[RESOLVED] Getting CLASS from GetElementsByTagName

[FunkMonkey]

I have the code below that was provided by paul but it is not returning the collection. paul initially set it up so I could search through the collection, which I do with GetElement, but I have this function GetElements that returns the collection, or at leas it's supposed to. I tried to doo AllClasses.All but VB does not like that. What am I missing, or doing wrong?

Error occured in [GetElement] for the following reason Unable to cast object of type 'WhereEnumerableIterator`1[System.Windows.Forms.HtmlElement]' to type 'System.Windows.Forms.HtmlElementCollection'.

Public Function GetElements(ByVal nElement As Integer, ByVal szElementName As String) As HtmlElementCollection

    Dim HTMLeleCol As HtmlElementCollection
    Dim nCnt As Integer

    Try

        If (GetDebug()) Then
            Debug.Print("clsIIE [GetElement Enter]")
        End If

        If (GetAbort()) Then
            GetElements = Nothing
            Exit Function
        End If

        'If (IsObjectConnected(WebBrowser1.Document) = False) Then
        '    GetElement = Nothing
        '    Exit Function
        'End If


        nCnt = 0
        HTMLeleCol = Nothing
        'loop until the home page shows up
        Do While (HTMLeleCol Is Nothing And GetAbort() = False And m_BrowserComplete = False And nCnt < 25)

            Application.DoEvents()

            Select Case nElement

                'Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_ID
                '    HTMLele = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementById(szElementName)

                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_CLASS
                    ' return first by className
                    HTMLeleCol = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
                    'Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = tagOrClassName)
                    Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLeleCol.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = szElementName)
                    Return allClasses

                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_TAG
                    Return WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName(szElementName)

                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_NAME
                    ' return first by Name
                    HTMLeleCol = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
                    ' this should find only one unique element by name
                    Return HTMLeleCol.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("Name") = szElementName)

                    'Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_ID_TITLE
                    'HTMele = WebBrowser1.Document.getelementidbytitle

                    'Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_INDEX

            End Select
            Thread.Sleep(200)
            nCnt = nCnt + 1
        Loop

        GetElements = HTMLeleCol

        If (GetAbort()) Then
            HTMLeleCol = Nothing
            GetElements = Nothing
        End If

        If (GetDebug()) Then
            Debug.Print("clsIIE [GetElement Exit]")
        End If

    Catch ex As Exception
        Dim szErr As String
        szErr = "Error occured in [GetElement] for the following reason " + ex.Message
        If (GetDebug()) Then
            Debug.Print(szErr)
            'gClsExcel.ExcelWriteErrorLog("MenuSelect", szErr)
        End If
        HTMLeleCol = Nothing
        GetElements = Nothing
    End Try

 
End Function

here is the original code paul provided. Notice that the only difference is I'm returning a single instance of the item.

Public Function GetElement(ByVal nElement As Integer, ByVal szElementName As String) As HtmlElement

    Dim HTMLcoll As HtmlElementCollection
    Dim ele As HtmlElement
    Dim nCnt As Integer

    Try

        If (GetDebug()) Then
            Debug.Print("clsIIE [GetElement Enter]")
        End If

        If (GetAbort()) Then
            GetElement = Nothing
            Exit Function
        End If

        'If (IsObjectConnected(WebBrowser1.Document) = False) Then
        '    GetElement = Nothing
        '    Exit Function
        'End If


        Application.DoEvents()

        Select Case nElement
            Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_ID
                ' return by ID
                Return WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementById(szElementName)
            Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_CLASS
                ' return first by className
                HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
                'Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = tagOrClassName)
                Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = szElementName)
                ' find index to return by searching allClasses for some identifying attribute = szElementName
                For Each ele In allClasses
                    If (InStr(ele.OuterHtml, szElementName) <> 0) Then
                        Exit For
                    End If
                Next
                Return ele
            Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_TAG
                ' return first by tagName
                'HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName(tagOrClassName)
                HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName(szElementName)
                ' find index to return by searching HTMcoll for some identifying attribute = szElementName
                For Each ele In HTMLcoll
                    If (InStr(ele.Name, szElementName) <> 0) Then
                        Exit For
                    End If
                Next
                Return ele
            Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_NAME
                ' return first by Name
                HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
                ' this should find only one unique element by name
                Return HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("Name") = szElementName).First
        End Select

        Application.DoEvents()


        'nCnt = 0
        'HTMLele = Nothing
        ''loop until the home page shows up
        'Do While (HTMLele Is Nothing And GetAbort() = False And m_BrowserComplete = False And nCnt < 25)

