You could unbuffer output by setting "$|=1;" at the top of your script, and then print something to STDOUT right before your query executes. The browser will then wait for the rest of the page to be printed while your query is executing.
I have a script that crunches images with Image Magick that reports on progress to the user picture-by-picture. This method works EXCELLENT in IE, not too sure about netscape.
Make sure the "unbuffered", incremental output isn't contained in table- Tables won't render until the whole thing downloads.
You're probably going to have to play with this, I think it works differently in different browsers.
--Psuedo Code --
#!/usr/bin/perl -wT
use strict;
use CGI;
my $q=CGI->new();
$|=1;
print $q->header();
# print all your other HTML stuff for the header type thingy, only com
+plete tables
my $query=$dbh->prepare($your_query) or die("Couldn't prepare: ".$dbh-
+>errstr());
print "Still Processing";
$query->execute() or die("Couldn't execute: ".$dbh->errstr());
print $query_results_and_bottom_of_page;
HTH
-Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from doubletalk. |