Introduction
The purpose of this article is to show how to use IWebBrowser2, IHTMLDocument2 and IHTMLElement objects.
Creating a new web browser object
Let's start with a very simple example: How to create a new Internet Explorer window. The code below shows how to do this:
HRESULT hr;
IWebBrowser2* pWebBrowser = NULL;
hr = CoCreateInstance (CLSID_InternetExplorer, NULL,
CLSCTX_SERVER, IID_IWebBrowser2, (LPVOID*)&pWebBrowser);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) && (pWebBrowser != NULL))
{
m_pWebBrowser->put_Visible (VARIANT_TRUE);
// OK, we created a new IE Window and made it visible
// You can use pWebBrowser object to do whatever you want to do!
}
else
{
// Failed to create a new IE Window.
// Check out pWebBrowser object and
// if it is not NULL (should never happen), the release it!
if (pWebBrowser)
pWebBrowser->Release ();
}
Connecting to a running instance of IE
Creating a new IE window is a fairly easy task. But what if you want to use an existing Internet Explorer window, instead of creating a new IE window? Well, in this case, the task is more complicated. The function below finds an Internet Explorer window. sTitleToSearch is the title of the web page to be searched for. Usage of wildcard characters is allowed. If you want to find any IE window, then just enter "*" as the title.
bool CMyInternetExplorer::FindUsingTitle
(const CString & sTitleToSearch)
{
if (m_pWebBrowser != NULL)
{
m_pWebBrowser->Release ();
m_pWebBrowser = NULL;
}
HRESULT hr;
SHDocVw::IShellWindowsPtr spSHWinds;
hr = spSHWinds.CreateInstance (__uuidof(SHDocVw::ShellWindows));
if (FAILED (hr))
return false;
ASSERT (spSHWinds != NULL);
long nCount = spSHWinds->GetCount ();
IDispatchPtr spDisp;
for (long i = 0; i < nCount; i++)
{
_variant_t va (i, VT_I4);
spDisp = spSHWinds->Item (va);
IWebBrowser2 * pWebBrowser = NULL;
hr = spDisp.QueryInterface (IID_IWebBrowser2, & pWebBrowser);
if (pWebBrowser != NULL)
{
HRESULT hr;
IDispatch* pHtmlDocDispatch = NULL;
IHTMLDocument2 * pHtmlDoc = NULL;
// Retrieve the document object.
hr = pWebBrowser->get_Document (&pHtmlDocDispatch);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) && (pHtmlDocDispatch != NULL))
{
// Query for IPersistStreamInit.
hr = pHtmlDocDispatch->QueryInterface
(IID_IHTMLDocument2, (void**)&pHtmlDoc);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) && (pHtmlDoc != NULL))
{
CString sTitle;
HWND hWnd = NULL;
pWebBrowser->get_HWND ((long*)(&hWnd));
if (::IsWindow (hWnd))
{
int nLen = ::GetWindowTextLength (hWnd);
::GetWindowText (hWnd,
sTitle.GetBufferSetLength (nLen),
nLen + 1);
sTitle.ReleaseBuffer ();
}
// If I cannot get the window title
// (should never happen though)
// So, lets just use the title of the document
if (sTitle.IsEmpty ())
{
BSTR bstrTitle;
hr = pHtmlDoc->get_title (&bstrTitle);
if (!FAILED (hr))
{
sTitle = bstrTitle;
SysFreeString (bstrTitle);
}
}
if (StringHelper::WildcardCompareNoCase
(sTitleToSearch, sTitle))
{
m_pWebBrowser = pWebBrowser;
pHtmlDoc->Release ();
pHtmlDocDispatch->Release ();
// Exit the method safely!
return true;
}
pHtmlDoc->Release();
}
pHtmlDocDispatch->Release ();
}
pWebBrowser->Release ();
}
}
return false;
}
This approach is described in MSDN in more detail. Click here to get more information.
