thanks for the help ravi, i'm going to go with a simple avi as i am not worried about getting the % correct, its really just to show poeple that something is being done during large exports so that they won't start clicking on everything they see. however if i ever redo my little export program, i do it properly the way you suggest:)
Slán
~M

>I use progress bar in my VFP code a lot. Basically it is class that displays a form with retangular shapes. Within a FOR-ENDFOR, SCAN - ENDSCAN loop, I update the progress bar form. The following code illustrates a typical use
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>ProgressBar = CreateObject('Progress')   && For Progress Bar
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>SELECT(SourceWA)				
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>ProgressBar.MaxCount = RecCount() 									
>ProgressBar.ChangeText(1,'Appending ' + AllTrim(Str(RecCount())) + ' records '
>ProgressBar.Update(1,0)
>ProgressBar.Show()
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>lnCounter = 0
>SCAN
>    lnCounter = lnCounter + 1
>    ProgressBar.Update(1,lnCounter,.T.)  && Update Progressbar		
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>    ** Code to process data ....
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>ENDSCAN
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>ProgressBar.Update(1,100)	&& 100 % done	
>**
>ProgressBar.Hide()
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>I use the ChangeText() method to display the action being carried out. Initially, the MaxCount property is set to RecCount() to inform the class about the number that corresponds to 100%. Within the SCAN - ENDSCAN loop, Update method updates the progress bar.