        '    Application.DoEvents()

        '    Select Case nElement

        '        Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_ID
        '            HTMLele = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementById(szElementName)

        '            'Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_CLASS
        '            '    HTMLeleCol = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementByClassName(szElementName)

        '            'Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_TAG
        '            '    HTMLeleCol = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName(szElementName)

        '            'Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_NAME
        '            'HTMele = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByName(szElementName)

        '            'Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_ID_TITLE
        '            'HTMele = WebBrowser1.Document.getelementidbytitle

        '            'Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_INDEX

        '    End Select
        '    nCnt = nCnt + 1
        'Loop

        GetElement = Nothing

        If (GetAbort()) Then
            HTMLcoll = Nothing
            GetElement = Nothing
        End If

        If (GetDebug()) Then
            Debug.Print("clsIIE [GetElement Exit]")
        End If

    Catch ex As Exception
        Dim szErr As String
        szErr = "Error occured in [GetElement] for the following reason " + ex.Message
        If (GetDebug()) Then
            Debug.Print(szErr)
            'gClsExcel.ExcelWriteErrorLog("MenuSelect", szErr)
        End If
        HTMLcoll = Nothing
        GetElement = Nothing
    End Try

    'System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(HTMLobj)

End Function

EDIT: All the classes are there, the collections just won't return without an error.

[jmcilhinney]

LINQ queries always return their own LINQ-specific types. They won't magically produce a type specific to CodeDOM, like HtmlElementCollection. LINQ provides a ToList method to generate a List(Of T), but any collection type more specific than that, you must create yourself and populate from the LINQ results. In the case of HtmlElementCollection, I'm not sure that's possible, as I'm not sure it has any public members for doing that. Maybe it does and I was looking at the documentation for the wrong type but, if it doesn't, you have two main options:

1. Change the return type of your method to IEnumerable or, preferably, IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement). The former is already implemented by the HtmlElementCollection and any LINQ query result. The latter is also implemented by any LINQ query results but not by HtmlElementCollecion, which you would have to call .Cast(Of HtmlElement)() on. Both those types allow you to enumerate the list, which basically means use a For Each loop over it. IEnumerable would require you to cast each item as the required type, while the generic version will expose items as that type inherently.

2. Change the return type to IList(Of HtmlElement) or List(Of HtmlElement). That would enabled random access to the results, rather than just enumeration. You would call .ToList() on a LINQ query result and .Cast(Of HtmlElement)().ToList() on an HtmlElementCollection.

[FunkMonkey]

LINQ queries always return their own LINQ-specific types. They won't magically produce a type specific to CodeDOM, like HtmlElementCollection. LINQ provides a ToList method to generate a List(Of T), but any collection type more specific than that, you must create yourself and populate from the LINQ results. In the case of HtmlElementCollection, I'm not sure that's possible, as I'm not sure it has any public members for doing that. Maybe it does and I was looking at the documentation for the wrong type but, if it doesn't, you have two main options:

1. Change the return type of your method to IEnumerable or, preferably, IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement). The former is already implemented by the HtmlElementCollection and any LINQ query result. The latter is also implemented by any LINQ query results but not by HtmlElementCollecion, which you would have to call .Cast(Of HtmlElement)() on. Both those types allow you to enumerate the list, which basically means use a For Each loop over it. IEnumerable would require you to cast each item as the required type, while the generic version will expose items as that type inherently.

2. Change the return type to IList(Of HtmlElement) or List(Of HtmlElement). That would enabled random access to the results, rather than just enumeration. You would call .ToList() on a LINQ query result and .Cast(Of HtmlElement)().ToList() on an HtmlElementCollection.

Thanks jmc. Can you confirm that I setup the code per your suggestion corrrectly?

                    Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_CLASS
                        ' return first by className
                        HTMLeleCol = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
                        'Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = tagOrClassName)
                        Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLeleCol.Cast(Of HtmlElement)().ToList.Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = szElementName)
                        Return allClasses

[.paul.]

That’s not correct. The function I gave you returns a single HtmlElement. You seem to want it to return single elements and collections of elements…

[.paul.]

The question is, once you have your collection of elements by class name, or your collection of elements by tag name, how are you then going to identify the correct element?

[.paul.]

Your GetElements function should return an iEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) is what jmcilhinney was telling you.

[FunkMonkey]

That’s not correct. The function I gave you returns a single HtmlElement. You seem to want it to return single elements and collections of elements…

I was trying to use what you gave as the single return element, and that works, but also add a Collection and thought that just adding what was suggested would be good enough. Can you share how it would be?

