Question

What would be the best way to use a progress dialog in the following circumstance..

 //start progress dialog here.
 RequestInfoFormServer();
 ProcessThatInfo();
 return;

Answer 1

You should be using, if you’re not already using, an AsyncTask to do all the long running tasks in the background.
You can also use a service to handle all of your Internet stuff if you plan to do a lot of Internet actions.

1) Construct a Progress Dialog with

ProgressDialog progressDiaog = new ProgressDialog();  

study this constructor and the methods for more customization
For a better UX, if you set the dialog to be cancell-able, then you should also be canceling the network activity if the dialog box is cancelled.

2) Create an AsyncTask. in its onPreExecute() method, use the following to display the progress dialog:

progressDialog.show();

3) In doInBackground(), do all of your web stuff:

 RequestInfoFormServer();
 ProcessThatInfo(); //I hope this doesn't have to do with the UI
 return;

4) Then in onPostExecute()
– do all the stuff that’s to be done on the UI
– close the progress dialog box with progressDialog.cancel() if you don’t have to show the same dialog box again.

Revert if you jump into any other issue.