I use a proprietary IDE that is part of a large software package. At its core, however, C# is used as the language. Most .Net components and classes can be used. I can use it to create my own functions / WinForms, which are then integrated into an ERP system. This means that you can expand this system yourself. This is quite well implemented but there is no documentation and the support is also poor at this point. That's why I'm trying my luck here. Maybe someone can help.
I am currently programming a WinForms window that contains a WebBrowser control (wb). I'm pretty sure this is IE. I can programmatically create and include HTML code via MemoryStream (ms):
ms.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
wb.DocumentStream = ms;
It all works very well. Now I want to get events from the browser and have had the IDE create event handlers for this:
try {
wb.Click += new EventHandler(wb_Click);
...} etc.
public void wb_Click (object sender, EventArgs e)
{ }
The compiler shows no errors. During the execution I get the error message: The Click event is invalid for this ActiveX control. What could trigger this error? W. Wolf
Thanks for your tips! I was able to solve this with the following code:
...
HtmlElementCollection elements = wb.Document.GetElementsByTagName("span");
for (int n = 0; n < elements.Count;n++)
{
elements[n].Click += new HtmlElementEventHandler(el_Click);
}
...
public void el_Click (object sender, HtmlElementEventArgs e)
{
HtmlElement el = (HtmlElement) sender;
ShowInfo(el.Id);
}
I can continue to work with it.
Related
I am working on a C# Project with Visual Studio 2013.
My Problem:
There is a website on which you can search something and it displays a few results (i.e 30 of 1200). So, at the bottom of this website is a button to show more 30 results.
I succeeded in reading the current 30 results (using the WebClient), but I have no idea how to find a solution to get ALL the results.
I know what to do, but I don't know how to do it. I have to click on the button until there are no hidden results anymore. After that I have to read out the html (with my existing code).
I searched on google for a few hours and found some things with "headless" browsers, and I also tried to use the "InvokeMember"-Method of the Webbrowser, but it doesn't work. I only get the 30 results if I print out the HTML.
I hope you understand my question. Please help me.
Thanks.
WebBrowserControl Scroll to Bottom
private void webBrowser1_Navigated(object sender, WebBrowserNavigatedEventArgs e)
{
webBrowser1.Navigated += (s1, e1) =>
{
if (webBrowser1.Document.Body != null) webBrowser1.Document.Body.ScrollIntoView(false);
};
}
Or
if (theDoc.Body.InnerHtml != null)
{
try
{
webBrowser1.Document.Window.ScrollTo(0, webBrowser1.Document.Body.ScrollRectangle.Height);
timer2.Enabled = true;
}
catch { }
}
else
{
timer2.Enabled = true;
}
It looks like you need to implement pagination.
Depending on your requirements, you might need server or client side.
The link might help you decide:
StackOverflow Client Side vs Server Side
You can't have your cake and eat it too, apparently.
I'm currently using the System.Windows.Forms.WebBrowser in my application. The program currently depends on using the GetElementsByTagName function. I use it to gather up all the elements of a certain type (either "input"s or "textarea"s), so I can sort through them and return the value of a specific one. This is the code for that function (my WebBrowser is named web1):
// returns the value from a element.
public String FetchValue(String strTagType, String strName)
{
HtmlElementCollection elems;
HtmlDocument page = web1.Document.Window.Frames[1].Document;
elems = page.GetElementsByTagName(strTagType);
foreach (HtmlElement elem in elems)
{
if (elem.GetAttribute("name") == strName ||
elem.GetAttribute("ref") == strName)
{
if (elem.GetAttribute("value") != null)
{
return elem.GetAttribute("value");
}
}
}
return null;
}
(points to note: the webpage I need to pull from is in a frame, and depending on circumstances, the element's identifying name will be either in the name or the ref attribute)
All of that works like a dream with the System.Windows.Forms.WebBrowser.
But what it is unable to do, is redirect the opening of a new window to remain in the application. Anything that opens in a new window shoots to the user's default browser, thus losing the session. This functionality can be easily fixed with the NewWindow2 event, which System.Windows.Forms.WebBrowser doesn't have.
Now forgive me for being stunned at its absence. I have but recently ditched VB6 and moved on to C# (yes VB6, apparently I am employed under a rock), and in VB6, the WebBrowser possessed both the GetElementsByTagName function and the NewWindow2 event.
The AxSHDocVw.WebBrowser has a NewWindow2 event. It would be more than happy to help me route my new windows to where I need them. The code to do this in THAT WebBrowser is (frmNewWindow being a simple form containing only another WebBrowser called web2 (Dock set to Fill)):
private void web1_NewWindow2(
object sender,
AxSHDocVw.DWebBrowserEvents2_NewWindow2Event e)
{
frmNewWindow frmNW = new frmNewWindow();
e.ppDisp = frmNW.web2.Application;
frmNW.web2.RegisterAsBrowser = true;
frmNW.Visible = true;
}
I am unable to produce on my own a way to replicate that function with the underwhelming regular NewWindow event.