[FunkMonkey]

The question is, once you have your collection of elements by class name, or your collection of elements by tag name, how are you then going to identify the correct element?

There are label identifiers in the class for the item I want to locate, but they are not directly visible so I will need to locate and then adjust code as needed. There are about 6 of the same type of classes that will be collected, each has a unique label for them.

Hope that helps?

[FunkMonkey]

Your GetElements function should return an iEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) is what jmcilhinney was telling you.

OK. DO I replace my HtmlElementsCollection with iEnumerable(Of HtmlElement)?

 Public Function GetElements(ByVal nElement As Integer, ByVal szElementName As String) As iEnumerable(Of HtmlElement)

[.paul.]

Public Function GetElements(ByVal nElement As Integer, ByVal szElementName As String) As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement)
    Dim HTMcoll As HtmlElementCollection = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
    Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = szElementName)
    Return allClasses
End Function

[FunkMonkey]

Public Function GetElements(ByVal nElement As Integer, ByVal szElementName As String) As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement)
    Dim HTMcoll As HtmlElementCollection = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
    Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = szElementName)
    Return allClasses
End Function

EDIT: Looks like the eELEMENT_TAG is a possible error according to the VB warning. What would change here?

Public Function GetElements(ByVal nElement As Integer, ByVal szElementName As String) As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement)

        Dim HTMLIECol As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement)

                    Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_TAG
                        HTMLIECol = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName(szElementName)
                        Return HTMLIECol

Thanks paul. One question. I don't see any difference between the original code you provided and this one. Where is the difference, or am I missing something? So what is different that it would not return the classes, was it just the ( As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement))?


Original code, first code provided.

   Public Function GetElement(ByVal nElement As Integer, ByVal szElementName As String) As HtmlElement

       Dim HTMLcoll As HtmlElementCollection
       Dim ele As HtmlElement
       Dim nCnt As Integer

       Try

           If (GetDebug()) Then
               Debug.Print("clsIIE [GetElement Enter]")
           End If

           If (GetAbort()) Then
               GetElement = Nothing
               Exit Function
           End If

           'If (IsObjectConnected(WebBrowser1.Document) = False) Then
           '    GetElement = Nothing
           '    Exit Function
           'End If


           Application.DoEvents()

           Select Case nElement
               Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_ID
                   ' return by ID
                   Return WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementById(szElementName)
               Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_CLASS
                   ' return first by className
                   HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
                   'Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = tagOrClassName)
                   Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = szElementName)
                   ' find index to return by searching allClasses for some identifying attribute = szElementName
                   For Each ele In allClasses
                       If (InStr(ele.OuterHtml, szElementName) <> 0) Then
                           Exit For
                       End If
                   Next
                   Return ele
               Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_TAG
                   ' return first by tagName
                   'HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName(tagOrClassName)
                   HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName(szElementName)
                   ' find index to return by searching HTMcoll for some identifying attribute = szElementName
                   For Each ele In HTMLcoll
                       If (InStr(ele.Name, szElementName) <> 0) Then
                           Exit For
                       End If
                   Next
                   Return ele
               Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_NAME
                   ' return first by Name
                   HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
                   ' this should find only one unique element by name
                   Return HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("Name") = szElementName).First
           End Select

           Application.DoEvents()

New code provided. Below the 1st code provided. I did change HTMLcoll to HTMLeleCol, but that was the only change.

                        'Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = tagOrClassName)
                        Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLeleCol.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = szElementName)

                        Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = szElementName)

Not doubting, just trying to understand.

[.paul.]

You need to declare a variable for the HtmlElementCollection, which is not the same as the return type of the function, which is IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement)
WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName returns an HtmlElementCollection. If you use LINQ Where to refine that, it returns IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement)

For Each ele In HTMLcoll 'ele only has scope within the loop
    If (InStr(ele.Name, szElementName) <> 0) Then
         Exit For
    End If
Next
Return ele ' equals nothing, not even declared

[FunkMonkey]

You need to declare a variable for the HtmlElementCollection, which is not the same as the return type of the function, which is IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement)
WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName returns an HtmlElementCollection. If you use LINQ Where to refine that, it returns IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement)

For Each ele In HTMLcoll 'ele only has scope within the loop
    If (InStr(ele.Name, szElementName) <> 0) Then
         Exit For
    End If
Next
Return ele ' equals nothing, not even declared

I guess I need to understand what you mean by LINQ. I see it means Language Integrated Query, but it is beyond me at the moment. What would the LINQ code look like for a GetElementsByTagName?

