Executing Long-Running Tasks with the Progress Bar in ASP.NET
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This article demonstrates the use of multi-threading in ASP.NET web applications to execute long running tasks. It also shows the status of that long running task with the help of a progress bar.

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A downloadable file for this article is available here.

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The problem

Every scenario in IT, at some level, needs a long running task (process) to be performed.  Long running tasks may also include taking a huge database backup, installing software, formatting a disk, and so on. When we perform any of those tasks, we will watch its progress. 

When a lengthy task starts, some applications get developed with a simple message such as “Please wait” or “Wait a moment” or something similar. Some applications show the progress of the same type of task (sometimes in the form of “percentage complete” or “time remaining”). Showing the progress of a task is pretty common during installations of certain software (or even small packages).

Any user would generally ask (or suggest) that we show the progress of achievement when the system starts processing a lengthy task.  If it is a small task (say, going to complete within one minute), it is reasonable to provide messages such as “Please Wait…” or “Wait a moment.”  But, for long running tasks, it is the programmer’s responsibility to show the progress of achievement to the user visually (before the user complains for it).

It is fairly easy to show the progress of achievement (for long running tasks) on desktop (non–browser based) applications.  But, it is a bit difficult for browser based applications, because we will not be able to maintain a dedicated HTTP request.  Once the browser receives the information (response) from server, the HTTP connection gets disconnected automatically.  If the server takes too much  time to serve for the browser (or client) through HTTP, we may even experience a “Timeout” error.

This article concentrates on working with long running tasks in ASP.NET effectively without consuming too many resources from the server (using multi-threading), and also showing the progress of the task to the user (by auto-refreshing the page every two seconds).

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Comments On: Executing Long-Running Tasks with the Progress Bar in ASP.NET

· Thanx a lot for this. I've always thought that multithreading is only useful for...    · Hello,The article is just only to give you an idea of implementing the progress...    · You can still further discuss, if you have doubts. I am here to answer you.    · Any thoughts on how this might be applied to file uploads? It seems like the...    · You might use the concept of "streaming the binary content" for your requirement. I...    · Hi, Thanks for sharing this code. My question is how is the 'requestId' got removed...    · Good catch! Even I never thought of it. Right now, I could not think of very good...    · I copied and run the code in my machine and getting "ProcessingStatus not defined"...    · Have you had any further thoughts on "how is the 'requestId' got removed in case...    · Hi thereI'm trying to use your example but the doprocess is not starting and...    · Hi,I'm also using your technique to show progress, however i'm concerned about...   >>> Post your comment now!