I am also unable to figure out how to replicate the FetchValue function I detailed above using the AxSHDocVw.WebBrowser. It appears to go about things in a totally different way and all my knowledge of how to do things is useless.
I know I'm a sick, twisted man for this bizarre fantasy of using these two things in a single application. But can you find it in your heart to help this foolish idealist?
I could no longer rely on the workaround, and had to abandon System.Windows.Forms.WebBrowser. I needed NewWindow2.
I eventually figured out how to accomplish what I needed with the AxWebBrowser. My original post was asking for either a solution for NewWindow2 on the System.Windows.Forms.WebBrowser, or an AxWebBrowser replacement for .GetElementsByTagName. The replacement requires about 4x as much code, but gets the job done. I thought it would be prudent to post my solution, for later Googlers with the same quandary. (also in case there's a better way to have done this)
IHTMLDocument2 webpage = (IHTMLDocument2)webbrowser.Document;
IHTMLFramesCollection2 allframes = webpage.frames;
IHTMLWindow2 targetframe = (IHTMLWindow2)allframes.item("name of target frame");
webpage = (IHTMLDocument2)targetframe.document;
IHTMLElementCollection elements = webpage.all.tags("target tagtype");
foreach (IHTMLElement element in elements)
{
if (elem.getAttribute("name") == strTargetElementName)
{
return element.getAttribute("value");
}
}
The webbrowser.Document is cast into an IHTMLDocument2, then the IHTMLDocument2's frames are put into a IHTMLFramesCollection2, then I cast the specific desired frame into an IHTMLWindow2 (you can choose frame by index # or name), then I cast the frame's .Document member into an IHTMLDocument2 (the originally used one, for convenience sake). From there, the IHTMLDocument2's .all.tags() method is functionally identical to the old WebBrowser.Document.GetElementsByTagName() method, except it requires an IHTMLElementCollection versus an HTMLElementCollection. Then, you can foreach the collection, the individual elements needing to be IHTMLElement, and use .getAttribute to retrieve the attributes. Note that the g is lowercase.
The WebBrowser control can handle the NewWindow event so that new popup windows will be opened in the WebBrowser.
private void webBrowser1_NewWindow(object sender, CancelEventArgs e)
{
// navigate current window to the url
webBrowser1.Navigate(webBrowser1.StatusText);
// cancel the new window opening
e.Cancel = true;
}
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/csharpgeneral/thread/361b6655-3145-4371-b92c-051c223518f2/
The only solution to this I have seen was a good few years ago now, called csExWb2, now on Google code here.
It gives you an ExWebBrowser control, but with full-on access to all the interfaces and events offered by IE. I used it to get deep and dirty control of elements in a winforms-hosted html editor.
It may be a bit of a leap jumping straight into that, mind.
What am I doing:
My main intent is to enable user friendly text to speech for personal use on Win 7. Approach should work in Google Chrome, VS and Eclipse.
Code example:
Following code creates global keyboard hook for ctrl + alt + space, called hookEvent. If event fires, it starts/stops speaking clipboard contents ( that can be updated with ctrl + c ).
/// <summary>
/// KeyboardHook from: http://www.liensberger.it/web/blog/?p=207
/// </summary>
private readonly KeyboardHook hook = new KeyboardHook();
private readonly SpeechSynthesizer speaker = //
new SpeechSynthesizer { Rate = 3, Volume = 100 };
private void doSpeaking(string text)
{
// starts / stops speaking, while not blocking UI
if (speaker.State != SynthesizerState.Speaking)
speaker.SpeakAsync(text);
else
speaker.SpeakAsyncCancelAll();
}
private void hookEvent(object sender, KeyPressedEventArgs e)
{
this.doSpeaking(Convert.ToString(Clipboard.GetText()));
}
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
hook.KeyPressed += new EventHandler<KeyPressedEventArgs>(hookEvent);
hook.RegisterHotKey(ModifierKeysx.Control|ModifierKeysx.Alt, Keys.Space);
}
Question:
I would prefer not using the clipboard. Or at least, restoring the value after, something like:
[MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.Synchronized)]
private string getSelectedTextHACK()
{
object restorePoint = Clipboard.GetData(DataFormats.UnicodeText);
SendKeys.SendWait("^c");
string result = Convert.ToString(Clipboard.GetText());
Clipboard.SetData(DataFormats.UnicodeText, restorePoint);
return result;
}
What are my options?
Edit:
To my surprise, I found that my clipboard reader is the best way to go. I created a notification area app, that responds to left click (speaking clipboard) and right click (menu opens up). In menu the user can chance speed, speak or create a audio file.
MS provide accessibility tools that do cover what you're trying to do. If you take a look at documents about screen scraping. In short, every component is accessible in some manner, if you use some of the windows debugging tools you can get to see the component names/structures within. You can then use that, however, its complicated as most times you would need to be very specific for each application you intend to scrape from.
If you manage to scrape you dont need to use the clipboard, as you can access the text property of the apps direct. Its not something I've had to do, hence, Ive no code to offer off the top of my head, but the term "screen scraping" should point you in the right direction.
