display animated gif while running a sub

Question

How do i keep an animated gif running while my app is running a sub. The whole UI is blocked so I've tried displaying it in another form but i get the same result.

Answer 1

You should have a look at

The BackgroundWorker class allows you to run an operation on a separate, dedicated thread. Time-consuming operations like downloads and database transactions can cause your user interface (UI) to seem as though it has stopped responding while they are running. When you want a responsive UI and you are faced with long delays associated with such operations, the BackgroundWorker class provides a convenient solution.

• BackgroundWorker Class
• Multi-threading with background worker
• BackgroundWorker Demo
• How To Update Controls Using BackgroundWorker in VB.NET

Answer 2

Two things:

• Use a BackgroundWorker (example below)
• Rather use an indeterminate progress bar if you can, but this depends on technology used.

Example on BG Worker:

Private wrkDeploy As New BackgroundWorker()

Private Sub wndMain_Loaded(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
    AddHandler wrkDeploy.DoWork, AddressOf wrk_DoWork
    AddHandler wrkDeploy.RunWorkerCompleted, AddressOf wrk_RunWorkerCompleted
End Sub

Private Sub wrk_RunWorkerCompleted(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs)
    ' Hide Gif and start normal UI process again
End Sub

Private Sub wrk_DoWork(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs)
    ' Do all heavy work here
End Sub

Private Sub btnFilter_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)
    ' Show GIF and disable whatever you need to
    wrkDeploy.RunWorkerAsync()
End Sub