Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:05:41 -0700
From: Bryan Garaventa <bryan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Stumped: JAWS GetObject function for current browser window?
Thanks for taking a look. I had a similar idea, so figured I'd try to
stick
with what I knew. Here is what I've done.
I created a VB.net Class Lib project, and added a function for returning
an
object of shdocvw.WebBrowser.
It takes two parameters, one is the url of the document object to find,
and
the other is the WebBrowser object placeholder.
The function loops through all instances of shellWindows, finding each
instance of shdocvw.InternetExplorer.
Then it compares the vals of IEInstance.LocationURL to Url within the
first
parameter, and if a match is found, assigns the IEInstance to the second
object parameter of shdocvw.WebBrowser.
Lastly, it returns the value. Here is the class code if you would like to
see the exact method.
Public Class BangBangDuck
Dim Sws As New SHDocVw.ShellWindows
Dim IE As SHDocVw.InternetExplorer
Public Function ParseIEInstances(ByVal Url As String, ByVal BrowserObject
As
SHDocVw.WebBrowser) As SHDocVw.WebBrowser
For Each IE In Sws
If IE.LocationURL Is Url Then
BrowserObject = IE
End If
Next
Return BrowserObject
End Function
End Class
My idea was to include this as an ActiveX com component, which I could
then
instantiate and use within JAWS by passing the desired parameters.
Ah but I didn't anticipate the brilliance of Microsoft! Who, in their
infinite wisdom, now makes it impossible to create an ActiveX dll using
their new and improved VB.net...
This is so insanely frustrating. I'm 99% sure that this method will work
(unless I'm totally off), as long as I can register the dll as an ActiveX
com component.
Arg, guess I'll just have to find a copy of VB6 somewhere, create an
ActiveX
project, import my new shiny vb.net dll, and hopefully, God willing,
nothing
else will go wrong.
(I'll probably feel better after lunch...)
Thanks again for the input, it really does help.
Best wishes,
Bryan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jamal Mazrui" <empower@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 1:22 PM
Subject: Re: Stumped: JAWS GetObject function for current browser window?
> Thanks for that info about the IE object model. I tried the Snapshot
> object, converting the sample.vbs example to JAWS script. For some
> reason, the script does not create the image file on disk, even though
> the object is instantiated.
>
> I think the following technique would work. Have the JAWS script run a
> .vbs file with cscript.exe, passing it parameters for the URL to
> capture
> and the file to create, and waiting for it to complete. The URL of the
> current page in IE can be obtained from a property of the document
> object.
>
> The Homer script library
> http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/kitsetup.exe
> includes convenience functions that could help with some of these
> steps,
> though they can also be coded from scratch. Let me know if you have
> further questions.
>
> Jamal
> On Mon, 24 Sep 2007, Bryan Garaventa wrote:
>
>> Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 10:03:16 -0700
>> From: Bryan Garaventa <bryan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Reply-To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: Re: Stumped: JAWS GetObject function for current browser
>> window?
>>
>> I thought so at first as well, but it doesn't appear to work.
>>
>> What I need to do is create a JAWS script that can take screenshots of
>> a
>> webpage at runtime. Unfortunately the standard Print screen method
>> doesn't
>> work, because it only captures the visible area of the screen, and the
>> entire web page has to be captured without reloading the page from the
>> current IE instance.
>>
>> I found an ActiveX component that claims to do this, called HTML
>> Snapshot
>> ( http://www.guangmingsoft.net/htmlsnapshot/help.htm ), which can
>> apparently
>> take the entire image of a web page at one time. Adding to the appeal
>> of
>> this method, is that the ActiveX is redistributable, which is
>> necessary
>> for
>> this project.
>>
>> Specifically, the ActiveX method I would need to use within the script
>> appears to be SnapWebBrowser(). However, this method requires a
>> browser
>> object of type IDispatch. I've tried passing the JAWS
>> IEGetCurrentDocument
>> return for this argument, but with no luck. It looks like the method
>> requires the use of an IE instance that reveals it's ActiveX directly.
