Question

setting wait cursor

Asked by: ahama5

I have an html table on my page that I allow the user to sort by column when he clicks on the heading for a particular column.  I want to display a wait cursor during the sorting so he knows it's working and then reset when finished.

I've been trying to use objectName.cursor.style = "wait" at the beginning of the sort function, and then resetting at the end.
problem is, this style change doesn't take effect until the function terminates.  by that time, the sort is done, and it's obviously too late.

does anyone know how I can accomplish my aim in a simple way?

*****
my code:
function tableSort( tableId, iSortColumn, format )
{
   var eSrc = window.event.srcElement;
   var savedCursor = getObjCursor( eSrc );
   setObjCursor( eSrc, "wait");
   // sort code
   setObjCursor( eSrc, savedCursor );
   return;
}
function setObjCursor( obj, cursor )
{
   if( obj && obj.style && obj.style.cursor != cursor )
      obj.style.cursor = cursor;
   return;
}
function getObjCursor( obj )
{
   if( obj && obj.style )
      return obj.style.cursor;
}

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Asked On
2003-09-23 at 14:45:05ID20746865
Tags

cursor

,

wait

Topic

JavaScript

Participating Experts
4
Points
50
Comments
10

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Answers

 

by: mattjp88Posted on 2003-09-23 at 15:29:00ID: 9416676

<script>
document.body.style.cursor="wait";
</script>

-Matt

 

by: adilkhanPosted on 2003-09-23 at 16:37:14ID: 9417079

More Accurate.

<script>
document.body.style.cursor="wait";
</script>

<body onLoad="document.body.cursor='hand'">

 

by: mattjp88Posted on 2003-09-23 at 16:44:52ID: 9417127

i dont think they want it onload, but you are correct.

 

by: JakobAPosted on 2003-09-23 at 19:15:28ID: 9417660

instead of

function doSomething( ... ) {
     set wait cursor
     do a lot of work
     set normal cursor
}

you can make 2 functions:

function startSomething( ... ) {
     set wait cursor
     setTimeout( "doSomething( ... )", 50 );  // wait 50 ms before starting the real work so cursor have time to change
}

function doSomething( ... ) {
     do a lot of work
     set normal cursor
}

note that you now cannot use the return from the function to know that the work has been done. You might need to make the function started by setTimeout trigger some event to get a notification of when the sorting is done.

regards JakobA

 

by: ZvonkoPosted on 2003-09-24 at 01:16:41ID: 9419068

Worth a try would be also:

var eSrc ;
var savedCursor;
function tableSort( tableId, iSortColumn, format )
{
  eSrc = window.event.srcElement;
  savedCursor = getObjCursor( eSrc );
  window.setTimeout('setObjCursor( eSrc, "wait");', 1);
  // sort code
  window.setTimeout('setObjCursor( eSrc, savedCursor );', 1);
  return;
}


 

by: ahama5Posted on 2003-09-24 at 18:28:20ID: 9425276

mattjp88 and adilkhan seem to have missed the point.
jakobA, I think your solution will work.  this is actually what I had begun to do.  it does not seem elegant to me, especially since you're resetting the cursor in a different function than the one in which you set it.  this would require sharing of information bet. the two functions - info. 1) of the old cursor, and 2) on which object to set the cursor.
this is not the prettiest.
I will probably want to attach these pieces of info. to a shared object rather than pass them into the 2nd function.

but aside from that, your answer is excellent, I think.

abie

 

by: JakobAPosted on 2003-09-24 at 18:46:37ID: 9425321

Well. it works, but i agree it is not exactly pretty.
thanks

 

by: JakobAPosted on 2003-09-24 at 18:51:34ID: 9425340

You should try zwonko's though. If IE only is ok it should be OK. In NS there is no rescheduling of processes until the running function ends.

 

by: ahama5Posted on 2003-10-02 at 12:10:56ID: 9479622

btw, I did try zvonko's suggestion in the end.  it didn't work for me.
this was the code:
var evtSrc;
var savedCursor;
function tableSort( tableId, iSortColumn, format )
{
   evtSrc = window.event.srcElement;
   savedCursor = getObjCursor( evtSrc );
   var sCode = 'setObjCursor( evtSrc, "wait" );'
   setTimeout( sCode, 1 );
   
   //sorting code //
   
   sCode = 'setObjCursor( evtSrc, savedCursor );'
   setTimeout( sCode, 1 );
   return;
}

 

by: ahama5Posted on 2003-10-02 at 12:11:35ID: 9479627

thanks anyway.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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