This approach uses SHDocVw.ShellWindows collection to enumerate all the instances of shell windows. The ShellWindows object represents a collection of the open windows that belong to the shell. In fact, this collection contains references to Internet Explorer as well as other windows belonging to the shell, such as the Windows Explorer. To differentiate between Internet Explorer and other shell windows, we just try to get the HTML document of the shell window. If we get the document successfully, then this instance of ShellWindow is in fact an Internet Explorer window.
Navigate to a web page
Now, after we get the web browser object and store it in the variable m_pWebBrowser, it is very easy to navigate to a web page.
void CMyInternetExplorer::Navigate(LPCTSTR lpszURL, DWORD dwFlags /* = 0 */,
LPCTSTR lpszTargetFrameName /* = NULL */ ,
LPCTSTR lpszHeaders /* = NULL */, LPVOID lpvPostData /* = NULL */,
DWORD dwPostDataLen /* = 0 */)
{
CString strURL (lpszURL);
BSTR bstrURL = strURL.AllocSysString ();
COleSafeArray vPostData;
if (lpvPostData != NULL)
{
if (dwPostDataLen == 0)
dwPostDataLen = lstrlen ((LPCTSTR) lpvPostData);
vPostData.CreateOneDim (VT_UI1, dwPostDataLen, lpvPostData);
}
m_pWebBrowser->Navigate (bstrURL,
COleVariant ((long) dwFlags, VT_I4),
COleVariant (lpszTargetFrameName, VT_BSTR),
vPostData, COleVariant (lpszHeaders, VT_BSTR));
SysFreeString (bstrURL);
}
Wait until the web page is loaded
After starting to load a web page using the function above, to wait until the web page to be completely loaded, we can use the READYSTATE property of IWebBrowser2 object.
bool CMyInternetExplorer::WaitTillLoaded (int nTimeout)
{
READYSTATE result;
DWORD nFirstTick = GetTickCount ();
do
{
m_pWebBrowser->get_ReadyState (&result);
if (result != READYSTATE_COMPLETE)
Sleep (250);
if (nTimeout > 0)
{
if ((GetTickCount () - nFirstTick) > nTimeout)
break;
}
} while (result != READYSTATE_COMPLETE);
if (result == READYSTATE_COMPLETE)
return true;
else
return false;
}
This function waits until the web page is completely loaded or a timeout occurs. To wait indefinitely, set the nTimeout parameter to 0.
Find an anchor on a web page
The following function searches for the specified anchor in a web page. The anchor can be specified either by the name, outer text, tool tip or the URL. The anchor element has the following syntax:
<a href = "anhor_URL" name ="anchor_name"
title = "anchor_tooltip">Outer Text</a>
If bClick parameter is set to true, then if the anchor is found, it will also be clicked on.
bool CMyInternetExplorer::FindAnchor (bool bClick, bool bFocus,
bool bName, bool bOuterText, bool bTooltip, bool bURL,
LPCTSTR sName, LPCTSTR sOuterText, LPCTSTR sTooltip, LPCTSTR sURL)
{
ASSERT (m_pWebBrowser != NULL);
if (m_pWebBrowser == NULL)
return false;
HRESULT hr;
IDispatch* pHtmlDocDispatch = NULL;
IHTMLDocument2 * pHtmlDoc = NULL;
bool bSearch = true;
// Retrieve the document object.
hr = m_pWebBrowser->get_Document (&pHtmlDocDispatch);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) && (pHtmlDocDispatch != NULL))
{
hr = pHtmlDocDispatch->QueryInterface
(IID_IHTMLDocument2, (void**)&pHtmlDoc);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) && (pHtmlDoc != NULL))
{
IHTMLElementCollection* pColl = NULL;
hr = pHtmlDoc->get_all (&pColl);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) && (pColl != NULL))
{
// Obtained the Anchor Collection...
