Internet Explorer - Help with form elements and frames

[crambaza]

Good Afternoon,

I am trying to create a script to pull up a web browser, navigate to a secure site, log in to the site, navigate within the site requiring clicking on links, and filling out a form.

I am up to the point where I can click a link from within the site, this changes the information in the current frame with that link that I clicked, into a form. I am trying to enter information into the form, but I can't.

Up to this point, I have just been working from the "hotmail.com" login script that I found on this site, but am having issues. Unfortunately up to this point, I have made some coding 'leaps' that I don't understand, but everything up to clicking the link seems to work anyway.

Here is my code, with the sensitive info *'d out.

#include <IE.au3>
 
; Create a browser window and navigate to hotmail
$oIE = _IECreate ("http://www.*.com")
 
$o_form = _IEFormGetCollection ($oIE, 0)
$o_login = _IEFormElementGetObjByName ($o_form, "ssid")
$o_password = _IEFormElementGetObjByName ($o_form, "password")
$o_signin = _IEFormElementGetObjByName ($o_form, "submit")
 
$username = "*"
$password = "*"
 
; Set field values and submit the form
_IEFormElementSetValue ($o_login, $username)
_IEFormElementSetValue ($o_password, $password)
_IEAction ($o_signin, "click")

_IELoadWait($oIE)

; Click the Manage Enrollments link
$oFrame = _IEFrameGetCollection ($oIE, 2)
$LinkName = "Manage Enrollments"
_IELinkClickByText ( $oFrame, $LinkName, 0)

_IELoadWait($oIE)

; Enter ARP111 into the form element "code value" (this is the section that does not work)

$o_CourseName = _IEFormElementGetObjByName ($oIE, "code value")
$CourseCode = "ARP111"
_IEFormElementSetValue ($o_CourseName, $CourseCode)
 
Exit

When I run this, it will log me in to the site, clicks on the 'Manage Enrollments' link in the appropriate frame, and then nothing. I run it from SciTE, and the output bar shows:

C:\Program Files\AutoIt3\SciTE\AutoIt3Wrapper\AutoIt3Wrapper.exe" /run /prod /ErrorStdOut /in "*\Desktop\auto it stuffs\IE auto surf.au3" /autoit3dir "C:\Program Files\AutoIt3" /UserParams

+>13:41:32 Starting AutoIt3Wrapper v.1.9.4

>Running AU3Check (1.54.10.0) from:C:\Program Files\AutoIt3

+>13:41:32 AU3Check ended.rc:0

>Running:(3.2.10.0):C:\Program Files\AutoIt3\autoit3.exe "*\Desktop\auto it stuffs\IE auto surf.au3"

--> IE.au3 V2.3-1 Error from function _IEFormElementGetObjByName, $_IEStatus_InvalidObjectType

--> IE.au3 V2.3-1 Error from function _IEFormElementSetValue, $_IEStatus_InvalidDataType

+>13:41:39 AutoIT3.exe ended.rc:0

This is telling me that my command is not using a correct object type, but since I am completely lost, I just don't know how to continue. Can anyone help me with my issue?

[Danp2]

_IEFormElementGetObjByName needs to be called with a Form object. Add the line:

$oForm = _IEFormGetCollection($oIE,0)

and then change your line to:

$o_CourseName = _IEFormElementGetObjByName ($oForm, "code value")

HTH, Dan

[crambaza]

Thank you for the quick response. I have modified my code to the following:

; Enter ARP111 into the form element "code value"
$oForm = _IEFormGetCollection($oIE,0)
$o_CourseName = _IEFormElementGetObjByName ($oForm, "code value")
$CourseCode = "ARP111"
_IEFormElementSetValue ($o_CourseName, $CourseCode)

but it still does not work. The output from SciTE is:

--> IE.au3 V2.3-1 Warning from function _IEFormGetCollection, $_IEStatus_NoMatch

--> IE.au3 V2.3-1 Error from function _IEFormElementGetObjByName, $_IEStatus_InvalidDataType

--> IE.au3 V2.3-1 Error from function _IEFormElementSetValue, $_IEStatus_InvalidDataType

[Danp2]

Ok... now you need to find out why _IEFormGetCollection is returning $_IEStatus_NoMatch. Have you viewed the generated HTML to verify that a form exists on that web page?

[crambaza]

Ok... now you need to find out why _IEFormGetCollection is returning $_IEStatus_NoMatch. Have you viewed the generated HTML to verify that a form exists on that web page?

Now you are starting to lose me, sorry for my lack of terminoligy. When you are asking if I have verified the HTML to verify that a form exists, I am not sure what you mean exactly.

