Webrecorder - How to get EInst of existing IE instance?

TomT · Post by **TomT** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:08 am

I want to use IEAuto,DLL to automate some aspects of a J2EE form. The problem is that my users will log into the application from an existing IE instance -- not one created by a call to CreateIE. CreateIE would return an EInst (the IE[0], IE[1], etc. parameter used in calls to other IEAuto functions). How does one obtain the EInst for an existing browser instance?

I really don't want to force users to create a new instance of IE.

Post by **Marcus Tettmar** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 8:21 am

Unfortunately, that isn't possible. The script needs to create the instances to IE that it works with.

JRL · Post by **JRL** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:56 pm

I've never used Web Recorder, but it seems like it should be possible to write a script that runs in the background and waits for a known window name. The name would be associated with the given website. When a user goes to the website, the script then steps the open IE window back one page then the script opens the page thus fulfilling the necessity that the website is opened by the script.

If this requires a new instance of IE, at least the user didn't have to open it manually.

Just a thought.

BigG72 · Post by **BigG72** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 9:28 am

I have a similar requirement. I am debugging an ASP.Net application that contains 30+ pages that need testing in sequence. I want to be able to start the application in Visual Studio 2005, which will open up an instance of IE. I then want Macro Scheduler to control that instance of IE, not create a new instance. Can you add a method to IEAuto.dll to get a handle onto an existing instance of IE?

pgriffin · Post by **pgriffin** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 4:03 pm

I may be stepping out of my area of expertise, but aside from JRL's idea of naming the windows uniquely, if these windows are all visible, it is VERY possible to use ImageRecognition (an area I know something about) to determine if a certain image exists. I have used this method to wait for certain images to be found on a webpage to let me know the page has completely loaded...much simpler method and dependable.

MikeB941 · Post by **MikeB941** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:24 pm

Was wondering if there has been any progress on being able to use the IEAuto.dll functions on an EXISTING IE window (in other words a way to do something like SETFOCUS to an existing window and then generate a handle like that returned from CreateIE so the other functions can then be used without having to start from a created IE instance?

Many thanks!

Post by **Marcus Tettmar** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 9:07 am

mtettmar
PostPosted: 07 Dec 2006 08:21 am Post subject:

Unfortunately, that isn't possible. The script needs to create the instances to IE that it works with.