Interacting with web pages

[benners]

I have been playing around with the ie.au3 functions to learn a bit about them. I don't know anything about html, what nodes and elements are etc so will be looking at w3schools soon.

The script takes a Microsoft KB number and searches the Microsoft Update Catalog page to see if it is superseded or if it supersedes other updates. It will only work with the one supplied for now unless you change the $sDescription value.

Ideally I want to do all of this silently. There are some problems such as having popup blocker enabled and the Microsoft Catalog active x disabled in browsers so its for from perfect and do not really want to add things to peoples registry etc without consent so would like to get away from browser manipulation and would like to know if there is a com object that could be scripted to do the same as this script. I am thinking something like WSUS or Windows Update Agent, there must be something

Looking at the source of the web pages there are lots of jscript functions? that maybe convertable to AutoIt but its above my head. I has taken me all day to get this bitty script done everything is a learning curve

I have attached the script and welcome pointers to the above and also improvements to the script

Thanks

Benners

KBArticleNumberChecker.au3

[water]

You write that you are not familiar with html. If you just try to learn about the IE UDF etc. I would suggest to use a simpler task as a start.

[benners]

You write that you are not familiar with html. If you just try to learn about the IE UDF etc. I would suggest to use a simpler task as a start.

I came to this project due to the fact that I had become unstuck on another. I was trying to determine if one Office update superseded another. I had the msp files and despite my best efforts was unable to reach a conclusion with what MS reported. Some updates were obsolete and others were still needed by Microsoft Update.

MS isn't perfect as some of their information doesn't tally up so I decided the base line would be to go with the the Update Catalog. This is when I found I needed to brush up on web pages.

I was initially going to use iNetGet to download the web page and parse the file but there looked to be strings in the url that could be subject to change and I wanted to make if future proof instead of hard coding links.

t is a case of in at the deep end as it always seems to be lol. If I can make this script silent and more robust I'll add it to my main project.

Cheers

[water]

As you mentioned WSUS. I'm sure this and other tools get the information not from a web page but via an API. Check the WSUS home page as a start.