Make a screen "modal" until long running function completes

[mitchell]

We're creating an application that is similar to the webmail demo

http://demos.telerik.com/webmail/

When the user clicks on tree folders, there is a webservice that is called that will update the upper right side frame.

The problem is: The user might change their mind and click on a several different folder before the first request is loaded.   Thus resulting in the webservice calls being stacked up.

If we were developing a Win32 forms application we would just execute this code

Cursor.Current = Cursors.WaitCursor; 

Before running the webservice, and clear it when the results are returned.

http://www.csharp-examples.net/hourglass-wait-cursor/

Question 1: Is there a built-in way to accomplish this functionality with telerik AJAX controls?

If not:

There are several ways to accomplish this in javascript

This method  http://www.webcodingtech.com/javascript/change-cursor.php 
Simply changes the cursor style to wait.

This method http://raventools.com/blog/2911/create-a-modal-dialog-using-css-and-javascript
Places a layer over the entire screen and sets its z-index: to a large number. This has the effect of eating up all of the clicks before the underlying controls can get them.

Question 2: What is the best way to build a custom javascript solution that works best with telerik?

[Iana Tsolova]

Hi mitchell,

To achieve your goal, you can show a RadAjaxLoadingPanel onver the whole screen. Here is a help topic describing how to implement it:
http://www.telerik.com/help/aspnet-ajax/ajxcenterloadingpanel.html

<telerik:RadAjaxLoadingPanel ID="RadAjaxLoadingPanel1" runat="server" Skin="Vista"
  IsSticky="true" style="position:absolute; top:0; left:0; height:100%; width:100%;">
</telerik:RadAjaxLoadingPanel>

Give it a try and let me know if it helps.

Sincerely yours,
Iana
the Telerik team