Public Function GetElements(ByVal nElement As Integer, ByVal szElementName As String) As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement)

    Dim HTMLeleCol As HtmlElementCollection
    Dim HTMLIECol As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement)
    Dim nCnt As Integer

    Try

        If (GetDebug()) Then
            Debug.Print("clsIIE [GetElement Enter]")
        End If

        If (GetAbort()) Then
            GetElements = Nothing
            Exit Function
        End If

        If (IsObjectConnected(WebBrowser1.Document) = False) Then
            GetElements = Nothing
            Exit Function
        End If


        nCnt = 0
        HTMLeleCol = Nothing
        'loop until the home page shows up
        Do While (HTMLeleCol Is Nothing And GetAbort() = False And m_BrowserComplete = False And nCnt < 25)

            Application.DoEvents()

            Select Case nElement

                'Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_ID
                '    HTMLele = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementById(szElementName)

                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_CLASS
                    ' return first by className
                    HTMLeleCol = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
                    Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLeleCol.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = szElementName)
                    Return allClasses

                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_TAG
                    HTMLIECol = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName(szElementName)
                    Return HTMLIECol

                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_NAME
                    ' return first by Name
                    HTMLeleCol = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
                    ' this should find only one unique element by name
                    Return HTMLeleCol.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("Name") = szElementName)

                    'Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_ID_TITLE
                    'HTMele = WebBrowser1.Document.getelementidbytitle

                    'Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_INDEX

            End Select
            Thread.Sleep(200)
            nCnt = nCnt + 1
        Loop

        GetElements = HTMLeleCol

        If (GetAbort()) Then
            HTMLeleCol = Nothing
            GetElements = Nothing
        End If

        If (GetDebug()) Then
            Debug.Print("clsIIE [GetElement Exit]")
        End If

    Catch ex As Exception
        Dim szErr As String
        szErr = "Error occured in [GetElement] for the following reason " + ex.Message
        If (GetDebug()) Then
            Debug.Print(szErr)
            'gClsExcel.ExcelWriteErrorLog("MenuSelect", szErr)
        End If
        HTMLeleCol = Nothing
        GetElements = Nothing
    End Try

End Function

[.paul.]

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/do...uction-to-linq

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/do...rst-linq-query

[FunkMonkey]

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/do...uction-to-linq

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/do...rst-linq-query

Thanks paul

[FunkMonkey]

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/do...uction-to-linq

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/do...rst-linq-query

paul. The code provided earlier does not seem to work for returning a single class as I keep getting Nothing. Below is the snapshot of the HTML code I'm working with.

The Virtual Container



The "ColumnValue EvenViewRecord". I have tried to use ELEMENT_CLASS and comes up with Nothing. In case the picture does not show up. This class is below the mentioned class with the list of items in the row with an "onclick" for the outerHTML (I think it's outer, hard to remember)

    Public Function GetElement(ByVal nElement As Integer, ByVal szElementName As String) As HtmlElement

        Dim HTMLcoll As HtmlElementCollection
        Dim ele As HtmlElement
        Dim nCnt As Integer

        Try

            If (GetDebug()) Then
                Debug.Print("clsIIE [GetElement Enter]")
            End If

            If (GetAbort()) Then
                GetElement = Nothing
                Exit Function
            End If

            If (IsObjectConnected(WebBrowser1.Document) = False) Then
                GetElement = Nothing
                Exit Function
            End If


            Application.DoEvents()

            Select Case nElement
                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_ID
                    ' return by ID
                    Return WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementById(szElementName)
                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_CLASS
                    ' return first by className
                    HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
                    'Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = tagOrClassName)
                    Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = szElementName)
                    ' find index to return by searching allClasses for some identifying attribute = szElementName
                    For Each ele In allClasses
                        If (InStr(ele.OuterHtml, szElementName) <> 0) Then
                            Exit For
                        End If
                    Next
                    Return ele
                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_TAG
                    ' return first by tagName
                    'HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName(tagOrClassName)
                    HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName(szElementName)
                    ' find index to return by searching HTMcoll for some identifying attribute = szElementName
                    For Each ele In HTMLcoll
                        If (InStr(ele.Name, szElementName) <> 0) Then
                            Exit For
                        End If
                    Next
                    Return ele
                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_NAME
                    ' return first by Name
                    HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
                    ' this should find only one unique element by name
                    Return HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("Name") = szElementName).First
            End Select

