Asyncronous javascript component or thread emulation?

Hi.

I'm working on a project where a javascript program will get into
the middle of some very complicated operation and then decide
it needs to use to download an xml file from a server.

Because it's in the middle of something potentially complicated
I need to down the file synchronously
(without interrupting the flow of control), but I'd like
to make sure that the browser doesn't freeze up.

In another programming environment I would run the javascript
component in a thread -- is there any portable and safe way to
emulate this in javascript on recent browsers? My initial research
seems to say "no" but I'm not sure if I'm looking at up to date
information.

Please inform. Thanks! -- Aaron Watters

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Horse: the other red meat.
Received on Sat Dec 3 04:32:58 2005