groovy example of displaying a spinner in CLI apps/scripts

spinner.groovy

// based on http://groovyconsole.appspot.com/script/277001 from melix

def spinner = '|/-\\'
print ' ' // need to print something so it can be deleted
(0..100).each { i ->
    print "\u0008${spinner[i%4]}"
    Thread.sleep(100) // replace with whatever operation you want ;)
}