I have viewed the HTML, and part of the source code looks like:

<form method=get action="http://www.*/">

<INPUT type=HIDDEN name=_charset_ value="windows-1252">

<input type="hidden" name="CMD" value="GET">

<input type="hidden" name="CMD" value="GET">

<input type="hidden" name="file" value="training_coordinator/classlist/enrollments.jsm">

<INPUT TYPE=HIDDEN NAME=useCookie VALUE="">

<tr><th class="h1" colspan=2><h1>Search enrollments</h1></th></tr>

<!-- ================= Learning Activity Details ====== -->

<tr><th colspan=2 class="h2"><h2>Learning Activity Details</h2></th></tr>

<!-- -------- Code -------- -->

<tr>

<th class="side">Code:</th>

<td><nobr>

<select name="codeSearchOption"><option value="StartsWith" selected>Starts With</option><option value="Exact">Exact</option><option value="Contains">Contains</option></select>

<input type=text size=30 name=code value=''>

</nobr></td>

</tr>

<!-- -------- Title -------- -->

<tr>

<th class="side">Title:</th>

<td><nobr>

<select name="titleSearchOption"><option value="StartsWith" selected>Starts With</option><option value="Exact">Exact</option><option value="Contains">Contains</option></select>

<input type=text size=30 name=title value=''>

</nobr></td>

</tr>

<!-- -------- Type -------- -->

Now, is this the information that tells me if there is a form on the page?

And again, I want to thank you for taking the time to try to help me =.)

[DaleHohm]

You can easily be surprised by nested frames.

After your _IELoadWait I suggest that you examine the source with ConsoleWrite(_IEDocReadHTML($oIE) & @CR)

You can also download DebugBar and use it to examine the page source and structure (see my signature).

Dale

[crambaza]

You can easily be surprised by nested frames.

After your _IELoadWait I suggest that you examine the source with ConsoleWrite(_IEDocReadHTML($oIE) & @CR)

You can also download DebugBar and use it to examine the page source and structure (see my signature).

Dale

I have added the code to my script. (At first I was like, alright, I added it, but I have no idea where this 'console' is that it will write the information. I have located it in SciTE in the bottom.

<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>*</TITLE><BASE href=http://www.*.com/docent/bin/docentisapi.dll/lms,CGLRWS003,6541/SQN%3D-12651345/></HEAD><FRAMESET border=0 frameSpacing=0 rows=80,* frameBorder=0><FRAME name=banner marginWidth=0 marginHeight=0 src="/docent/lms/banner.html" scrolling=no><FRAMESET border=0 frameBorder=no cols=215,*><FRAME name=menubar src="?CMD=GET&file=menubar.jsm&http_switch=false"><FRAMESET border=0 rows=*,35 frameBorder=no><FRAME name=docent_main src="?CMD=GET&file=instructor/menu_list.jsm"><FRAME name=bottomlogo marginHeight=5 src="/docent/lms/bottomlogo.html" scrolling=no></FRAMESET></FRAMESET></FRAMESET></HTML>

Which as you proably already know, is the same information that I get from the IE-Builder 2 that I got from your signature a while back, and have been experimenting with.

<FRAME name=banner marginWidth=0 marginHeight=0 src="/docent/lms/banner.html" scrolling=no><FRAMESET border=0 frameBorder=no cols=215,*><FRAME name=menubar src="?CMD=GET&file=menubar.jsm&http_switch=false"><FRAMESET border=0 rows=*,35 frameBorder=no><FRAME name=docent_main src="?CMD=GET&file=instructor/menu_list.jsm"><FRAME name=bottomlogo marginHeight=5 src="/docent/lms/bottomlogo.html" scrolling=no></FRAMESET></FRAMESET>

I am trying to get the DebugBar installed right now, but I am on a work computer, and sometimes it is easier said than done.

Now, again, I have to say that I am a complete beginner with HTML stuff, and autoIt. I never created a webpage, and the only AutoIt scripting I did was over a year ago, but all i used as nested for-next loops to scan the monitor, and perform pixelchecksums to compare to a known value.

Having said that, all 'nested frames' means to me is a webpage built from a few different frames, but I have no idea if that is the intened meaning. And now that I have this console information, I really have no idea what it means.

(after self-teaching myself vba with Excel, I was thinking, this stuff is easy, I maybe should change fields to computer programming. Wow, was I sorely mistaken, this stuff is a lot trickier than I would have though, and happy I didn't make the change, or I think I would be doomed.)

Again, thanks for the help. So far you have stopped my brain from exploding.

[crambaza]

Ok, DebugBar installed. And it has helped me a little. First I have amended my code to:

$oForm = _IEFormGetCollection($oIE,0)
$o_CourseName = _IEFormElementGetObjByName ($oForm, "code")
$CourseCode = "ARP111"
_IEFormElementSetValue ($o_CourseName, $CourseCode)

As the name of the element is 'code', not 'code value', as the value I would assume is the value of the box. See, I can be taught a little.

Of course, this has not fixed my issue, it still errors out as before.

Well, I am moving in the right direction I guess.

Is there anyother information I can provide for assistance?

