How to use click function? - excel

Question

Everything works in my code except for the .click at the end.
It disables the button from clicking and it disables the operators ability to press 'enter' with the pasted text.
Only after I click in the text box and enter characters, can I hit enter (or click the button) to search.
Sub Part_Information()
'
' Part_Information Macro
'
' Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+a
'
ActiveCell.Select
Selection.Copy
Dim IE As Object
Dim MyURL As String
Dim objElement As Object
Dim objCollection As Object
Set IE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
'Switching to correct page
'If it can't be found, ends the sub
'If it is found, then switches to correct search bar and searches for information
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
IE_count = objShell.Windows.Count
For x = 0 To (IE_count - 1)
On Error Resume Next ' sometimes more web pages are counted than are open
my_url = objShell.Windows(x).document.Location
my_title = objShell.Windows(x).document.Title
If my_title = "Parts Intelligence" Then
Set IE = objShell.Windows(x)
marker = 1
Exit For
End If
Next
If marker = 0 Then
MsgBox ("A matching webpage was NOT found")
Else
Set objCollection = IE.document.getElementsByTagName("input")
i = 0
While i < objCollection.Length
''''Change name (case sensitive)
If objCollection(i).class = "simple-search-text form-control short ng-valid ng-dirty ng-touched" Then
' Set text for search
objCollection(i).Value = ActiveCell.Value
Else
''''Change Type & Name (case sensitive)
If objCollection(i).class = "btn btn-icon" Then
objCollection(i).Click
' "Search" button is found
End If
End If
i = i + 1
Wend
End If
End Sub
This is from the webpage:
Search Button & Search Text Box:

Answer 1

Okay, so first things first. Do not create a new IE object if you are trying to find one that already exists. This will eventually start to bog down your computer having a hundred hidden Internet Explorers open in the background.
So, get rid of this
Set IE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
'Switching to correct page
'If it can't be found, ends the sub
'If it is found, then switches to correct search bar and searches for information
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
IE_count = objShell.Windows.Count
For x = 0 To (IE_count - 1)
On Error Resume Next ' sometimes more web pages are counted than are open
my_url = objShell.Windows(x).document.Location
my_title = objShell.Windows(x).document.Title
If my_title = "Parts Intelligence" Then
Set IE = objShell.Windows(x)
marker = 1
Exit For
End If
Next
If marker = 0 Then
MsgBox ("A matching webpage was NOT found")
Else
and instead use something like this function - which will return the IE object that matches a URL and Title.
Dim IE As Object
Dim MyURL As String
Dim objElement As Object
Dim objCollection As Object
Set IE = getIE("https://myurl.com", "Parts Intelligence")
If IE Is Nothing Then
Rem: Add what happens if browser isn't found
End If
Function GetIE(sLocation As String, sDocTitle As String) As Object
Dim objShell As Object, objShellWindows As Object, o As Object
Dim sURL As String, sTitle As String
Dim RetVal As Object
Set RetVal = Nothing
Set objShell = CreateObject("shell.application")
Set objShellWindows = objShell.Windows
For Each o In objShellWindows
sURL = ""
On Error Resume Next
sURL = o.document.Location
sTitle = o.document.Title
On Error GoTo 0
If sURL Like "*" sLocation & "*" And sTitle Like sDocTitle & "*" Then
Set RetVal = o
Exit For
End If
Next o
Set GetIE = RetVal
End Function
Now, as for your issue. It's difficult to say exactly what is causing this problem without having access to the website in question. However, I had a very similar experience before and what allowed me to get past it was activating the textbox by code.
So, for your textbox, try using:
yourTextBoxObject.setActive
Then filling in the box. This should (hopefully) solve your problem with the button being disabled. With your code, it should look something like:
While i < objCollection.Length
''''Change name (case sensitive)
If objCollection(i).class = "simple-search-text form-control short ng-valid ng-dirty ng-touched" Then
' Set text for search
objCollection(i).setActive
objCollection(i).Value = ActiveCell.Value
Else
''''Change Type & Name (case sensitive)
If objCollection(i).class = "btn btn-icon" Then
objCollection(i).Click
' "Search" button is found
End If
End If
i = i + 1
Wend
Your full code:
Sub Part_Information()
'
' Part_Information Macro
'
' Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+a
'
ActiveCell.Select
Selection.Copy
Dim IE As Object
Dim MyURL As String
Dim objElement As Object
Dim objCollection As Object
Dim IE As Object
Dim MyURL As String
Dim objElement As Object
Dim objCollection As Object
Set IE = getIE("https://myurl.com", "Parts Intelligence")
If IE Is Nothing Then
Rem: Add what happens if browser isn't found
End If
Set objCollection = IE.document.getElementsByTagName("input")
i = 0
While i < objCollection.Length
''''Change name (case sensitive)
If objCollection(i).class = "simple-search-text form-control short ng-valid ng-dirty ng-touched" Then
' Set text for search
objCollection(i).Value = ActiveCell.Value
Else
''''Change Type & Name (case sensitive)
If objCollection(i).class = "btn btn-icon" Then
objCollection(i).Click
' "Search" button is found
End If
End If
i = i + 1
Wend
End Sub
Function GetIE(sLocation As String, sDocTitle As String) As Object
Dim objShell As Object, objShellWindows As Object, o As Object
Dim sURL As String, sTitle As String
Dim RetVal As Object
Set RetVal = Nothing
Set objShell = CreateObject("shell.application")
Set objShellWindows = objShell.Windows
For Each o In objShellWindows
sURL = ""
On Error Resume Next
sURL = o.document.Location
sTitle = o.document.Title
On Error GoTo 0
If sURL Like "*" sLocation & "*" And sTitle Like sDocTitle & "*" Then
Set RetVal = o
Exit For
End If
Next o
Set GetIE = RetVal
End Function