HOWTO: Use WebBrowser HEADERS Param in Navigate Method

ID: Q172998


The information in this article applies to:


SUMMARY

Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 includes a custom ActiveX control called "WebBrowser." When you use WebBrowser in combination with Microsoft Visual Basic, you can design powerful custom solutions that include Internet Web browsing features. This article illustrates how to use the WebBrowser control HEADERS parameter in the Navigate method within Microsoft Visual Basic.


MORE INFORMATION

The following example creates a mini-browser and uses the HEADERS parameter of the Navigate method. The HEADERS parameter has different options; this example uses the Authorization option. Adding this header allows you to gain access to a password protected URL without being asked for user name and password via a dialog box generated by the browser control. Note that code below applies only when Basic scheme is used. Please see HTTP Protocol specification (available at http://www.w3.org) to get more details on HTTP Authentication process.

The format for Authorization header is as follow:


   Authorization: Basic XXXXXXX 
Where XXXXXX is Base64 encoded string: "UserName:UserPassword." Base64 is described in RFC1113 and some public domain utilities for Base64 decoding/encoding are available.

Step-by-Step Example

  1. Create a new Standard .exe project in Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0. Form1 is created by default.


  2. From the Project menu, click Components.


  3. Select the Microsoft Internet Controls component. Click OK.


  4. Add the following controls to Form1:
    
       Control           Name
       --------------    ---------
       Command Button    Command1
       WebBrowser        WebBrowser1 


  5. In Form1's code window, add the following code:
    
    Option Explicit
    
    Private Sub Command1_Click()
    
       WebBrowser1.Navigate  URL:= "http://www.microsoft.com" _
          ,Headers:= "Authorization: Basic XXXXXX" & chr$(13) & chr$(10)
       ' Note: All headers must be terminated with a
       ' carriage return linefeed pair.
    
       If WebBrowser1.Visible = False Then
          WebBrowser1.Visible = True
       End If
    End Sub 



  6. From the File menu, click Save Project1.


  7. From the Run menu, click Start. Note that when you click Command1, the WebBrowser appears and automatically loads the URL specified in the URL parameter of Navigate.



REFERENCES

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q155969 HOWTO: Distribute the WebBrowser Control
Q162719 HOWTO: Use the WebBrowser Control from Visual Basic 5.0

Additional query words: kbSDKInet400 kbSDKInet401 kbVBp400 kbVCp500 kbVBp600 kbDSupport kbdsi kbVBp kbActiveX


Keywords          : kbIE400 kbIE401 kbVBp400 kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbIE500 
Version           : WINDOWS:4.0,4.01,5.0,6.0
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbhowto 

Last Reviewed: April 29, 1999