            Application.DoEvents()

            GetElement = Nothing

            If (GetAbort()) Then
                HTMLcoll = Nothing
                GetElement = Nothing
            End If

            If (GetDebug()) Then
                Debug.Print("clsIIE [GetElement Exit]")
            End If

        Catch ex As Exception
            Dim szErr As String
            szErr = "Error occured in [GetElement] for the following reason " + ex.Message
            If (GetDebug()) Then
                Debug.Print(szErr)
                'gClsExcel.ExcelWriteErrorLog("MenuSelect", szErr)
            End If
            HTMLcoll = Nothing
            GetElement = Nothing
        End Try

    End Function

Why might the single CLASS module not be working? There is a valid HTMLele, so not sure why Nothing is being returned.

Please confirm I did not screw up the code that was provided somehow. Looks as you provided but does not seem to function now that I am in the process of using the code.

EDIT: Here is the calling code.

    Public Function SelectPIFromList(ByVal szElement As String, ByVal szPERnum As String) As Boolean

        Dim HTMLele As HtmlElement
        Dim HTMLeleCol As HtmlElementCollection
        Dim ele As HtmlElement

        Dim bStatus As Boolean

        Try

            If (GetDebug()) Then
                Debug.Print("clsIIE [SelectPIFromList Enter]")
            End If

            If (GetAbort()) Then
                SelectPIFromList = False
                Exit Function
            End If

            'Assume a success
            bStatus = False

            If (IsObjectConnected(WebBrowser1.Document) = False) Then
                SelectPIFromList = False
                Exit Function
            End If

            bStatus = True
            BrowserWait()
            DoEvnets()
            '                       (nElement,      szElementName,     Optional bGetItem,      Optional nID)
            HTMLele = GetElement(ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_ID, cID_DIV_VIRTUAL_CONTAINER)
            HTMLele = GetElement(ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_CLASS, "ColumnValue EvenViewRecord")

            'HTMLeleCol = GetElements(ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_TAG, "tr")
            HTMLeleCol = HTMLele.GetElementsByTagName("tr")
            HTMLele.InvokeMember(HTMLele.InnerHtml)
            Application.DoEvents()

[.paul.]

I told... Scope

For Each ele In allClasses
    If (InStr(ele.OuterHtml, szElementName) <> 0) Then
        Exit For
    End If
Next
Return ele

For that to stand any chance of working...

For Each ele In allClasses
    If (InStr(ele.OuterHtml, szElementName) <> 0) Then 
        Return ele
    End If
Next

Edit:
It's probably not OuterHtml
You're also using szElementName that probably contains the className, as you rejected the tagOrClassName argument i added for the function

[.paul.]

paul. The code provided earlier does not seem to work for returning a single class as I keep getting Nothing. Below is the snapshot of the HTML code I'm working with.

The Virtual Container



The "ColumnValue EvenViewRecord". I have tried to use ELEMENT_CLASS and comes up with Nothing. In case the picture does not show up. This class is below the mentioned class with the list of items in the row with an "onclick" for the outerHTML (I think it's outer, hard to remember)

    Public Function GetElement(ByVal nElement As Integer, ByVal szElementName As String) As HtmlElement

        Dim HTMLcoll As HtmlElementCollection
        Dim ele As HtmlElement
        Dim nCnt As Integer

        Try

            If (GetDebug()) Then
                Debug.Print("clsIIE [GetElement Enter]")
            End If

            If (GetAbort()) Then
                GetElement = Nothing
                Exit Function
            End If

            If (IsObjectConnected(WebBrowser1.Document) = False) Then
                GetElement = Nothing
                Exit Function
            End If


            Application.DoEvents()

            Select Case nElement
                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_ID
                    ' return by ID
                    Return WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementById(szElementName)
                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_CLASS
                    ' return first by className
                    HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
                    'Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = tagOrClassName)
                    Dim allClasses As IEnumerable(Of HtmlElement) = HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("ClassName") = szElementName)
                    ' find index to return by searching allClasses for some identifying attribute = szElementName
                    For Each ele In allClasses
                        If (InStr(ele.OuterHtml, szElementName) <> 0) Then
                            Exit For
                        End If
                    Next
                    Return ele
                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_TAG
                    ' return first by tagName
                    'HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName(tagOrClassName)
                    HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName(szElementName)
                    ' find index to return by searching HTMcoll for some identifying attribute = szElementName
                    For Each ele In HTMLcoll
                        If (InStr(ele.Name, szElementName) <> 0) Then
                            Exit For
                        End If
                    Next
                    Return ele
                Case ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_NAME
                    ' return first by Name
                    HTMLcoll = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("*")
                    ' this should find only one unique element by name
                    Return HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("Name") = szElementName).First
            End Select

