WebBrowser control in VB6 -shdocvw.dll not working in Windows 8

[winman]

I am using WebBrowser control in VB6. when i develop this in a Windows XP machine and when i add Microsoft Internet Controls reference , shdocvw.dll gets added. And my application works fine in XP. If i create the same project in a Windows 8 PC when i add Microsoft Internet Controls reference, ieframe.dll gets added automatically.But if i use shdocvw.dll then the application files to work in Windows 8 PC. Also there is change in procedure in xp and windows 8.In XP it will be WebBrowser2_FileDownload(Cancel As Boolean) and in Windows 8 the procedure will be WebBrowser2_FileDownload(ByVal ActiveDocument As Boolean, Cancel As Boolean).
I want to use shdocvw.dll in both Windows XP and Windows 8, and it should work properly.Can anyone help me on this?

[Bonnie West]

Try dynamically creating the WebBrowser control (remove the reference to Microsoft Internet Controls first) so you can adjust your code according to the OS:

'In a Form

Option Explicit

Private WithEvents WebBrowser As VBControlExtender

Private IsWinXP As Boolean, IsWin8 As Boolean

Private Sub Form_Activate()
   'Use the object property of VBControlExtender to access other methods of the WebBrowser
    WebBrowser.object.Navigate "http://www.vbforums.com/"
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Load()
   'Add OS version test here (or better yet, test IE version)
    IsWinXP = True

   'Not sure if ProgId's same for Win8
    Set WebBrowser = Controls.Add("Shell.Explorer.2", "WebBrowser1")
    WebBrowser.Visible = True
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Resize()
    If WindowState <> vbMinimized Then WebBrowser.Move ScaleLeft, ScaleTop, ScaleWidth, ScaleHeight
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
    Set WebBrowser = Nothing
    Controls.Remove "WebBrowser1"
End Sub

Private Sub WebBrowser_ObjectEvent(Info As EventInfo)
    With Info
        Select Case .Name
            Case "StatusTextChange"
                With .EventParameters
                    Select Case True
                        Case IsWinXP: Caption = .Item("Text")
                        Case IsWin8:  Caption = .Item("Text")
                    End Select
                End With

            Case "FileDownload"
                With .EventParameters
                    Select Case True
                        Case IsWinXP: WebBrowser2_FileDownload_XP .Item("Cancel")
                        Case IsWin8:  WebBrowser2_FileDownload_8 .Item("ActiveDocument"), .Item("Cancel")
                    End Select
                End With

            Case "Other Events Here"

        End Select
    End With
End Sub

Private Sub WebBrowser2_FileDownload_XP(Cancel As Boolean)

End Sub

Private Sub WebBrowser2_FileDownload_8(ByVal ActiveDocument As Boolean, Cancel As Boolean)

End Sub

Tested only on XP.

References:

How To Dynamically Add Controls to a Form with Visual Basic 6.0

How to load a control at runtime.

VBControlExtender Object

[dilettante]

Didn't this change a long, long time ago? Like with IE 6.0 or something?

I don't see the old signature anymore, and current documentation only shows the current one which works fine on Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, etc.

FileDownload Event

[winman]

Hi dilettante..
yes i am getting problem in IE 6 . How can i solve this?

[Bonnie West]

Forgot to mention I tested that code with IE v8. IE8 in XP doesn't have the ActiveDocument parameter for the FileDownload event of the WebBrowser object.

[dilettante]

Forgot to mention I tested that code with IE v8. IE8 in XP doesn't have the ActiveDocument parameter for the FileDownload event of the WebBrowser object.

Quite interesting.

I wonder if it is really related to the "IE/Shell" separation that started in Windows Vista then?

[Bonnie West]

I wonder if it is really related to the "IE/Shell" separation that started in Windows Vista then?

I don't have Vista so I wouldn't know. Sorry...

[dilettante]

Separation of Internet Explorer 7 from the Windows shell talks about it without giving any useful details.

Since it seems to be more of a an IE7 issue than an OS issue it would apply anywhere you have IE7 or later installed.