running a background function while jquery ajax load()

Question

I'm using jquery's load() to get some content into a div, and I want to run an other function in the "background" until load() finishes. That function should update a custom throbber every 1 second until $("#id").html() == "" where $("#id").html() is set to "" after load() finishes. Is there any way I can do that?

Answer 1

Have you tried doing what you're describing? It should work like this:

var interval = setInterval(function() {
    // update whatever you want
}, 1000);
$('#id').load('mypage.php', function() {
   clearInterval(interval);
});

Answer 2

Executing that function before executing the jQuery load command should do it, then in the load callback function, set $("#id").html("")