            Application.DoEvents()

            GetElement = Nothing

            If (GetAbort()) Then
                HTMLcoll = Nothing
                GetElement = Nothing
            End If

            If (GetDebug()) Then
                Debug.Print("clsIIE [GetElement Exit]")
            End If

        Catch ex As Exception
            Dim szErr As String
            szErr = "Error occured in [GetElement] for the following reason " + ex.Message
            If (GetDebug()) Then
                Debug.Print(szErr)
                'gClsExcel.ExcelWriteErrorLog("MenuSelect", szErr)
            End If
            HTMLcoll = Nothing
            GetElement = Nothing
        End Try

    End Function

Why might the single CLASS module not be working? There is a valid HTMLele, so not sure why Nothing is being returned.

Please confirm I did not screw up the code that was provided somehow. Looks as you provided but does not seem to function now that I am in the process of using the code.

EDIT: Here is the calling code.

    Public Function SelectPIFromList(ByVal szElement As String, ByVal szPERnum As String) As Boolean

        Dim HTMLele As HtmlElement
        Dim HTMLeleCol As HtmlElementCollection
        Dim ele As HtmlElement

        Dim bStatus As Boolean

        Try

            If (GetDebug()) Then
                Debug.Print("clsIIE [SelectPIFromList Enter]")
            End If

            If (GetAbort()) Then
                SelectPIFromList = False
                Exit Function
            End If

            'Assume a success
            bStatus = False

            If (IsObjectConnected(WebBrowser1.Document) = False) Then
                SelectPIFromList = False
                Exit Function
            End If

            bStatus = True
            BrowserWait()
            DoEvnets()
            '                       (nElement,      szElementName,     Optional bGetItem,      Optional nID)
            HTMLele = GetElement(ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_ID, cID_DIV_VIRTUAL_CONTAINER)
            HTMLele = GetElement(ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_CLASS, "ColumnValue EvenViewRecord")

            'HTMLeleCol = GetElements(ENUM_ELEMENT.eELEMENT_TAG, "tr")
            HTMLeleCol = HTMLele.GetElementsByTagName("tr")
            HTMLele.InvokeMember(HTMLele.InnerHtml)
            Application.DoEvents()

That function returns a boolean. Your code is becoming messier and messier. Isolate a function in a tidy environment and iron out the problems one by one.

[FunkMonkey]

That function returns a boolean. Your code is becoming messier and messier. Isolate a function in a tidy environment and iron out the problems one by one.

No that is correct. I use try/catch for my returns so I know if the function worked properly to carry on. The boolean is always a return of TRUE unless it gets to the CATCH, then the CATCH returns false. Maybe not the best way to do that, but it allows me to make a decission on a pass/fail criteria.

                        UpdateRunControls(ENUM_RUN.eRUN_GENERIC_MESSAGE, cMSG_OPENING_PIM, szPInum)
                        If (GetBrowser.SelectPIFromList(cID_DIV_VIRTUAL_CONTAINER, szPInum) = True And GetAbortRun() = False) Then
                            CB_PER_PHASE.SelectedIndex = ENUM_PHASE_LOCATION.ePHASE_MAIN

                            GetBrowser.BrowserWait()
                            GetBrowser.DoEvnets()

This is inside the function. I just did not go all the way down as I was merely showing your code and that it was as copied.

Here are the results I'm getting from the Class routine you provided. Hope the picture helps?



EDIT: I did mis-speak. The outerHTML statement was when I was looking up through the 1700 tags, that was a sample as I could not go through 1700. I was using outerHTML as it does have classnames in it for the evaluation for the GetElementsByTagName. Sorry for the confussion.

