Suzy: Many thanks, it's good to know that I'm at least on the right track. I've found an example but it's SWING and I'm using SWT. There are similarities but just enough differences to make a grown man cry. Jim James M. Corbett Programmer / Analyst | Canada Revenue Agency | Agence du revenue du Canada 875 Heron Rd. Ottawa, On. K1A0L5 James.Corbett@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Telephone | Téléphone: (613) 941-1338 Facsimile | Télécopieur: (613) 941-2261 Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada E = MC² -----Original Message----- From: program-java-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:program-java-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Stanzel, Susan - Kansas City, MO Sent: February 15, 2011 13:15 To: program-java@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [program-java] progress bar Hi Jim, I forwarded your message to my friend Steve Meacham. Here is his response. Susie Stanzel He's on the right track. The entertainment thread would implement a passive listener, which the worker thread would call to notify of its progress from time to time. The other option would be for the worker thread to actively poll for worker thread progress. Steve Meacham