Thanks for the info about displaying a graphic, even though it's not the answer I wanted, still at least I know.

I have overcome the display hurdles - almost.

The hijack popup command requires a time value or it's so quick you can't see it. The test example I copied (by Mark so I assumed it to be correct:-) did not include this. Once I realised this I can display messages.

The rsync progress display requires the different version of libresolv that can be obtained along with the hacked rsync. Once that has been installed the progress is displayed. Since this library already existed and the notes with the replacement version indicate it should be installed 'unless it's already there' I had thought I didn't need it.

A problem I have now found is that if a program (i.e. shell script) is started from the hijack menu (using ;@menuexec, the popup messages don't work - it appears menuexec takes exclusive control of the display which is a shame. Is there a getaround for this?