[DaleHohm]

So look at the source you got back with the ConsoleWrite... there is no FORM is there? But you do see FRAMESET... FRAME.

Check out _IEFrameGetObjByName

Dale

[crambaza]

With DebugBar installed, and looking at the website, it says there are 2 forms on the page I am looking at. (with both named the exact same thing)

Clearly I don't understand.

When I drag and drop the DebugBar 'target thing' into the input box that I want the information from, it does give properties of : <INPUT size=30 name=code>

When I look into the HTML tree that is created by doing this, it does expand the tree under the Document/HTML/.../Frameset branch to highlite the information for me. Now this means that I am dealing with a frame. Ok, I can wrap my head around that.

Now, I keep trying variations of

_IEFrameGetObjByName

and if I use

_IEFrameGetObjByName ($oIE, "docent_main")

I don't know what this does for me.

I was able to fill a form element, I was able to select the right frame, and click a text link, but I just can't wrap my head around this at all. I am sorry for seeming so dense. I just don't know how to tackle this.

[DaleHohm]

A Frame is actually a Window object that is a container for a document object, The document object in turn contains the forms and other elements. The Frame/Window acts like another browser and you need to drill down to get a reference to it and treat it as you would a browser object (like a $oIE). Does that help? Please test with the helpfile example for _IEFrameGetObjByName.

Dale

[crambaza]

A Frame is actually a Window object that is a container for a document object, The document object in turn contains the forms and other elements. The Frame/Window acts like another browser and you need to drill down to get a reference to it and treat it as you would a browser object (like a $oIE). Does that help? Please test with the helpfile example for _IEFrameGetObjByName.

Dale

Ok, so Frames are each like an independant browser object? In my particular case, the browser I am looking at has few frames, with a banner, a menu, the main area, and the bottom. Each of these frames is its own area, and the one I am interested in, named docent_main is the frame that contains the form that I want to fill out.

To do this, I need to use the _IEFrameGetObjByName function to 'drill' down into the right frame, so I can dig out my form, to fill it out?

I took at look at the help file entry for this command,

#include <IE.au3>
$oIE = _IE_Example ("iframe")
$oFrame = _IEFrameGetObjByName ($oIE, "iFrameTwo")
_IEBodyWriteHTML ($oFrame, "Hello <b>iFrame!</b>")
_IELoadWait ($oFrame)

This has the frame iFrameTwo rewritten with new information.

I don't think this is my case. In my browser, I have 4 or so frames, but in the frame called 'docent_main', there is A LOT of information that can be input. It has over 8 input boxes, 8 pull down boxes, over 20 check boxes...

You have been very patient with me, and I appreciate the effort to help me help myself. I guess I just need a little bit of a further push.

I have a frame named docent_main, it has many input boxes, pull down menus and check boxes that I wish to manipulate. I just don't know how. Sorry =.(

[Brickoneer]

In your case, you'd select your frame, whatever it is. (Document_main I believe you said). Then you have that frame "object". From their you can grab the forms in that frame with _ieformget*, and get the specific elements of that form with the _ieformelement* functions.

for example:

$oIE = _IEAttach("THIS IS MY SITE")
$oFrame = _IEframegetobjbyname($oIE,"THIS IS THE FRAME NAME")
$oForm = _ieformgetobjbyname($oFrame,"THIS IS THE NAME OF THE FORM")
$oElement = _ieformelementgetobjbyname($oForm,"THIS IS THE ELEMENT TO MANIPULATE")

That is the basic outline. If some of the things don't have names you can get them by index with the *getcollection.

Hope that helps.

Cheers!

Brick

Edited January 11, 2008 by Brickoneer

[crambaza]

Thank you so much for your help with this. (wow, did I ever need that spelled out for me, thanks Brick)

I finally got it working, well the filling out of the form part. I fill out the form, I submit the form ( the submit button was un-named so I used a little for-next loop to find which object it was, turns out it was element 50)

Now, I have used

$oWorkingFrame = _IEFrameGetObjByName ($oIE, "docent_main")
$CUResults = _IEDocReadHTML ($oWorkingFrame)
ClipPut ($CUResults)

to read my information into the clipboard, now I just need to put it into the proper worksheet in Excel. Fun times!

Again, I really appreciate the help you have all given me. I love AutoIt, and the community it has created.

Cheers!

[DaleHohm]

Is the content in a table? If so, make sure you notice _IETableWriteToArray

Dale

[crambaza]

Is the content in a table? If so, make sure you notice _IETableWriteToArray

Dale

I had a nice piece of code written to use this function, and it worked beautifully. I had to work around the fact that it started at Col 0 because when I used _ExcelWriteSheetFromArray( ) it omitted that column of information. After I ironed that out, _ExcelWriteSheetFromArray( ) function just went really really slow, so I found another way.

I opted for a more straight forward read the HTML data, and paste it directly to excel.

Edit: I can't write a complete thought.

Edited January 12, 2008 by crambaza