An exploration of IE browser methods, part I

It's been a while since I posted anything related to Internet Explorer, but here is a series of VBA functions that let you automate Internet Explorer's native methods.

I've received many questions about the code I posted at Automate Internet Explorer, so it's about time it was updated and refreshed with better coding techniques. This will be the first in a short series of articles about automating Internet Explorer.

We're all familiar (I hope) with the late-bound method for instantiating a copy of IE. Here is a function that returns the InternetExplorer object:

Function GetIE() As Object
  On Error Resume Next
  Set GetIE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
End Function

Call the function like this:

Dim ie As Object
Set ie = GetIE

You will notice that it is relatively slow compared to the XMLHTTP Object that we've seen previously. The only time I recommend using it is when you need to actually interact with a website in order to retrieve information. Those are the bad websites that need to be shut down! Seriously, people, set up an API.

The MSDN entry for the InternetExplorer Object gives you all the methods, events and properties you'll need to make IE dance for you.

The following is a series of functions that encapsulate most of the methods and properties. For most/all of these functions, you will need to pass in an InternetExplorer Object. I didn't do a type check but if you want to add one, check that TypeName(obj) = "IWebBrowser2". That's what the IE Object was referred to on my machine (YMMV).

If you want an example of class-driven events, see VBA web services.

AddressBar Property

Check if the Address Bar is visible using this function. If you pass True or False as the second parameter, you can change the property value.

Function ShowAddressBar(inet As Object, Optional addrBar As Variant) As Boolean

  If Not IsMissing(ShowAddressBar) Then
    If CBool(ShowAddressBar) Then
      inet.AddressBar = ShowAddressBar
    End If
  End If

  ShowAddressBar = inet.AddressBar

End Function

Busy Property

Check if your IE object is busy loading a page by passing it to this function.

Function IsIEBusy(inet As Object) As Boolean
  IsIEBusy = inet.Busy
End Function

FullScreen Property

This function lets you get or set the FullScreen Property of IE. Personally I hate IE in full-screen.

Function IEFullScreen(inet As Object, _
    Optional displayFullScreen As Variant) As Boolean

  If Not IsMissing(displayFullScreen) Then
    If CBool(displayFullScreen) Then
      inet.FullScreen = displayFullScreen
    End If
  End If

  IEFullScreen = inet.FullScreen

End Function

LocationName Property

This property returns the title bar caption from the IE window.

Function GetIELocation(inet As Object) As String
  GetIELocation = inet.locationName
End Function

LocationURL Property

If you want the current URL, this is the function to use.

Function GetIEURL(inet As Object) As String
  GetIEURL = inet.LocationURL
End Function

MenuBar Property

Set or get the MenuBar Property that determines whether the IE menu bar is visible.

Function DisplayIEMenuBar(inet As Object, _
    Optional displayMenu As Variant) As Boolean

  If Not IsMissing(displayMenu) Then
    If CBool(displayMenu) Then
      inet.MenuBar = displayMenu
    End If
  End If

  DisplayIEMenuBar = inet.MenuBar

End Function

ReadyState Property

The ReadyState Property works similar to the Busy Property. It gives you the state of the IE object. I've also provided the Enum so you can see all the possible return values.

Function GetIEReadyState(inet As Object) As Integer
  GetIEReadyState = inet.READYSTATE
End Function

'Enum READYSTATE
'    READYSTATE_UNINITIALIZED = 0
'    READYSTATE_LOADING = 1
'    READYSTATE_LOADED = 2
'    READYSTATE_INTERACTIVE = 3
'    READYSTATE_COMPLETE = 4
'End Enum

Most of the time you'll be checking for the number 4 (complete) using a Do While GetIEReadyState(ie) <> 4 type of statement.

Resizable Property

If you want your IE window to stay a certain size, you'll want to set the Resizable Property to False. Here's one way to do it.

Function IEResizable(inet As Object, Optional resize As Variant) As Boolean

  If Not IsMissing(resize) Then
    If CBool(resize) Then
      inet.Resizable = resize
    End If
  End If

  IEResizable = inet.Resizable

End Function

If you pass in True or False as the second parameter, you can adjust the value. Either way, the function returns the current value.

Silent Property

This property would be useful if you are expecting to navigate to a site with popups or dialog boxes you don't want to see. Especially those script debugging boxes that seem to appear with IE.

Function IESilent(inet As Object, Optional keepSilent As Variant) As Boolean

  If Not IsMissing(keepSilent) Then
    If CBool(keepSilent) Then
      inet.Silent = keepSilent
    End If
  End If

  IESilent = inet.Silent

End Function

StatusBar Property

Hide or show the status bar for the current IE window with this function.

Function IEStatusBar(inet As Object, Optional statusBar As Variant) As Boolean

  If Not IsMissing(statusBar) Then
    If CBool(statusBar) Then
      inet.StatusBar = statusBar
    End If
  End If

  IEStatusBar = inet.statusBar

End Function

StatusText Property

Set or get the status bar text with this function. You'll want to make sure the status bar is visible first.

Function IEStatusBarText(inet As Object, _
    Optional statusBarText As String) As String

  If Len(statusBarText) > 0 Then
    inet.StatusText = statusBarText
  End If

  IEStatusBarText = inet.statusText

End Function

TheaterMode Property

This function will put IE into Theater mode. That's where all the toolbars disappear and IE is maximized on the desktop.

Function IETheaterMode(inet As Object, _
    Optional isTheaterMode As Variant) As Boolean

  If Not IsMissing(isTheaterMode) Then
    If CBool(isTheaterMode) Then
      inet.TheaterMode = isTheaterMode
    End If
  End If

  IETheaterMode = inet.TheaterMode

End Function

Visible Property

Make the IE window visible with this function. When you instantiate IE, the window remains invisible. According to MSDN,

When the Windows Internet Explorer application is first created, it is hidden. It becomes visible after the Navigate method or the GoSearch method is used.

In my experience, it remains invisible until you set the Visible Property to True.

Function IEVisible(inet As Object, Optional isVisible As Variant) As Boolean

  If Not IsMissing(isVisible) Then
    If CBool(isVisible) Then
      inet.Visible = isVisible
    End If
  End If

  IEVisible = inet.Visible

End Function

Navigation Functions

These functions, respectively, allow you to tell IE to go back one page (according to History), go forward one page (according to History), or go to the Home page (as defined in Internet Options).

Function GoBack(inet As Object)
  inet.GoBack
End Function

Function GoForward(inet As Object)
  inet.GoForward
End Function

Function GoHome(inet As Object)
  inet.GoHome
End Function

Navigate Method

Here is one of the more important methods — the one that lets you browse to a particular web page, and even submit POST data. Visit the Navigate Method for more details about each parameter. Usually I only use the URL parameter.

Function Navigate(inet As Object, url As String, flags As Variant, targetFrameName As Variant, _
postData As Variant, headers As Variant)
inet.Navigate url, flags, targetFrameName, postData, headers
End Function

Helper Functions

To close the IE instance, use the Quit Method.

Function IEQuit(inet As Object)
  inet.Quit
End Function

Refresh the current page using the Refresh Method.

Function IERefresh(inet As Object)
  inet.Refresh
End Function

To stop a page from loading, use the Stop Method.

Function IEStop(inet As Object)
  inet.Stop
End Function

Next time we'll go through the HTMLDocument Object and, as a practical example, use the HTML Object Model to do something useful (extracting the UV Index from the U.S. EPA's SunWise website for a given zip code).