Using setInterval to Overcome an HTA Shortcoming

If you’ve been a Scripting Pro VIP subscriber for a while, you probably know that I like to use HTML Applications (HTAs) as a GUI for many of my VBScript administration applications. I’ve been using HTAs for quite some time now and really enjoy developing them. However, I've run into a couple of annoyances:

• The elements (e.g., input boxes, buttons, text areas) in an HTA window don't render immediately if you perform a time-consuming process during the startup (i.e., onload) process. The time-consuming process has to complete before any HTA form elements are displayed. In other words, you see a blank HTA window until the time-consuming process finishes, which can be confusing, especially for first-time users who might think the HTA isn't working correctly.
• The HTA window is pretty much a blob on the desktop while your HTA performs the time-consuming process. The HTA window is inaccessible, which means you can’t minimize or move it until that process completes.

I've been experimenting with various techniques to work around these annoyances. I've found a way to work around the first annoyance, which I'll share with you now. I'm still experimenting with working around the second annoyance and will let you know if and when I find a suitable solution. . . .