diff --git a/Progress/ProgressNode.hh b/Progress/ProgressNode.hh
index bdf8d02a307a3365263bae066c5dd16e375f5d83..b2662311e15a9bd4a6f2ca2af3abd10474051144 100644
--- a/Progress/ProgressNode.hh
+++ b/Progress/ProgressNode.hh
@@ -75,6 +75,11 @@ public:
   Get the root node, only makes sense to use that if not phony().
   */
   const Node* root_node() const { return root_node_; }
+  
+  /*!
+  Get if the context is active, i.e., there is an active operation in progress.
+  */
+  bool active() const { return actv_node_ != root_node_; }
 
   /*! 
   Request progress abort, intended to be called asynchronously from a "tracking"