Click on a word or phrase to go to a website and enter that word or phrase in search

[sephiroth2906]

Howdy all!

I have a database I am working on that I hope to incorporate some kind of code or commands that will allow me to click on a database entry, and cause that entry to open a specific webpage, then put the entry I clicked on in a search field there.

I am wondering if this is possible, and where to start if it is.

Any assistance is appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

[June7]

Have to know name of the webpage input box. Review
https://www.accessforums.net/forms/a...ata-29837.html
https://www.accessforums.net/general...ase-27053.html

[sephiroth2906]

Actually, I am less worried about interacting with the website than I am figuring out how to cause the click on the word or phrase to cause a function of some sort to be carried out.

Instead if a search field, I can pass the information into a spot in a URL and pass that URL to a web browser instead of filling a search field. I don't know how to make a field "clickable" or how to put the word clicked into the URL or how to pass the URL to the browser.

I guess I don't know much more than what I want to accomplish. Again, I appreciate any guidance!

[orange]

see this linkfor more info

also research webbrowser control and application.followHyperlink

[June7]

And http://allenbrowne.com/func-GoHyperlink.html

Are you using a form for data entry?

[sephiroth2906]

I am, yes.

[June7]

Did either of the links give you ideas?

[ipisors]

Just my opinion, I don't think this has anything to do with FollowHyperlink.

You can automate Internet Explorer - that's the common approach. You can use

Dim IE as object
set IE = createobject("internetexplorer.application")
IE.visible=true 'easier for debugging and eyeballing what is going on
IE.Navigate "some URL"

After that point, you will need to right-click on the page and View Source to see what you are up against. There is no one size fits all answer. If you see button IDs and textbox IDs, you might get lucky, then you can use things like:

IE.Document.GetElementyByID("id number").Value = "something"
IE.Document.Forms("formName").submit

OR

IE.Document.getelementbyid("button1").Click

As you can see, a significant amount of legwork on your part will be required. In many cases you will need

'Do Until ie.Busy = False
DoEvents
'Loop

in between lines of code to "wait" for IE to be ready.

It will be very likely much less than 100% reliable, hit & miss, and totally fail if/when the webpage programmer changes the slightest detail.

If the page depends on calling javascript functions rather than button click events and such, you will need yet a slightly different approach for the Wait concept, since IE won't be busy.....But a java script function could very likely still be busy.

See if that gets you anywhere and post back if you get stuck. I will try to help.

The best advice is, "don't do/rely on it: Get an API from the website owner instead".

[sephiroth2906]

I am actually less worried now about how to pass the information to the browser, since instead of sending the information to an API, I just want to open a webpage. My previous idea sounds much more difficult. It might help to explain what my proof of concept is.

I created a database as a proof of concept. In this database, I put in some Magic the Gathering cards. What I would like to do , from the results of a query returning several different cards, is click on the name of one of the cards. When I click on it, I want it to do a couple of things.

The first is to take the name of the card and put it in a string, which happens to be a URL. An example of this would be

http://magiccards.info/query?q=badlands&v=card&s=cname

I would like to have the area in red be where the card name goes. So, if I clicked on a card called "arrest" then the string would look like this:


http://magiccards.info/query?q=arrest&v=card&s=cname

Then I need to instruct access to open a browser with that URL.

The links provided did not really give me what I was looking for, but that is likely my fault for not providing clear information as to my intent. Does this change anything.

As always, I truly appreciate your time.

[June7]

The Allen Browne links explain the structure of a hyperlink string as well as demonstrate code that constructs a hyperlink. You can use code to build the URL you desire and then use either FollowHyperlink or Allen's GoHyperlink procedure to open web page.

I tried the links you posted but I am blocked and can't open.

[ipisors]

Thanks, based on that information, just go with the first part of my post - which automates opening IE, and navigating to a URL.

Of course you will need to do some basic string funtions in VBA to build the URL, right?

Something like:

Dim strURL as String
Dim IE as object
set IE = createobject("internetexplorer.application")
IE.visible=true 'easier for debugging and eyeballing what is going on
strURL = http://magiccards.info/query?q= & Me.Textboxname.Value & "&v=card&s=cname"
IE.Navigate strURL

OK, no matter what I do, this forum prevents me from typing what I intended. It keeps changing the text to a darn URL =

basically, you need to put quotes around the part of what I posted that starts with http and ends with = (equals sign)

[June7]

Yes, preventing the string converting to URL in post is tricky. Go to Advanced post editor. Below post window is an option for turning off ''Automatically parse links in text". Click this first then type the string. If it formats as url after typing a space, then Backspace until it goes away then press Enter. Something about a space after the url.

[ipisors]

Yes, preventing the string converting to URL in post is tricky. Go to Advanced post editor. Below post window is an option for turning off ''Automatically parse links in text". Click this first then type the string. If it formats as url after typing a space, then Backspace until it goes away then press Enter. Something about a space after the url.

Got it - thanks!

(Up to now I had only tried Remove Formatting and Remove Link). (and a few well-placed scowls at my monitor)

[sephiroth2906]

Boy am I sadly out of practice. I need to spend more time coding.

So, if I create a datasheet form from a query or table, with the name of the card set as a hyperlink, this code:

Private Sub txtName_Click()

Dim strURL As String
Dim IE As Object
Set IE = CreateObject("internetexplorer.application")
IE.Visible = True 'easier for debugging and eyeballing what is going on
strURL = "http://magiccards.info/query?q=" & Me.txtName.Value & "&v=card&s=cname"
IE.Navigate strURL

End Sub

After naming the field Name "txtName" works like a charm. Now I need to figure out how to make a search, which has always baffled me to one extent or another. Once again, thanks for the help! Not only does this work, but I understand WHY it works, which is always a good thing

[ItsMe]

For a control named "cmdLinkMe" I would just place this in the click event....

Me.cmdLinkMe.HyperlinkAddress = "http://Google.com"