long nLength = 0;
pColl->get_length (&nLength);
for (int i = 0; i < nLength && bSearch; i++)
{
COleVariant vIdx ((long)i, VT_I4);
IDispatch* pElemDispatch = NULL;
IHTMLElement * pElem = NULL;
hr = pColl->item (vIdx, vIdx, &pElemDispatch);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) &&
(pElemDispatch != NULL))
{
hr = pElemDispatch->QueryInterface
(IID_IHTMLElement, (void**)&pElem);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) && (pElem != NULL))
{
BSTR bstrTagName;
CString sTempTagName;
if (!FAILED (pElem->get_tagName
(&bstrTagName)))
{
sTempTagName = bstrTagName;
SysFreeString (bstrTagName);
}
if (sTempTagName == _T ("a") ||
sTempTagName == _T ("A"))
{
IHTMLAnchorElement * pAnchor = NULL;
hr = pElemDispatch->QueryInterface
(IID_IHTMLAnchorElement,
(void**)&pAnchor);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) &&
(pAnchor != NULL))
{
BSTR bstrName, bstrOuterText,
bstrURL, bstrTooltip;
CString sTempName, sTempOuter,
sTempURL, sTempTooltip;
if (!FAILED (pElem->get_outerText
(&bstrOuterText)))
{
sTempOuter = bstrOuterText;
SysFreeString (bstrOuterText);
}
if (!FAILED
(pElem->get_title
(&bstrTooltip)))
{
sTempTooltip = bstrTooltip;
SysFreeString (bstrTooltip);
}
if
(!FAILED (pAnchor->get_name
(&bstrName)))
{
sTempName = bstrName;
SysFreeString (bstrName);
}
if (!FAILED (pAnchor->get_href
(&bstrURL)))
{
sTempURL = bstrURL;
SysFreeString (bstrURL);
}
// Do the comparison here!
bool bMatches = true;
if (bMatches && bName)
{
if
(!StringHelper::WildcardCompareNoCase
(sName, sTempName))
bMatches = false;
}
if (bMatches && bOuterText)
{
if
(!StringHelper::WildcardCompareNoCase
(sOuterText, sTempOuter))
bMatches = false;
}
if (bMatches && bURL)
{
if
(!StringHelper::WildcardCompareNoCase
(sURL, sTempURL))
bMatches = false;
}
if (bMatches && bTooltip)
{
if
(!StringHelper::WildcardCompareNoCase
(sTooltip, sTempTooltip))
bMatches = false;
}
if (bMatches)
{
// No need to search more!
bSearch = false;
if (bFocus)
pAnchor->focus ();
if (bClick)
pElem->click ();
}
pAnchor->Release ();
}
}
pElem->Release ();
}
pElemDispatch->Release ();
}
}
pColl->Release ();
}
pHtmlDoc->Release();
}
pHtmlDocDispatch->Release ();
}
if (bSearch == false)
return true;
return false;
}
The idea here is very simple. We first enumerate all IHTMLElement objects using get_all function of IHTMLDocument2. Then we check all of the elements to see whether it is an anchor object (IHTMLAnchorElement) or not, by checking its tag name. If it is an "a" or an "A", then it is an anchor object. Then I try to get the IHTMLAnchor object by using the QueryInterface function. The reason that I check the name instead of just using QueryInterface function is performance related. I guess it is much faster to check a tag's name than trying to get IHTMLAnchorElement by using QueryInterface function.
Fill a form on a web page
The idea here is similar to the one above. Instead of finding the anchor element, I try to find all the input elements and then do the same operations. The syntax for an input element is a follows:
<input type="input_type" value="input_value" name="input_name">
bool CMyInternetExplorer::FindInput (bool bClick, bool bSelect,
bool bChangeValue, bool bSetCheck,
bool bType, bool bName, bool bValue,
LPCTSTR sTypeToLook, LPCTSTR sNameToLook,
LPCTSTR sValueToLook,
bool bNewCheckValue, LPCTSTR sNewValue)
{
ASSERT (m_pWebBrowser != NULL);
if (m_pWebBrowser == NULL)
return false;
HRESULT hr;
IDispatch* pHtmlDocDispatch = NULL;
IHTMLDocument2 * pHtmlDoc = NULL;
bool bSearch = true;
// Retrieve the document object.
