IE innerHTML after clicking on link - vba

Question

I'm using Excel-vba, and trying to get the innerHTML of an InternetExplorer Object, my problem is that after clicking on a link, the innerHTML doesn't change and stays as the first navigation.
is there a way to get the innerHTML of the next page after clicking the link?
Here is the code:
Dim ie As InternetExplorer
Dim hd As HTMLDocument
Set ie = New InternetExplorer
ie.navigate "http://www.stormchaser.niu.edu/machine/textfcstsound.html"
Do While ie.readyState <> READYSTATE_COMPLETE
DoEvents
Loop
Set hd = ie.document
hd.all.Item("mo")(4).Checked = True
hd.all.Item("ft")(11).Checked = True
Set objInputs = ie.document.getElementsByTagName("input")
For Each ele In objInputs
If ele.Type = "submit" Then
ele.Click
End If
Next
Do While ie.readyState <> READYSTATE_COMPLETE
DoEvents
Loop
hd.Links(0).Click
Range("K4") = ie.document.body.innerHTML
I'd really thank for any help.
Jon

Answer 1

It looks likes a timing issue which I find is a very common problem in automating IE. The code is not waiting for the following page to load before executing hd.Links(0).Click so it is actually clicking a link on the old page. I tested the following code and it seems to run fine. It is using the page title as a check if it is loaded instead of ie.ReadyState which doesn't seem to be working.
Sub test()
Dim ie As InternetExplorer
Dim hd As HTMLDocument
Set ie = New InternetExplorer
ie.Navigate "http://www.stormchaser.niu.edu/machine/textfcstsound.html"
ie.Visible = True
Do While ie.ReadyState <> READYSTATE_COMPLETE
DoEvents
Loop
Set hd = ie.Document
hd.all.Item("mo")(4).Checked = True
hd.all.Item("ft")(11).Checked = True
Set objInputs = ie.Document.getElementsByTagName("input")
For Each ele In objInputs
If ele.Type = "submit" Then
ele.Click
'Debug.Print ele.outerHTML
End If
Next
Do While hd.Title <> "Forecast Sounding Text Output for KOKC" ' ie.ReadyState <> READYSTATE_COMPLETE
'Debug.Print hd.Title, hd.Links(0)
'DoEvents
Loop
'While ie.ReadyState <> READYSTATE_COMPLETE: Wend
Set hd = ie.Document
Debug.Print hd.Title, hd.Links(0)
hd.Links(0).Click
'Do While ie.ReadyState <> READYSTATE_COMPLETE
' DoEvents
'Loop
While ie.ReadyState <> READYSTATE_COMPLETE: Wend
Do While hd.Title <> "" ' ie.ReadyState <> READYSTATE_COMPLETE
Loop
Debug.Print hd.Title, hd.body.innerHTML
Range("K4") = hd.body.innerHTML
End Sub
I would also suggest ie.Visible for debugging. Hope that helps.

Answer 2

I got it, you're right that it's a timing issue, I found out how to catch the right second for calling the innerHTML method without freezing Excel, it gives Excel a timeout of 20 seconds waiting for the new window, otherwise it returns "failed".
here is the full code:
Set ie = New InternetExplorer
ie.navigate "http://www.stormchaser.niu.edu/machine/textfcstsound.html"
Do While ie.readyState <> READYSTATE_COMPLETE
DoEvents
Loop
Set hd = ie.document
T1 = ie.document.Title
hd.all.Item("mo")(4).Checked = True
hd.all.Item("ft")(10).Checked = True
hd.getElementById("stn").Value = "LLBG"
Set objInputs = ie.document.getElementsByTagName("input")
For Each ele In objInputs
If ele.Type = "submit" Then
ele.Click
End If
Next
Do While ie.readyState <> READYSTATE_COMPLETE
DoEvents
Loop
T2 = Now
Do While (Now < T2 + TimeValue("0:00:20")) And ie.document.Title = T1
DoEvents
Loop
If ie.document.Title = T1 Then
Debug.Print "failed"
GoTo end_ext
End If
T1 = ie.document.Title
ie.document.Links(0).Click
Do While ie.readyState <> READYSTATE_COMPLETE
DoEvents
Loop
T2 = Now
Do While (Now < T2 + TimeValue("0:00:20")) And ie.document.Title = T1
DoEvents
Loop
If ie.document.Title = T1 Then
Debug.Print "failed"
GoTo end_ext
Else
'Debug.Print "succeeded"
End If
Debug.Print ie.document.body.innerText
end_ext:
ie.Quit
Set hd = Nothing
Set ie = Nothing