Attaching to an existing IE instance - one method

[DaleHohm]

You cannot use ObjGet on InternetExplorer because its instances are not placed into the ROT (Running Object Table). Here is one method of attaching to a desired, existing instance of IE by examining the URL it is displaying.

I do hope there are better ways to do this, but this works.

It is important to know that you can get to the InternetExplorer object both with an $ObjIE = ObjCreate("InternetExplorer.Application") which creates a new instance, or through the Shell.Application object to Shell.Application.Windows.Item as done in the code below.

If you set the $myURL variable to the exact URL being displayed in an existing IE window, you will end up with $ObjIE pointing to that instance. You can then use the properties, methods and events of the InternetExplorer object to manipulate it (see MSDN InternetExplorer Object Reference for more information.

Dim $ObjShell = ObjCreate("Shell.Application")
Dim $ObjShellWindows = $ObjShell.Windows(); collection of all ShellWindows (IE and File Explorer)
Dim $ObjIE

; URL of IE instance we want to find
Dim $myURL = "http://www.autoitscript.com/"

For $item = 0 to ($ObjShellWindows.count - 1)
    $ObjIE = $ObjShellWindows.item($item); this is an InternetExplorer object
    ConsoleWrite($item & "> " & $ObjIE.path & @CR)
; The $ObjIE.path appears to be "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\" for IE and
; "C:\WINDOWS\" for file explorer on my machine (ShellWindows can be either).  
; File explorer does not have the same properties as IE, so it is important to know.
; There is certainly a better way to figure this out, but I haven't found it yet.
    If ($ObjIE.path = @ProgramFilesDir & "\Internet Explorer\") Then
        ConsoleWrite($item & "> " & $ObjIE.document.URL & @CR)
        If ($ObjIE.document.URL = $myURL) Then ExitLoop; We found it...
        $ObjIE = ""
    Else
        $ObjIE = ""
    EndIf
Next

If isObj($ObjIE) Then
    ConsoleWrite("--> $ObjIE now points to an IE Instance connected to " & $myURL & @CR)
Else
    ConsoleWrite("--> No IE instance was found connected to " & $myURL & @CR)
EndIf

Edited May 24, 2005 by DaleHohm

[SvenP]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dale,

Thanks for this useful tip.

It was already part of the beta versions. See in the beta.ZIP file in tests\com\Instance-of-IE-test.au3

See also: http://www.autoitscript.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=10444

Regards,

-Sven

[DaleHohm]

Dale,

Thanks for this useful tip.

It was already part of the beta versions. See in the beta.ZIP file in tests\com\Instance-of-IE-test.au3

See also: http://www.autoitscript.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=10444

Regards,

-Sven

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cool. And the use of LocationURL negates the need to look at .path to differentiate between IE and File Explorer... also no need for looking at the .item

New code can be simplified to:

Dim $ObjShell = ObjCreate("Shell.Application")
Dim $ObjShellWindows = $ObjShell.Windows(); collection of all ShellWindows (IE and File Explorer)
Dim $ObjIE

; URL of IE instance we want to find
Dim $myURL = "http://www.autoitscript.com"

For $Window in $ObjShellWindows
; ConsoleWrite($window.LocationURL & @CR)
    If $window.LocationURL = $myURL Then
        $ObjIE = $Window
        ExitLoop; We found it...
    Else
        $ObjIE = 0
    EndIf
Next

If isObj($ObjIE) Then
    ConsoleWrite("--> $ObjIE now points to an IE Instance connected to " & $myURL & @CR)
Else
    ConsoleWrite("--> No IE instance was found connected to " & $myURL & @CR)
EndIf

[Insolence]

Sweet guys, no need for pixelsearch any more

[scriptkitty]

Nice one. I had a few systems that had a bit of a problem, so I shortened it a bit and put in in a function.

func IE_connect()
; returns the internet explorer object if sucessful or 0 if it fails.
; mainly from DaleHohm's code

Dim $ObjShell = ObjCreate("Shell.Application")
Dim $ObjShellWindows = $ObjShell.Windows(); collection of all ShellWindows (IE and File Explorer)
Dim $ObjIE

For $Window in $ObjShellWindows
    If StringInStr($window.LocationURL,"https:")>0 or StringInStr($window.LocationURL,"http:")>0 or StringInStr($window.LocationURL,"ftp:")>0 Then
        $ObjIE = $Window
        ExitLoop; We found it...
    Else
        $ObjIE = 0
    EndIf
Next

If isObj($ObjIE) Then
    ConsoleWrite("--> $ObjIE now points to an IE Instance connected" & @CR)
Else
    ConsoleWrite("--> No IE instance was found connected" & @CR)
EndIf
Return $ObjIE
EndFunc

Now I just need to find/make one for firefox like this.