Besides indicating the amount of progress that has occured, the progress bar can also be used to indicate that there is some activity; this is done by placing the progress bar in activity mode. In this mode, the progress bar displays a small rectangle which moves back and forth. Activity mode is useful in situations where the progress of an operation cannot be calculated as a value range (e.g., receiving a file of unknown length).

To do this, you need to call the pulse() method at regular intervals. You can also choose the step size, with the set_pulse_step() method.

When in continuous mode, the progress bar can also display a configurable text string within its trough, using the set_text() method.

Source Code

File: examplewindow.h

#ifndef GTKMM_EXAMPLEWINDOW_H
#define GTKMM_EXAMPLEWINDOW_H

#include <gtkmm.h>

class ExampleWindow : public Gtk::Window
{
public:
  ExampleWindow();
  virtual ~ExampleWindow();

protected:
  //Signal handlers:
  virtual void on_checkbutton_text();
  virtual void on_checkbutton_activity();
  virtual void on_checkbutton_orientation();
  virtual bool on_timeout();
  virtual void on_button_close();

  //Child widgets:
  Gtk::VBox m_VBox;
  Gtk::Alignment m_Alignment;
  Gtk::Table m_Table;
  Gtk::ProgressBar m_ProgressBar;
  Gtk::HSeparator m_Separator;
  Gtk::CheckButton m_CheckButton_Text, m_CheckButton_Activity, m_CheckButton_Orientation;
  Gtk::Button m_Button_Close;

  int m_connection_id_timeout;
  bool m_bActivityMode;
};

#endif //GTKMM_EXAMPLEWINDOW_H

File: examplewindow.cc

#include "examplewindow.h"
#include <iostream>

ExampleWindow::ExampleWindow()
: m_VBox(false, 5),
  m_Alignment(0.5, 0.5, 0, 0),
  m_Table(2, 2, true),
  m_CheckButton_Text("Show text"),
  m_CheckButton_Activity("Activity mode"),
  m_CheckButton_Orientation("Right to Left"),
  m_Button_Close("Close"),
  m_bActivityMode(false)
{
  set_resizable();
  set_title("Gtk::ProgressBar");

  m_VBox.set_border_width(10);
  add(m_VBox);

  m_VBox.pack_start(m_Alignment, Gtk::PACK_SHRINK, 5);
  m_Alignment.add(m_ProgressBar);

  //Add a timer callback to update the value of the progress bar:
  m_connection_id_timeout = Glib::signal_timeout().connect( SigC::slot(*this, &ExampleWindow::on_timeout), 50 );

  m_VBox.pack_start(m_Separator, Gtk::PACK_SHRINK);
  m_VBox.pack_start(m_Table);

  //Add a check button to select displaying of the trough text:
  m_Table.attach(m_CheckButton_Text, 0, 1, 0, 1, Gtk::EXPAND | Gtk::FILL, Gtk::EXPAND | Gtk::FILL, 5, 5);
  m_CheckButton_Text.signal_clicked().connect( SigC::slot(*this, &ExampleWindow::on_checkbutton_text) );

  //Add a check button to select displaying of the trough text:
  m_Table.attach(m_CheckButton_Activity, 0, 1, 1, 2, Gtk::EXPAND | Gtk::FILL, Gtk::EXPAND | Gtk::FILL, 5, 5);
  m_CheckButton_Activity.signal_clicked().connect( SigC::slot(*this, &ExampleWindow::on_checkbutton_activity) );

  //Add a check button to toggle activity mode:
  m_Table.attach(m_CheckButton_Orientation, 0, 1, 2, 3, Gtk::EXPAND | Gtk::FILL, Gtk::EXPAND | Gtk::FILL, 5, 5);
  m_CheckButton_Orientation.signal_clicked().connect( SigC::slot(*this, &ExampleWindow::on_checkbutton_orientation) );

  //Add a button to exit the program.
  m_VBox.pack_start(m_Button_Close, Gtk::PACK_SHRINK);
  m_Button_Close.signal_clicked().connect( SigC::slot(*this, &ExampleWindow::on_button_close) );
  m_Button_Close.set_flags(Gtk::CAN_DEFAULT);
  m_Button_Close.grab_default();

  show_all_children();
}

ExampleWindow::~ExampleWindow()
{
}

void ExampleWindow::on_checkbutton_text()
{
  const Glib::ustring text = m_ProgressBar.get_text();

  if(!text.empty())
    m_ProgressBar.set_text("");
  else
    m_ProgressBar.set_text("some text");
}

void ExampleWindow::on_checkbutton_activity()
{
  m_bActivityMode = m_CheckButton_Activity.get_active();

  if(m_bActivityMode)
    m_ProgressBar.pulse();
  else
    m_ProgressBar.set_fraction(0.0);
}

void ExampleWindow::on_checkbutton_orientation()
{
  switch(m_ProgressBar.get_orientation())
  {
    case Gtk::PROGRESS_LEFT_TO_RIGHT:
      m_ProgressBar.set_orientation(Gtk::PROGRESS_RIGHT_TO_LEFT);
      break;
    case Gtk::PROGRESS_RIGHT_TO_LEFT:
      m_ProgressBar.set_orientation(Gtk::PROGRESS_LEFT_TO_RIGHT);
      break;
    default:
      break; // do nothing	
  }
}

void ExampleWindow::on_button_close()
{
  hide();
}

/* Update the value of the progress bar so that we get
 * some movement */
bool ExampleWindow::on_timeout()
{
  if(m_bActivityMode)
    m_ProgressBar.pulse();
  else
  {
    double new_val = m_ProgressBar.get_fraction() + 0.01;

    if(new_val > 1.0)
      new_val = 0.0;

    //Set the new value:
    m_ProgressBar.set_fraction(new_val);
  }

  //As this is a timeout function, return true so that it
  //continues to get called
  return true;
}

File: main.cc

#include <gtkmm/main.h>
#include "examplewindow.h"

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
  Gtk::Main kit(argc, argv);

  ExampleWindow window;
  Gtk::Main::run(window); //Shows the window and returns when it is closed.

  return 0;
}