Progress indicator

This article is about a concept in computing. See also the Genuine Progress Indicator metric in economics.

A progress indicator is an element of a command line interface, a textual user interface, or a graphical user interface that is intended to inform the user that an operation is in progress, to reassure that the system is not hung or waiting for user input, and often to provide the user with an estimate of how far through a task the system has progressed.

Examples of progress indicators

• The progress bar.
• The throbber.
• The splash screen.
• The hourglass mouse cursor.
• The spinning wait cursor.
• A textual percentage, common in CLI applications

References

• "Progress indicators". UI Patterns and Techniques. Retrieved 2005-12-21.

Further reading

• "Indicators". Apple Developer Connection. Retrieved 2011-01-10. — the Apple Human Interface Guidelines for progress indicators
• "Progress Bars". GNOME Human Interface Guidelines. Archived from the original on 2006-04-06. Retrieved 2005-12-21.
• "Progress Windows". GNOME Human Interface Guidelines. Archived from the original on 2006-02-22. Retrieved 2005-12-21.
• "Progress Indicator in the Status Bar". MSDN Magazine: C++ Questions and Answers. Retrieved 2005-12-21. — how to create a progress indicator in the status bar of an application using MFC