is load an image instead of the gray box (or as soon as the applet loads) as my applet is processing its information. Then when it's completed, it should take away the image when I display the information. (Displaying the information I already have, not the image part though).
Can this be done? If so, please point me in the right direction.

Answer 1

so i took your suggestion about loading the image, then using a thread.. but the thread can't write to the AWT components at the end of the run (specifically the TextArea). This is basically what i have.. but if i display the TextArea after the start, it does display, but you would see the output being displayed. I would just like to show the "loading" then when it's done, display the TextArea over the image to "hide" it.
but i guess my major question now is, why doesn't the TextArea display?
public class CWJVMcheck extends Applet implements Runnable
    String outputString;
    TextArea output_window;
    Image loadingimage;
    private Thread thread;
    public void init()
     super.init();
        loadingimage = getImage(getCodeBase(), this.getParameter("loadingimage"));
     repaint();
     outputString=""; //Collective string of what to output
     setBackground(Color.white);
        output_window.setEditable(false);
     Font currentFont = new Font("Times New Roman", Font.BOLD, 10);
     output_window.setFont(currentFont);
    public void paint(Graphics g)
         g.drawImage(loadingimage, 0, 0, this);
    public void start(){
         try{
     thread = new Thread(this);
         thread.start();
         //while(thread.isAlive())
         //     Thread.sleep(10);  
     } catch (Exception ex) {
          addToOutput("output some junk.\n");
          displayToTextArea();
    public void run() {
         add(output_window);
         output_window.append(outputString);
    public CWJVMcheck()
        output_window = new TextArea("", 36, 110, 4);
}