		InnerHtml	"<tbody><tr><td class=""FieldArea""><span id=""searchScopeMenu"">" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "<select id=""APPLICATION_PAGE_SEARCH_SCOPE"" onchange=""toggleApplicationPageSearch()"">" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "<option id=""ViewSearchOption"" value=""View"" selected="""">View" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "</option>" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "<option id=""ApplicationSearchOption"" value=""Application"">Application" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "</option>" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "</select>&nbsp;" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "</span><input name=""ADVANCED_VIEW_GLOBAL_SEARCH_COLUMNS"" class=""EmptySearchField"" id=""ADVANCED_VIEW_GLOBAL_SEARCH_COLUMNS"" onkeydown=""handleEnterKey(event, submitViewSearchAllColumnsCommand);stopIEEnterPress(event);stopFirefoxEnterPress(event)"" type=""text"" value=""Search View..."" autocomplete=""off"" emptyvaluetext=""Search View...""></td><td class=""SearchOptionsArea""><a name=""SaveSearchLink"" title=""Save Search"" class=""pointer SaveSearchIconClass"" id=""SaveSearchLink"" href=""javascript:openSaveSearchDialog('SaveSearchLink')""></a><a name=""LoadSearchLink"" title=""Load Search"" class=""pointer LoadSearchIconClass"" id=""LoadSearchLink"" href=""javascript:openLoadSearchDialog('LoadSearchLink')""..."	String

		OuterHtml	"<table class=""IconField ViewSearchField"" cellspacing=""0"" cellpadding=""0""><tbody><tr><td class=""FieldArea""><span id=""searchScopeMenu"">" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "<select id=""APPLICATION_PAGE_SEARCH_SCOPE"" onchange=""toggleApplicationPageSearch()"">" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "<option id=""ViewSearchOption"" value=""View"" selected="""">View" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "</option>" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "<option id=""ApplicationSearchOption"" value=""Application"">Application" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "</option>" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "</select>&nbsp;" & vbLf & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & "</span><input name=""ADVANCED_VIEW_GLOBAL_SEARCH_COLUMNS"" class=""EmptySearchField"" id=""ADVANCED_VIEW_GLOBAL_SEARCH_COLUMNS"" onkeydown=""handleEnterKey(event, submitViewSearchAllColumnsCommand);stopIEEnterPress(event);stopFirefoxEnterPress(event)"" type=""text"" value=""Search View..."" autocomplete=""off"" emptyvaluetext=""Search View...""></td><td class=""SearchOptionsArea""><a name=""SaveSearchLink"" title=""Save Search"" class=""pointer SaveSearchIconClass"" id=""SaveSearchLink"" href=""javascript:openSaveSearchDialog('SaveSearchLink')""></a><a name=""LoadSearchLink"" title=""Load Search"" class=""pointer LoadSearchIconClass"" id=..."	String

[.paul.]

What is the class name? What is the identifying text you’re searching for in the tags?
You need separate arguments in your method signature as the text you’re searching for shouldn’t be the same as the className

[.paul.]

If you refine the elements to just the elements with the correct className, you can see you need a unique string to search for in the elements returned. It looks like allclasses contains nothing…

[FunkMonkey]

What is the class name? What is the identifying text you’re searching for in the tags?
You need separate arguments in your method signature as the text you’re searching for shouldn’t be the same as the className

The class is below.
The bolded item below is where I start. I get the ID for this section and then using that HTMLele I use that to get the CLASS for the below code.

<div id="div_virtual_container" style="top: 276px; width: 1171px; height: 148px; overflow: hidden; position: fixed;">
                                            <div id="SelectAllCode" style="display: none;"></div>
                                                




<table class="TableColumnTitle" style="width: 1182px;" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
    <tbody>
    
    
    
<tr title="" class="ColumnValue  EvenViewRecord SelectedViewRecord" onclick="javascript: var win = openTabByDocID('2030137', 'true',event);" data-islastelement="true">                                                                
        <td width="38" style="padding: 0px; width: 38px;"><input name="ETQ$SELECTED_DOCUMENTS" type="checkbox" value="ETQ$APPLICATION_NAME=COMPLAINTS&amp;ETQ$FORM_NAME=SJM_COMPLAINTS_PRODUCT_INVESTIGATION_P&amp;ETQ$KEY_NAME=S_COMP_P_INVESTIG_ID&amp;ETQ$KEY_VALUE=2030137"><span class="ViewDocumentLinks"><a tabindex="-1" class="ViewDocumentLink" href="javascript: var win = openTabByDocID('2030137', 'true',event);"></a></span></td>
        <td width="200" style="width: 200px; text-indent: 8px;">PI-2023-0138285-01</td>
	<td width="103" style="width: 103px; text-indent: 8px;">Main Investigation</td>
	<td width="200" style="width: 200px; text-indent: 8px;">Epperson, Brad</td>
	<td width="129" style="width: 130px; text-indent: 8px;"><div class="DateColumn">Apr 29, 2025</div></td>
	<td width="130" style="width: 130px; text-indent: 8px;"><div class="DateColumn">Nov 18, 2024</div></td>
	<td width="250" style="width: 250px; text-indent: 8px;">Neuromodulation Division</td>
	<td width="117" class="EmptyColumn" id="ETQ$EMPTY_COLUMN" style="width: 118px; text-indent: 8px;">&nbsp;</td>
	