>>
>> I've been doing a lot of research in this area, and made some
>> discoveries
>> that may help solve the issue if possible.
>>
>> First has to do with the MSDN's reference regarding Internet Explorer
>> Architecture (
>> http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa741312.aspx ),
>> which says...
>>
>> Internet Explorer Architecture
>>
>> A description of each of these six components follows:
>>
>> list of 6 items
>> . IExplore.exe is at the top level, and is the Internet Explorer
>> executable.
>> It is a small application that relies on the other main components of
>> Internet Explorer to do the work of rendering, navigation, protocol
>> implementation, and so on.
>> . Browsui.dll provides the user interface to Internet Explorer. Often
>> referred to as the "chrome," this DLL includes the Internet Explorer
>> address
>> bar, status bar, menus, and so on.
>> . Shdocvw.dll provides functionality such as navigation and history,
>> and
>> is
>> commonly referred to as the WebBrowser control . This DLL exposes
>> ActiveX
>> Control interfaces, enabling you to easily host the DLL in a Microsoft
>> Windows application using frameworks such as Microsoft Visual Basic,
>> Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), Active Template Library (ATL), or
>> Microsoft .NET Windows Forms. When your application hosts the
>> WebBrowser
>> control, it obtains all the functionality of Internet Explorer except
>> for
>> the user interface provided by Browseui.dll. This means that you will
>> need
>> to provide your own implementations of toolbars and menus.
>> . Mshtml.dll is at the heart of Internet Explorer and takes care of
>> its
>> HTML
>> and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) parsing and rendering functionality.
>> Mshtml.dll is sometimes referred to by its code name, "Trident".
>> Mshtml.dll
>> exposes interfaces that enable you to host it as an active document .
>> Other
>> applications such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Visio,
>> and
>> many non-Microsoft applications also expose active document interfaces
>> so
>> they can be hosted by shdocvw.dll. For example, when a user browses
>> from
>> an
>> HTML page to a Word document, mshtml.dll is swapped out for the DLL
>> provided
>> by Word, which then renders that document type. Mshtml.dll may be
>> called
>> upon to host other components depending on the HTML document's
>> content,
>> such
>> as scripting engines (for example, Microsoft JScript or Visual Basic
>> Scripting Edition (VBScript)), ActiveX controls, XML data, and so on.
>> . Urlmon.dll offers functionality for MIME handling and code download.
>> . WinInet.dll is the Windows Internet Protocol handler. It implements
>> the
>> HTTP and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) protocols along with cache
>> management.
>> list end
>>
>> There's quite a bit more in depth info, but this shows the essentials.
>>
>> At first, I thought, by returning the top level object,
>> "IExplore.exe",
>> this
>> would solve the problem, but not so from a JAWS script.
>>
>> What I actually need to return is the current WebBrowser object, which
>> would
>> require the use of Shdocvw. I believe this would do the trick.
>>
>> The directions for accomplishing this, has been a bit harder to track
>> down.
>> Finally though, I think I've found something that might help with this
>> as
>> well, though I haven't been able to apply it directly using a JAWS
>> script.
>>
>> It is a forum entry named "FOUND! how to attach to running instances
>> of
>> Internet Explorer" from dBforums. (
>> http://www.dbforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=867088 )
>>
>> Specifically it refers to Python, but I think it may be possible to
>> convert
>> the principles to a JAWS script... I hope anyway.
>>
>> Please let me know if you have any insights, I'd welcome them.
>>
>> Best wishes,
>>
>> Bryan
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Jamal Mazrui" <empower@xxxxxxxxx>
>> To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 9:05 AM
>> Subject: Re: Stumped: JAWS GetObject function for current browser
>> window?
>>
>>
>> >I must be missing something here. Doesn't IEGetCurrentDocument
>> >return a
>> > COM object for the current web page in IE? How does this not meet
>> > the
>> > need?
>> >
>> >
>> > Jamal
>> >
>> > __________
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>> >
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