If to expand a little on what Bugfinder said, Microsoft provider a UI Automation Framework to solve problems like the one you mentioned:
In particular you can use the TextSelectionChangedEvent of TextPattern:
The problem with this solution is that it only works on supported operating systems and applications - and not all support this.
Your clipboard solution is acceptable for applications that do not provide a good automation interface.
But for many applications the UI Automation Framework will work well and will provide you with a far better solution.
I am using WebKit browser control in my WPF application. I am using it because I want to rendered Protovis enabled HTML on it. Till this point I am successful. Now, I want to pass some parameters specially arrays of double, int and strings to one of the Java script method of the rendered page within the control. I tried InvokeScriptMethod() API from WebKit but it did not work for me if I want to pass parameter(s). Everything works well if I invoke the script method which doesn't take any parameter.
Can somebody help me? I am desperate for it.:)
Thanks,
Omkar
I get HRESULT as E_FAIL if I don't wait until the site is fully loaded.
You have to wait until this event:
private void webKitBrowser1_DocumentCompleted(object sender, WebBrowserDocumentCompletedEventArgs e)
{
object[] arr = {"some parameter"};
String returned = webKitBrowser1.Document.InvokeScriptMethod("JavascriptFunctionName", arr) as String;
}
is fired. After that, everything worked fine for me.
You can use,
webKitBrowser1.StringByEvaluatingJavaScriptFromString("javascript:YourMethod();");
I know that I can display a PDF file in my c# executable (not web app) with:
private AxAcroPDFLib.AxAcroPDF axAcroPDF1;
axAcroPDF1.LoadFile(#"somefile.pdf");
axAcroPDF1.Show();
But that is the regular pdf viewer like in the browser. I don't want that. I want full Adobe Standard or Professional functionality in my C# application using the Adobe controls. For example, if I use the code above, it loads in the C# app and I can see the adobe toolbar (print, save, etc.) But it is useless to me because I need things like save which cannot be done with the activex viewer above. Specifically, you cannot save, just as you cannot within the broswer.
So, I referenced the acrobat.dll and am trying to use:
Acrobat.AcroAVDocClass _acroDoc = new Acrobat.AcroAVDocClass();
Acrobat.AcroApp _myAdobe = new Acrobat.AcroApp();
Acrobat.AcroPDDoc _pdDoc = null;
_acroDoc.Open(myPath, "test");
pdDoc = (Acrobat.AcroPDDoc)(_acroDoc.GetPDDoc());
_acroDoc.SetViewMode(2);
_myAdobe.Show();
It opens adobe acrobat but it opens it outside of my c# application. I need it to open in my c# application like the activex library does. Can it be done with these libraries?
If I cannot open it in my c# application I would like to be able to "hold" my c# app tied to it so the c# app knows when I close the adobe app. At least that way I'd have some measure of control. This means I would hit open, the adobe app opens. I close the adobe app, my C# app is aware of this and loads the newly changed doc with the activex library (because I don't need change ability anymore, just displaying.)
I have the full versions of adobe acrobat installed on my computer. It is not the reader.
Thank you for any help.
edit:
There is an example in vb in the adobe acrobat sdk. I believe it is called activeview.
you can check out ABCpdf. I dont know if it has this capability but we have used it for several of our apps
Using a webbrowser control would be an option to display the content.
IText# may help you out.
You can create PDF's and I believe you can use it to read and modify them.
As for displaying in the app..... I am not sure how to display them with iText or if it is possible (have not tried this yet), sorry. iText does let you convert to RTF which may be one approach.
Best option is to write a listener which tells your calling code when Adobe.exe is no longer running. Something like the following (with tweaks for your uses) should work:
public void Open(string myPath)
{
Acrobat.AcroAVDocClass _acroDoc = new Acrobat.AcroAVDocClass();
Acrobat.AcroApp _myAdobe = new Acrobat.AcroApp();
Acrobat.AcroPDDoc _pdDoc = null;
_acroDoc.Open(myPath, "test");
_pdDoc = (Acrobat.AcroPDDoc) (_acroDoc.GetPDDoc());
_acroDoc.SetViewMode(2);
_myAdobe.Show();
NotifyAdobeClosed += new EventHandler(Monitor_NotifyAdobeClosed);
MonitorAdobe();
}
private void Monitor_NotifyAdobeClosed(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
NotifyAdobeClosed -= Monitor_NotifyAdobeClosed;
//Do whatever it is you want to do when adobe is closed.
}
private void MonitorAdobe()
{
while(true)
{
var adcount = (from p in Process.GetProcesses()
where p.ProcessName.ToLower() == "acrobat"
select p).Count();
if (adcount == 0)
{
OnNotifyAdobeClosed();
break;
}
}
}
public event EventHandler NotifyAdobeClosed;
public void OnNotifyAdobeClosed()
{
if (NotifyAdobeClosed != null)
NotifyAdobeClosed(this, null);
}