Name
Window.status — specify a transient status-line message
Availability
JavaScript 1.0
Synopsis
window.statusDescription
status is a read/write string property that
specifies a transient message to appear in the window’s status
line. The message generally appears only for a limited amount of
time -- until it is overwritten by another message or until the
user moves the mouse to some other area of the window, for example.
When a message specified with status is erased,
the status line returns to its default blank state or to the default
message specified by the defaultStatus property.
Although only top-level windows have status lines, you can also set
the status property of frames. Doing so displays
the specified message in the top-level window’s status line.
Transient messages set by frames are visible regardless of which
frame currently has focus or which frame the mouse is currently in.
This behavior differs from that of the
defaultStatus property.
Usage
status is used to display transient messages in
the status line. To display semipermanent messages, use the
defaultStatus property.
In general, setting the status property is useful
only from event handlers and in code fragments deferred with the
Window.setTimeout( ) method. If you set
status directly from a script, the message is not
visible to the user. It is not displayed right away, and when it is
displayed, it is likely to be immediately overwritten by a browser
message such as “Document: done”.
If you want to set the