>Hi all,
>
>I read a short article in the FP advisor lately about using an AVI to show that work is being done. It sounds like a good idea to me, and I was wondering if anyone has made such a widget. I looked at the solutions sample already, but was just wondering if there was any home grown variations for this idea. I would be interested in seeing them or atleast hearing how they were put together.
>
>Thanks!
>
>John.

It's pretty straightforward. Create new form, add ole control, specify 'insert control' MS animation control. In the init include:

This.Olecontrol.autoplay=.t.
This.Olecontrol.Open('myavi.avi')

Great for remote views where there's no easy way of displaying a progress bar. Just put your animation form up at the start of your code and release it at the end with:

Do Form myavifrm Name oAvi
... Your code goes here..
oAvi.Release

Trick is to size your form to AVI's size. Maybe someone else has something to calculate AVI size so you could create a form that you can pass any AVI file.HTH