# Best way of dealing with progressbars **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby-Gnome 2\ **Created:** [October 26, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-way-of-dealing-with-progressbars/213209 "2011-10-26T15:42:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dubstep](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@dubstep](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dubstep)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-way-of-dealing-with-progressbars/213209/1 "2011-10-26T15:42:39Z")
Hi! What’s the best way of dealing with progressbars? I am currently using a Gtk.idle\_add function for updating a progressbar from a different thread. It doesn’t run very well. I was wondering if anyone has a better solution to this. ---
**Author:** ![Nikolai\_W](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/df705f/32.png) [@Nikolai\_W](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Nikolai_W)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-way-of-dealing-with-progressbars/213209/2 "2011-10-26T16:18:22Z")
Nikolai W. wrote in post #1028602: > Hi! > > What’s the best way of dealing with progressbars? I am currently > using a Gtk.idle\_add function for updating a progressbar from a > different thread. It doesn’t run very well. I was wondering if > anyone has a better solution to this. AFAIK, it’s the best way. Do you have an example to take a look at ? Simon ---
**Author:** ![Nikolai\_W](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/df705f/32.png) [@Nikolai\_W](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Nikolai_W)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 10:00am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-way-of-dealing-with-progressbars/213209/3 "2011-10-27T10:00:25Z")
On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 16:18, Simon A. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Nikolai W. wrote in post #1028602: > > What’s the best way of dealing with progressbars? I am currently > > using a Gtk.idle\_add function for updating a progressbar from a > > different thread. It doesn’t run very well. I was wondering if > > anyone has a better solution to this. > AFAIK, it’s the best way. > > Do you have an example to take a look at ? No, not really. It’s an internal thing. My problem is that the progress tends not to be reported very well. Oh, well, fuck it. ---
**Author:** ![Nikolai\_W](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/df705f/32.png) [@Nikolai\_W](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Nikolai_W)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 12:24pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-way-of-dealing-with-progressbars/213209/4 "2011-10-27T12:24:39Z")
On 26 October 2011 14:41, Nikolai W. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Hi! > > What’s the best way of dealing with progressbars? I am currently > using a Gtk.idle\_add function for updating a progressbar from a > different thread. It doesn’t run very well. I was wondering if > anyone has a better solution to this. I tend to prefer either a timeout in the main thread that polls, or an IO source that listens for events (either via a pipe or socket from an external process). It makes it easier to throttle progress events if there are too many & helps maintain a separation between the processing code and UI implementation. (But I also generally prefer to do all my heavy lifting in helper scripts, rather than the GUI) ## When you say it doesn’t run well, do you mean that the process is generally unresponsive or that there’s a lag between the progressbar update being scheduled and being drawn? Random Musing - [http://www.frafferz.com/](http://www.frafferz.com/) Geek Blog - [http://geoffyoungs.github.com/](http://geoffyoungs.github.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Nikolai\_W](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/df705f/32.png) [@Nikolai\_W](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Nikolai_W)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 11:29am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-way-of-dealing-with-progressbars/213209/5 "2011-10-27T11:29:33Z")
On Thu, Oct 27, 2011 at 11:22, Simon A. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Nikolai W. wrote in post #1028759: > > > No, not really. It’s an internal thing. My problem is that the > > progress tends not to be reported very well. Oh, well, fuck it. > > I tested the attached program on 1.8.7 and 1.9.2, and it works without > problem. > > Do you call external commands in your thread ? I don’t mean that it doesn’t work, I just mean that it’s slow. The progress being monitored is mostly other Ruby code, that is slightly computation intense, but also COM activity through WIN32OLE. ---
**Author:** ![Nikolai\_W](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/df705f/32.png) [@Nikolai\_W](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Nikolai_W)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-way-of-dealing-with-progressbars/213209/6 "2011-10-27T11:22:14Z")
Nikolai W. wrote in post #1028759: > No, not really. It’s an internal thing. My problem is that the > progress tends not to be reported very well. Oh, well, fuck it. I tested the attached program on 1.8.7 and 1.9.2, and it works without problem. Do you call external commands in your thread ? Simon