Re: Help with automated html to image capture - C# Discussion Boards

3-Apr-07 5:10

First off, I am a Windows network technician with some coding back ground, mostly in C++ and VB, new to C#, so please bear with me.

I am trying to modify the following project by Douglas M. Weems (thanks a bunch Douglas for the code, it's been a GREAT help):

http://www.codeproject.com/cs/media/IECapture.asp[^]

We have a need to automate the process of capturing web sites of our clients as images. To do this I am modifying Douglas' project to do so. I have made most of the changes we require, but am stuck on one, hopefully last, issue.

I added a WebBrowser control, and modified the code to read the site loaded in it rather then from the first available web browser window open.

My problem is that when I automatically run the the button_click event which has the image capture code, the WebBrowser control does not load quickly enough, and the code calls properties of this control that are set to "null".

If I launch the app, and manually click the button which runs the capture code, it works without an issue, the image captures.

This is how I setup the automated process. On the Form Load event I read in a text file with the URL, and the WebBrowser control called axWebCap browses to this site. I then run the capture code in the Form Activated event.

I discovered that if I do this, that axWebCap.ReadyState = READYSTATE_LOADING. Now if I run this manually by running the ap and click the capture button the axWebCap.ReadyState = READYSTATE_COMPLETE.

I guess my question is, how can I run this code in a function after the Form has completely loaded, and therefore the axWebCap WebBrowser control has completely loaded as well, and it's properties are no longer set to null?

BTW, I am using Visual C# 2005 EE, and I would be more then happy to clarify anything I just posted.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Justin

Douglas Troy3-Apr-07 5:45

3-Apr-07 5:45

Justin,

After you've assigned the URL to navigate to, you need to loop until the ReadyState is READYSTATE_COMPLETE; not actually assign it values.

Something like:

while (axWebCap.ReadyState != READYSTATE_COMPLETE)
{
// tells application to process messages ...
Application.DoEvents();
}

// when you come out of this loop, your page is now loaded and
// all the objects (DOM) etc... should exist

Hope that helps.

:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..

Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL

justlee73-Apr-07 5:57

3-Apr-07 5:57

Thanks Douglas for your responce!

I actually have tried creating a while loop like this. I just can't figure out what to put for the "Application.DoEvents()" that will cause the WebBrowser control to fully load, or wait for it to fully load.

I tried the following:

      string WebReady = axWebCap.ReadyState.ToString();<br />
<br />
            while (WebReady != "READYSTATE_COMPLETE")<br />
            {<br />
                WebReady = axWebCap.ReadyState.ToString();<br />
            }<br />

But that just causes an infinite loop. I am thinking that is because it is not refreshing the Ready Status. Do I need to refresh the form or something?

I thought about putting a timer in, but thought that could cause issues in the future if the page load fell outside the time limit.

Thanks again,
Justin

Douglas Troy3-Apr-07 6:15

3-Apr-07 6:15

here's an example I just slapped together for testing ... grant it, my object names differ, but you'll get the idea ...

<br />
private void OnFormLoad(object sender, EventArgs e)<br />
{<br />
    this.webBrowser1.Navigate(@"http://www.cnn.com");<br />
    while (this.webBrowser1.ReadyState != WebBrowserReadyState.Complete)<br />
    {<br />
        Application.DoEvents();<br />
    }<br />
    MessageBox.Show("DONE loading!");<br />
<br />
}<br />

:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..

Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL

justlee73-Apr-07 6:48

Re: Help with automated html to image capture [modified]

3-Apr-07 6:48

Thanks again Douglas!

I hear what you are saying, I just don't know what process to run that will refresh the WebBroswer.ReadyState until it is completed. What event or process can I keep running that will get me to WebBrowserReadyState.Complete before I run the capture code.

Here is some of the code:

       private void frmMain_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)<br />
        {<br />
            Initialize_Site(null, null);<br />
<br />
            string WebReady = axWebCap.ReadyState.ToString();<br />
<br />
            while (WebReady != "READYSTATE_COMPLETE")<br />
            {<br />
                WebReady = axWebCap.ReadyState.ToString();<br />
            }<br />
<br />
        }<br />
<br />
        private void frmMain_Activated(object sender, System.EventArgs e)<br />
        {<br />
            button1_Click(null, null); //This runs the capture code<br />
        }<br />
<br />
        private void Initialize_Site(object sender, EventArgs e)<br />
        {<br />
            TextReader WebConfig = new StreamReader(@"c:\\IECapture\config.txt");<br />
<br />
            int LineCount = 4;<br />
            string[] ConfigLines = new string[LineCount];<br />
<br />
            for (int i = 1; i < LineCount; i++)<br />
            {<br />
                ConfigLines[i] = WebConfig.ReadLine();<br />
            }<br />
<br />
            string Address = ConfigLines[1];<br />
            axWebCap.Navigate(Address);<br />
<br />
        }