hr = m_pWebBrowser->get_Document (&pHtmlDocDispatch);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) && (pHtmlDocDispatch != NULL))
{
hr = pHtmlDocDispatch->QueryInterface
(IID_IHTMLDocument2, (void**)&pHtmlDoc);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) && (pHtmlDoc != NULL))
{
IHTMLElementCollection* pColl = NULL;
hr = pHtmlDoc->get_all (&pColl);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) && (pColl != NULL))
{
// Obtained the Anchor Collection...
long nLength = 0;
pColl->get_length (&nLength);
for (int i = 0; i < nLength && bSearch; i++)
{
COleVariant vIdx ((long)i, VT_I4);
IDispatch* pElemDispatch = NULL;
IHTMLElement * pElem = NULL;
hr = pColl->item (vIdx, vIdx, &pElemDispatch);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) && (pElemDispatch != NULL))
{
hr = pElemDispatch->QueryInterface
(IID_IHTMLElement, (void**)&pElem);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) && (pElem != NULL))
{
BSTR bstrTagName;
CString sTempTagName;
if (!FAILED (pElem->get_tagName
(&bstrTagName)))
{
sTempTagName = bstrTagName;
sTempTagName.MakeLower ();
//AfxMessageBox (sTempTagName);
SysFreeString (bstrTagName);
}
if (sTempTagName == _T ("input"))
{
IHTMLInputElement * pInputElem = NULL;
hr = pElemDispatch->QueryInterface
(IID_IHTMLInputElement,
(void**)&pInputElem);
if (SUCCEEDED (hr) &&
(pInputElem != NULL))
{
BSTR bstrType, bstrName, bstrValue;
CString sTempType,
sTempName, sTempValue;
if (!FAILED
(pInputElem->get_type
(&bstrType)))
{
sTempType = bstrType;
SysFreeString (bstrType);
}
if (!FAILED (pInputElem->get_name
(&bstrName)))
{
sTempName = bstrName;
SysFreeString (bstrName);
}
if (!FAILED
(pInputElem->get_value
(&bstrValue)))
{
sTempValue = bstrValue;
SysFreeString (bstrValue);
}
// Do the comparison here!
bool bMatches = true;
if (bMatches && bType)
{
if
(!StringHelper::WildcardCompareNoCase
(sTypeToLook, sTempType))
bMatches = false;
}
if (bMatches && bName)
{
if
(!StringHelper::WildcardCompareNoCase
(sNameToLook, sTempName))
bMatches = false;
}
if (bMatches && bValue)
{
if
(!StringHelper::WildcardCompareNoCase
(sValueToLook, sTempValue))
bMatches = false;
}
if (bMatches)
{
// No need to search more!
bSearch = false;
if (bSetCheck)
{
if (bNewCheckValue)
pInputElem->put_checked
(VARIANT_TRUE);
else
pInputElem->put_checked
(VARIANT_FALSE);
}
if (bChangeValue)
{
CString sTemp (sNewValue);
BSTR bstrNewValue =
sTemp.AllocSysString ();
pInputElem->put_value
(bstrNewValue);
SysFreeString
(bstrNewValue);
}
if (bSelect)
pInputElem->select ();
if (bClick)
pElem->click ();
}
pInputElem->Release ();
}
}
pElem->Release ();
}
pElemDispatch->Release ();
}
}
pColl->Release ();
}
pHtmlDoc->Release();
}
pHtmlDocDispatch->Release ();
}
if (bSearch == false)
return true;
return false;
}
Some points that you should keep in mind
- The attached source code includes a few more functions to fill the forms on web pages.
- The source code above does not search inside
Frame objects. However, this should not be a hard task. The frame objects should be enumerated and then the IHTMLDocument2 of each frame should be checked recursively. May be I will implement this in the next update.
- In order to use
IHTMLInputElement object, you need at least Internet Explorer 5.0
- I am not an expert Internet Explorer programmer. Lately, I needed to automate Internet Explorer and then wrote these functions. I wrote most of them on my own, and they may have some bug fixes in it.
- Please do not ask me why I used MFC, not ATL. The reason is that I don't know ATL
However, if you guys help me to convert this code into ATL, I would be very glad. I may even start learning ATL 
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