Question

How can I display the circular swirl image, that is usually seen in asp.net pages, while a page is loading (retrieving data etc)?

Answer 1

If you’re using UpdateProgress/UpdatePanel, here are some samples: http://www.asp.net/Ajax/Documentation/Live/overview/UpdateProgressOverview.aspx

Here is a loading gif sample using UpdateProgress:

<asp:UpdateProgress ID="updProg" AssociatedUpdatePanelID="updPnl" DisplayAfter="0" runat="server">
    <ProgressTemplate>
        <div id="progInd">
            <img id="indic" src="/images/loadgifs/z.gif" alt="..." />
        </div>
    </ProgressTemplate>
</asp:UpdateProgress>  

<asp:ScriptManager ID="sm" runat="server" />

<asp:UpdatePanel ID="updPnl" runat="server">
<ContentTemplate>
        ...
    <asp:Timer ID="tmrTrigPostbk" runat="server" Interval="10" />
</ContentTemplate>
<Triggers>
    <asp:AsyncPostBackTrigger ControlID="tmrTrigPostbk" EventName="Tick" />
</Triggers>    
</asp:UpdatePanel>

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    tmrTrigPostbk.Enabled = !IsPostBack;
}