How to display a "waiting" page ?

NikoSam

First apologies for my english :-)

Here is what I would like to do:
- I have a script that performs a search that can be very long.
- Instead of the user having a blank page until the script is executed I would like to display a "waiting" page a little bit like when you perform a search on this forum.

I was wondering what was the best way of doing it ?
flush method + meta refresh + session variable ?
I have tried to find an answer in this forum but could'nt :-(

Thanks for any help

richie

This is not exactly a reply, but it'll help you get started.

You can use DHTML layers to display a waiting page while the page is loading.

You set a layer's VISIBILITY to visible first, then in the html BODY tag, use onLoad= to change the visibility to HIDDEN.

I'm sure you can get this done from sample dhtml codes at www.irt.org/

Goodluck!

Richie.

k_jazz

a bit stupid idea - you may aproximately esitmate time of search
and make a refresh to the generated html file with your search results ..
also you may use JavaScript and load your results into the new window of the browser, make it visible after results are loaded

richie

Niko, here is a sample code for you. You can modify it as you see fit.

<html>
<head>
<script language="javascript">
function hideLayer(layerName){
if (navigator.appName == "Netscape"){ document.layers["myLayer"].visibility="hidden";
}else{ document.all["myLayer"].style.visibility="hidden"; }
}
</script>
</head>

<div id="myLayer" style="position:absolute; z-index:500; visibility:visible; width:500; height:450;">
<font size="+2">Page is loading<p>Please wait...</font>
</div>

Insert your PHP code here....

</body>
</html>

Richie.

Delcypher

well firstly you could use the sleep function which causes your server to pause for a set amount of time. so let's try this code.

here's the code

<?php
//displays search notice
echo("<div align=\"center\">
<center>
<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\">
<tr>
<td bgcolor=\"#FF0000\">
<p align=\"center\"><font face=\"Tahoma\" size=\"2\">Searching...</font></td>
</tr>
</center>
<tr>
<td bgcolor=\"#1E4888\">
<p align=\"center\"><font face=\"Tahoma\" color=\"#FFFFFF\" size=\"2\"> Please
be patient while your search is being processed...   <br>
<a href=\"http://[CANCEL_PAGE]\">Click here</a> to cancel</font></td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>");
//pauses for 2 seconds
sleep('2');
//enter your search code
?>

hope this helps m8