    <td width="30" style="width: 30px; text-indent: 8px;">&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table>

                                        </div>

What I'm looking for is in the picture below. There could be as many as *-01 to *-10, or more numbers highlighted above. So I do a For Each loop to check to grab the correct requested number of the record.



essentially I'm using this as the verification I have the correct record before I perform a ele.InvokeMember("click") to select that record. I do more later to grab the header information for setting up the GUI, but I don't seem to have an issue with this area, but getting the InvokeMember to fire on the "onclick" event for the above HTML code seems to be the hiccup with the correct element, which is usually Nothing currently. However, if I do a ID for the section that works just fine, but the CLASS seems to be stubborn.

Both of the functions you provided return "Nothing" for either the single element, or the group element (which I will need when there are multiple records of the same batch).

Hope this makes more sense?

EDIT: I have even hard coded the class name into the GetElements -> CLASS but that did not help either. It still returned Nothing.

[.paul.]

I think it might be due to the nesting of elements. But, if you have found a way to get the group of elements by ID, you could use LINQ to get the element from that group of elements with LINQ using the className

[FunkMonkey]

I think it might be due to the nesting of elements. But, if you have found a way to get the group of elements by ID, you could use LINQ to get the element from that group of elements with LINQ using the className

It seems that for certain functions, in order to get the class items I need, I will have to go back to the Object way. Can't seem to get a class with the current way and need a class to get the items I need from a For Each loop.

It was fun while it lasted, and thanks for the help. Perhaps if I get to know LINQ I might be able to do something but right now it is beyond my ability.

Thanks to everyone who offered input.

[.paul.]

The LINQ we showed you doesn't need much understanding. It was complete. Just needed tweaking in the searchFor part...

HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("Name") = szElementName).First

Imagine having an array of HtmlElement...

Dim elements() As HtmlElement = {element1, element2, element3}

This is basically HTMLcoll, after .Cast(Of HtmlElement)

Dim uniqueElement As HtmlElement = elements.Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("someAttribute") = someVariable).First

This is just a compact way of looping through the array, does exactly the same as...

Dim uniqueElement As HtmlElement
For each el As HtmlElement in elements
    If el.GetAttribute("someAttribute") = someVariable Then
        uniqueElement = el
        Exit For
    End If
Next

[.paul.]

At least use the basic array searching with a loop. Using Late Binding is a bad choice, which will impact you when you ask for help...

[FunkMonkey]

The LINQ we showed you doesn't need much understanding. It was complete. Just needed tweaking in the searchFor part...

HTMLcoll.Cast(Of HtmlElement).Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("Name") = szElementName).First

Imagine having an array of HtmlElement...

Dim elements() As HtmlElement = {element1, element2, element3}

This is basically HTMLcoll, after .Cast(Of HtmlElement)

Dim uniqueElement As HtmlElement = elements.Where(Function(el As HtmlElement) el.GetAttribute("someAttribute") = someVariable).First

This is just a compact way of looping through the array, does exactly the same as...

Dim uniqueElement As HtmlElement
For each el As HtmlElement in elements
    If el.GetAttribute("someAttribute") = someVariable Then
        uniqueElement = el
        Exit For
    End If
Next

The code is not returning a class at all, it's always Nothing. I hardcoded a class into where the variable was, and I know that class was valid, yet all I got was Nothing. It's not just a matter of looping. I first need to have a valid Element before I can do any looping for what I'm looking for.

I understand about the looping, as my old VBA code does much of that as well but I am not sure what to debug with the code as it is not simple as stated. I looked through examples and yes some are fairly straight forward, but I'm lost at debugging the code you provided. I may try to see if I can find a simple tag to class example, but I'm not going to hold my breath. I'll post what I find.

[FunkMonkey]

At least use the basic array searching with a loop. Using Late Binding is a bad choice, which will impact you when you ask for help...

I understand. See my post before this one.

[.paul.]

You should get the tr element like this.

HTMLeleCol = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("tr")
Dim allClasses As New List(Of HtmlElement)
For each el As HtmlElement in HTMLeleCol 
    If el.GetAttribute("className") = "ColumnValue  EvenViewRecord SelectedViewRecord" Then
        allClasses.Add(el)
        Exit For
    End If
Next

The child elements are td.

HTMLeleCol = WebBrowser1.Document.GetElementsByTagName("td")