How to show a progress monitor on eclipse rcp splash screen

Create plugin_customization.ini in your product branding plugin with the following property

# show progress on startup

org.eclipse.ui/SHOW_PROGRESS_ON_STARTUP=true

Add plugin_customization.ini in plugin.xml property extension

<plugin>

   <extension

         id="myid"

         name="my-IDE"

         point="org.eclipse.core.runtime.products">

      <product

            application="org.eclipse.ui.ide.workbench"

            description="About product description"

            name="%product.name">

         <property

               name="appName"

               value="my-IDE">

         </property>

         

    <property

               name="preferenceCustomization"

               value="plugin_customization.ini">

        </property>

      </product>

   </extension>

</plugin>

To control the coordinates of the progress monitor and message on the splash screen add the following three properties

      <property

           name="startupForegroundColor"

           value="000000">

     </property>

     <property

           name="startupMessageRect"

           value="7,305,285,20">

     </property>

     <property

           name="startupProgressRect"

           value="7,290,490,15">

     </property>

In Eclipse 3.x RCP applications, this could be done directly from the .product splash screen page