can someone explain how the batch add files page (searchnew.php) refreshes the page? Thanks.
I'm not sure what you mean, but it's all in the code, just take a look. Post more details, and what version of coppermine you're refering to (as this is the general discussion board that clearly says "no support", a moderator will move your posting accordingly after your reply).
I had dug into the code and was wrong about what I was seeing. I thought the page was refreshing for each icon as the image was being processed. Now I realize, after sleeping on it, that the images are being processed by the addpic and the result jpg header that is sent down makes it looks like the page is processing over and over. Adding the images to the system based on addpic.php and not searchnew.php is a wonderfully elegant solution to the php timeout issue. I'm impressed.