Launching Ie6/ie7 Window W/o Menus

[MGuyM]

Need some help if anyone is available with the answer and/or a place to figure this out.....

 

I'm trying write a Macro that will automatically launch a Web Page and after it successfully loads, it will then look for some numbers on the Page in order to perform a Copy and Paste to the Clipboard for later pasting to a Text File using ME.

 

The Problem I'm running into is that it takes various amounts of time to completely load the Web Page. IE6 and IE7 Differ in their loading of web pages due to the layout of the Menu Bar and Tabs etc.

 

I'm hoping I can figure out a way to launch the Web Page from within ME and have the Web Page display within IE without any Menu Bars or Address Bars, or Tabs etc. I basically just want the Page to show up similar to a POPUP.

 

I suspect that to do something like this may require a JavaScript Page to be developed to launch the page the way I want. But need some direction on how to accomplish this.

 

If what I'm asking is beyond the scope of this forum and someone knows where I could go to learn about doing this, I'd be very Greatful for the information.

 

Thank You!

[Cory]

If you are using IE you can use the "Wait For Webpage" timing control. I use it all the time and it works reliably.

 

Also you can set a control for the status bar or other control in the web browser. Then you can use the Wait for Control command. This is handy for FF or other browsers. Most have a "Done" or somethign at the bottom that doesn't become active until the page has loaded.

 

I once wrote a macro to download 30k+ posts from a Yahoo group. I found that I could simply Wait for Webpage then text type a CRTL+S and choose to save as HTML only as a way of generating text files. Worked really well. If anythign wasn't finished loading IE would 'hear' the CTRL+F but wouldn't give me the saveas dialog until the page finished. As a double check I had ME read the entire HTML file into a text var afterwards to ensure certian bits of key text was within before proceeding. You see Yahoo would give you these "Click to continue" avertisements at random intervals and if this was the case I would have ME repeat the last itteration. Worked flawlessly.

[MGuyM]

You know... I figured it would be you to reply to my question. Your always so helpful here....

 

You've help answer one of my dilema's, but I still need an answer to my other one.

 

The one about launching a Web Page without all the Menus and Toolbars and extra stuff. Just a "framed" page. I may be able to use some of your techniques described to accomplish what I need, but I'd like to learn how to open a web page in Browser Window without having all the extra screen stuff. (Is it even possible?)

 

I suspect that to do what I want would require some Java Script and while I've been looking through the 1 Java Book I have, I can't seem to find what I'm looking for.

 

The Different Versions of IE allow you to customize the Menu Bars and Toolbars and stuff and I'd like to launch a window without any of the that customization.

 

Okay... I think you get my drift on what I'm looking for. Can you help me?

 

Thank You In Advance!

[Cory]

I don't think I have a satisfactory answer for you but I'll toss out some thoughts.

 

You might look into VBA or VBScript. IE protects itself pretty well from script viruses so I’m doubtful you will find any Java to modify your browser interface. But since VBA in all other Office and MS apps I wouldn’t be surprised it one could do it this way.

 

You might check out the –k command line switch. It starts IE in “Kiosk Mode”. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/154780 This will eliminate all menus and toolbars. I haven’t’ used it in years so I am unsure but it might be worth considering.

 

You might check the registry for the keys that display the toolbars. If you could find the you could modify the reg settings for the macro run and put them back when you are done. You can install the RegMon utility to monitor the registry changes and capture the changes manually.

 

Write a macro to blast into the menu and turn them off. Only usable if you’re doing batches.

 

Finally remove the toolbars. Who needs them! Every time I’ve challenged a user as to why they have the Google toolbar they really can’t substantiate it. IE7 has a search field built in now for all and multiple search engines so they really don’t server a purpose anymore except to make the available display space less. I know, there are some users who find them useful but the majority of the people I know have no need for them.

 

OK, that’s all I can think of off the top of my head. Good luck!

[Cory]

Oh, here’s another idea. Most of the times when people are trying to do what you describe I have found that really they’re better off downloading the HTML file as a file. This way they can use variable commands to search, make decisions on and manipulate text. Believe me it’s WAY easier.

 

If this could work for you could use a download manager like GetRight. I’m not sure but I think the chances are good that there’s a command line switch you could use have it download the HTML file for you. IOW have another application download the HTML file besides IE.

[MGuyM]

The Kiosk Mode is something to think about.

 

I need to do some testing.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll keep you posted.

[mgrantom]

This may be way off, but can't you just issue an F11 right after you launch IE and before you specify the web page. Full Screen mode disables all toolbars etc.

[MGuyM]

Well, I played with the Kiosk Mode, and while it was pretty cool, I would prefer just having a small window with the information I'm looking for to be displayed.

 

The F11 Option takes too long for the Screen Redraws to be very useful. I'm need to make this go pretty fast if possible.

 

Thank You to everyone for their suggestions. I need to learn VBScript and/or JavaScript to get what I want......