Hi Matt,

I have tried 3 different ways ( Timer Control, Timer CallBack ,
System.Thread ). They all exhibit the same behaviour. I figured the
System.Theading way would be the most reliable, here is some code:

Public Class IRISLogin

Dim waitText As String = "Please wait"
Dim sb_thread As New Thread(AddressOf updateDisplay)

'status bar updating thread
Private Sub updateDisplay()
       Dim c As Integer
       While Thread.CurrentThread.ThreadState = ThreadState.Running
           For c = 0 To 10
               waitText += "."
               sbStatus.Text = waitText
               Application.DoEvents()
               Application.DoEvents()
               Application.DoEvents()
               Application.DoEvents()
               Application.DoEvents()
               Thread.CurrentThread.Sleep(1000)
           Next
           waitText = "Please wait"
       End While
   End Sub

Private Sub cmdExport_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As
System.EventArgs) Handles cmdExport.Click

       ' display a Save As dialog
       Dim sa_dlg As New SaveFileDialog
       sa_dlg.Filter = "txt files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files (*.*)|*.*"
       sa_dlg.Title = "Enter a file name for the IRIS Extract file"

       If sa_dlg.ShowDialog() = DialogResult.Cancel Then Exit Sub
       Dim saPath As String
       Dim recCount As Integer

       saPath = sa_dlg.FileName
       lSaveTo.Text = "Output file: " & saPath
       ' refresh screen before performing query to allow Windows to erase
the Save As dialog box
       Application.DoEvents()
' THREAD IS SUPPOSED TO START HERE !!!!
       sb_thread.Start()
       Dim recAd As SqlDataAdapter
       Dim DBconn As New SqlConnection
       Dim DBcommand As New SqlCommand

       sbStatus.Text = "Getting records...please wait"
       Me.Cursor.Current = Cursors.WaitCursor

       DBconn.ConnectionString = SQL_CONN
       DBcommand.Connection = DBconn
       DBcommand.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure
       DBcommand.CommandText = "dsbn_IRISExtract"
       'set CommandTimeout to 0 for long queries !!!!
       DBcommand.CommandTimeout = 0
       DBcommand.Parameters.Add("@schoolYear", SqlDbType.VarChar).Value =
cmdSchoolYear.SelectedItem
       Try
           recAd = New SqlDataAdapter(DBcommand)
           DBconn.Open()
           recAd.Fill(IRISRecs, "Recs")
           DBconn.Close()
' ONLY STARTS TO DISPLAY HERE !!!! '
           recCount = writeRecs(saPath)
           Me.Cursor.Current = Cursors.Default
           sbStatus.Text = "Done. " & recCount & " records processed"
           If MsgBox("Would you like to view the output file ?",
MsgBoxStyle.Question & MsgBoxStyle.YesNo, "Trillium :: IRIS Data Extract
Utility") = MsgBoxResult.Yes Then
               ' open Notepad to view the extract file
               Shell("notepad " & saPath, AppWinStyle.NormalFocus, False)
           End If
       Catch ex As SqlClient.SqlException
           Me.Cursor.Current = Cursors.Default
           MsgBox(ex.Message, MsgBoxStyle.Critical, "Critical Error")
           sbStatus.Text = String.Empty
           Exit Sub
       End Try
   End Sub

Pretty standard stuff, but for some reason the thread does not work here. As
a test, if I start the thread in the Load event it chugs along until the SQL
query starts. Then it just stops. When the query is finished, it starts up
again. Very frustrating.
Thanks for your help !!!
Max