The persistent progress bar
A persistent progress bar (ppb) is an object that lives outside the domain of a single program.
When you have a process that runs in several parts or sections the ppb can tell you how far along in the process you are. The process could be as simple as running several programs sequentially out of a batch file. The process could be very complicated involving multiple batch files, scripts, or executables.
The persistent progress bar server
A persistent progress bar (ppb) is controlled by running the server program named ppbS. Every time you want to modify a ppb you run ppbS with different command line options.
ppbS can create and control up to 20 independent ppbs. Most people will need to have only one ppb active at a time.
When a persistent progress bar window exists, so does the ppbS window. ppbS starts as a minimized application that appears in the taskbar. If you restore the ppbS window it looks like this:
The window reminds you that it is the server, and if closed by you, so will all the ppbs you created. Attempts to control a closed ppb will cause the server to restart, and the ppb commands will be ignored since there is no active ppb.