Thanks,
Justin

Douglas Troy3-Apr-07 7:09

3-Apr-07 7:09

You need only add a call to Application.DoEvents(); That will tell your application to pump messages and whatnot while you wait for the ReadyState to change ... so in your code, you would

private void frmMain_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Initialize_Site(null, null);

string WebReady = axWebCap.ReadyState.ToString();

while (WebReady != "READYSTATE_COMPLETE")
{
// tell application to process pending events
Application.DoEvents();
// get the readystate
WebReady = axWebCap.ReadyState.ToString();
}

//add your capture code here ...
}

-- modified at 16:19 Tuesday 3rd April, 2007

:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..

Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL

justlee73-Apr-07 10:20

3-Apr-07 10:20

I think I understand now. Pardon my slowness.

So the line:

Application.DoEvents();

That is an actual event, huh? This shows my lack of knowledge in programming. I have though when people posted this it meant to run a custome function. I will try this

What does the Application.DoEvent() actually do?

Thanks a bunch for your help!

Douglas Troy3-Apr-07 10:41

3-Apr-07 10:41

Well, without it ... your while loop is just going to 'hang' there, and take all the processing until it's condition is met. This is obviously not what you want to have happen ...

You want to your program to 'wait' until the ReadyState is complete. By calling DoEvents, that allows your application to process messages that are sitting in the message queue (essentially, it lets your program 'run' while you wait for that state change to occur).

Hope that helps.

:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..

Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL

justlee73-Apr-07 10:44

3-Apr-07 10:44

I just did what you said and it worked like a charge. Added Application.DoEvents() to my while loop, and it works flawlessly.

Thank you SO very much Douglas. It is greatly appreciated, and thanks for putting up with a coding newb!

Douglas Troy3-Apr-07 19:50

Re: Drag and drop listview

3-Apr-07 19:50

no problem. glad I could help.

:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..

Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL

Drag and drop listview

Diego F.3-Apr-07 5:03

Diego F.

3-Apr-07 5:03

I'm using the code from Matt Hawley ( http://www.codeproject.com/cs/miscctrl/DragAndDropListView.asp?df=100&forumid=46750&select=1972827&msg=1972827) to use two listview controls and drag and drop between them.

The problem is that items have an icon and when dropping in the second listview it disappears. Is there any way to solve that? Any alternative drag and drop listview? That one is from 2004.

Regards,

Diego F.

led mike3-Apr-07 6:01

led mike

3-Apr-07 6:01

Diego F. wrote:
Is there any way to solve that?

Yes, make sure the icon is in the imagelist of the listview and set the imageindex for the item to it.

led mike

Re: Drag and drop listview

Diego F.3-Apr-07 21:52

Diego F.

3-Apr-07 21:52

I can't solve the problem.

When I open a file in the listview1 I do that (is vb code here)

Dim files As String() = Directory.GetFiles(sourceDir)
For Each file As String In files
ImageList1.Images.Add(System.Drawing.Image.FromFile(file))
Next

I added then something like listview1.LargeImageList = ImageList1

But when using drag & drop in the second listview, the images doesn't appear. Should I load the ImageList1 in the second listview? I thought that the item contains the image and when I drop in the other listview, moves it all.

Regards,

Diego F.

How to save Excel object for further use?

BlackBar3-Apr-07 4:40

BlackBar

3-Apr-07 4:40

Hallo. I'm writing AddIn for Excel 2007 in C#, using VSTO 2005 SE. I'd like to have possibility to use something similar to templates - specially saved Excel objects (for example: a pattern of the table) for further use.

For example: I'll create an Excel table which represents information about person (Name, Surname etc.) and I'd like to paste this table in a Worksheet, allow user to fill it and then commit data to Database.
How can I do this without writing any code which will creates this table at runtime.

Re: How to save Excel object for further use?

Douglas Troy3-Apr-07 5:35

Re: How to save Excel object for further use?

3-Apr-07 5:35

You should really post this question in the VSTO[^] forum.

If you were using VSTO, you could create an Excel document-level template and use that to gather up your data ...

As for dynamically creating a table and whatnot, I'm sure that someone in the VSTO group will be able to help guide you.

:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..

Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL

BlackBar3-Apr-07 8:55

BlackBar

3-Apr-07 8:55

Thanks, Douglas, for your advice.

SQL Files

hadad3-Apr-07 4:20

hadad

3-Apr-07 4:20

Hello,
My app dependes on a sql database I want my setup project to attach the sql files to the framework or any thing else to run the database like the MSDE 2000 How can I do this?
Thanks.

Dad

Re: SQL Files

Douglas Troy3-Apr-07 7:15