Managing a IE Download in the background

[crampz]

Hi All

(me again!) lol

Anyway, this is where I have got to, and now I'm stuck.

I use a webbrowser to navigate to a site and log in. The site that I navigate to is actually the link to the download but you have got to login first and once you click submit on the login form it then starts the download.

So where I get to is logging in, but I get the IE File download dialog "Open, Save or Cancel".

What I want to do is to be able to download and save this file in the directory of the application all in the background, without the user having to interact with anything.

The file is always a excel file (.xls)

Private Sub btnDownload_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnDownload.Click
        Dim Tday, TMonth, TYear, TDate As String
        Tday = Date.Now.Day
        TMonth = Date.Now.Month
        TYear = Date.Now.Year
        Tday.Replace("0", "")
        TMonth.Replace("0", "")
        TDate = (Tday & "." & TMonth & "." & TYear)
        Webaddress = (Website Address)
        WebBrowser1.Navigate(Webaddress)
        Timer1.Start()
    End Sub
 
    Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
        Do Until WebBrowser1.ReadyState = WebBrowserReadyState.Complete
            Application.DoEvents()
        Loop
        If WebBrowser1.ReadyState = WebBrowserReadyState.Complete Then
            btnlogin.PerformClick()
            Timer1.Stop()
        End If
    End Sub
 
    Private Sub btnlogin_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnlogin.Click
        WebBrowser1.Document.All("ssousername").InnerText = "Username"
        WebBrowser1.Document.All("password").InnerText = "Password"
        Dim theElementCollection As HtmlElementCollection
        theElementCollection = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("input")
        For Each curElement As HtmlElement In theElementCollection
            If curElement.GetAttribute("value").Equals("Login") Then
                curElement.InvokeMember("click")
            End If
        Next
End Sub

If anyone could shed some light on this.

Mega Thanks in Advance

Alex

[dunfiddlin]

Don't download using the click. Use a WebClient, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ez801hhe.aspx

[crampz]

Don't download using the click. Use a WebClient, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ez801hhe.aspx

Ok so I used the code on there, but it has downloaded the sign in page. any help on this?

[dunfiddlin]

You still need to log in. Very often the log in page and the home page have the same address. You also need the complete filename for the download.

[crampz]

You still need to log in. Very often the log in page and the home page have the same address. You also need the complete filename for the download.

how do I go about logging in.

the current code downloads the sign in page and inserts the filename into the username box. The url I link to is the file but you have to sign in first. as soon as you hit the login button it generates and downloads the report.

Dim Tday, TMonth, TYear, TDate As String
        Tday = Date.Now.Day
        TMonth = Date.Now.Month
        TYear = Date.Now.Year
        Tday.Replace("0", "")
        TMonth.Replace("0", "")
        TDate = (Tday & "." & TMonth & "." & TYear)
        Webaddress1 = ("THE URL")
        Dim remoteUri As String = Webaddress1
        Dim fileName As String = "00-3052.xls"
        Dim myStringWebResource As String = Nothing
        Dim myWebClient As New WebClient()
        myStringWebResource = remoteUri + fileName
        myWebClient.DownloadFile(myStringWebResource, fileName)

The url (ive replaced sensitive info)

"http://XXXX.com:PORT/reports/00-3052.jsp?SOME_OTHER_INFO_HERE&P_FROM_DATE=" & TDate & "&P_TO_DATE=" & TDate)

The Sign in page consists of
Username textbox. Html name = ssousername
Password textbox. html name = password
submit button. html name = login

it will ask for the username and password every time, even if you have signed in once and then go to it.

[dunfiddlin]

Ah, right. That could be a problem. I'm sure you used to be able to override the dialog in Internet Options but if that ever was the case it certainly isn't now. There's probably a registry entry that will do it but the truble with that, of course, is that you'd override the dialog for everything, which may not be desirable. The only thing left would be to capture the dialog and press 'save' automatically. I'll have a little play and see if that's possible.

In the meantime do I take the removal of 'sensitive' information as an indication that you have a direct relationship with the server? In that case you might ask whether there is an API or at least an alternative log in method that would obviate the problem directly.

[crampz]

Ah, right. That could be a problem. I'm sure you used to be able to override the dialog in Internet Options but if that ever was the case it certainly isn't now. There's probably a registry entry that will do it but the truble with that, of course, is that you'd override the dialog for everything, which may not be desirable. The only thing left would be to capture the dialog and press 'save' automatically. I'll have a little play and see if that's possible.

In the meantime do I take the removal of 'sensitive' information as an indication that you have a direct relationship with the server? In that case you might ask whether there is an API or at least an alternative log in method that would obviate the problem directly.

ahh ok I see. Just replying on mobile atm. Thank you for your help in advance. I just removed information as it just contained company name and some parameters that had info on it. I don't have direct access to it. Just access through our companies reporting tools.

[crampz]

Ok Question, Can I pass request headers to the webbrowser. I captured data of me downloading the file. so I have the capture information of the login and then of the download. I don't know if I can do anything with this