GIF animation problem

[Graham Samuel]

In an app that is in an advanced state of testing, I have a couple of 
transparent buttons each of which has an icon which itself is an 
animated GIF. I change the GIF and its status (animated or not) 
according to various parameters of the program. That way I can give 
the appearance that the button object is moving or stopped, going 
backwards or forwards, and running at different speeds, and can be 
dragged around the screen - all without using QuickTime, (QT is not 
acceptable to my PC users).

This generally works extremely well, but my beta tester has pointed 
out that just one of these animations stops working as soon as its 
border overlaps with the other one. It doesn't seem to mind 
overlapping with other, static, controls (images and grcs). I can't 
see why this should be so - a simplified experiment with just the two 
animations doesn't exhibit this behaviour, and I have checked while 
the program is running that the GIF really is animated (its 
repeatCount is -1). I just can't guess what is causing this 
behaviour: if it's my error (I guess it is) then it's a subtle one. 
BTW the same behaviour shows up on MacOS 9.2.2 and on Windows ME, so 
it doesn't look like a specific OS or clock-speed problem. Haven't 
tried OSX yet.

Any  suggestions gratfully received. I'm past a delivery deadline.

Graham
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          Graham Samuel / The Living Fossil Co. / UK & France