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LabVIEW
ActiveX and IE using https and TLSv1
Hey mrbean,
To address your first question; the web page continues to update even though the VI may not be running because
when you did run the VI you loaded the script for that page. This script continues to loop even though the VI
is not running. With an IE ActiveX container, it is a lot like you have a normal IE page open; it just happens
to also be a part of your front panel. If you negative, say, www.ni.com, you will notice that even though
the page is fully loaded and IE is not still attempting to load the page, it still 'updates'. You may also notice
that links still work, even though the VI is not still running. So, one way to think about and IE ActiveX
container is like a normal IE window that happens to also be in your VI.
In regards to how to send specific GET and POST commands; unfortunately, I am not very familiar with the ins and
outs of that particular ActiveX control. Judging by the msdn page that you pointed out, I would make the same
assumptions about GET and POST transactions. If you don't wire anything to the POSTData input you do a GET
transaction.
What happens if you send the entire URL https://10.4.17.1/setupRfData.axp HTTP/1.1? If you were
to do this same routine in a normal IE window, what URL would you use? What happens if you do include the HTTP/1.1? How about if you include it, do you get a different response? Here is a Thread that gives a little bit of relevant information.
To address your first question; the web page continues to update even though the VI may not be running because
when you did run the VI you loaded the script for that page. This script continues to loop even though the VI
is not running. With an IE ActiveX container, it is a lot like you have a normal IE page open; it just happens
to also be a part of your front panel. If you negative, say, www.ni.com, you will notice that even though
the page is fully loaded and IE is not still attempting to load the page, it still 'updates'. You may also notice
that links still work, even though the VI is not still running. So, one way to think about and IE ActiveX
container is like a normal IE window that happens to also be in your VI.
In regards to how to send specific GET and POST commands; unfortunately, I am not very familiar with the ins and
outs of that particular ActiveX control. Judging by the msdn page that you pointed out, I would make the same
assumptions about GET and POST transactions. If you don't wire anything to the POSTData input you do a GET
transaction.
What happens if you send the entire URL https://10.4.17.1/setupRfData.axp HTTP/1.1? If you were
to do this same routine in a normal IE window, what URL would you use? What happens if you do include the HTTP/1.1? How about if you include it, do you get a different response? Here is a Thread that gives a little bit of relevant information.
BCho wrote:
Hey mrbean,
To address your first question; the web page continues to update even though the VI may not be running because
when you did run the VI you loaded the script for that page. This script continues to loop even though the VI
is not running. With an IE ActiveX container, it is a lot like you have a normal IE page open; it just happens
to also be a part of your front panel. If you negative, say, www.ni.com, you will notice that even though
the page is fully loaded and IE is not still attempting to load the page, it still 'updates'. You may also notice
that links still work, even though the VI is not still running. So, one way to think about and IE ActiveX
container is like a normal IE window that happens to also be in your VI.
In regards to how to send specific GET and POST commands; unfortunately, I am not very familiar with the ins and
outs of that particular ActiveX control. Judging by the msdn page that you pointed out, I would make the same
assumptions about GET and POST transactions. If you don't wire anything to the POSTData input you do a GET
transaction.
What happens if you send the entire URL https://10.4.17.1/setupRfData.axp HTTP/1.1? If you were
to do this same routine in a normal IE window, what URL would you use? What happens if you do include the HTTP/1.1? How about if you include it, do you get a different response? Here is a Thread that gives a little bit of relevant information.
When I type in the entire URL above, I get a message saying "The Web page you are viewing is trying to close the window (yes/no)". I've read several forums about this, but most make mention of java script updates and IE7. I'm using IE6 and I'm not doing any scripting. I did see another post that said that it's possible I need to specify the "Referer", so I'm going to try that shortly by adding it to the Headers input of the Navigate2.
My underlying problem is that the in the current app, the user (me right now) only sees the html pages that the server is serving up (via https/TLSv1). With that interface, you can enter info into various fields and send them to the server, or click a different tab which behind the scenes performs a GET, but no one has to type any of that. In our app, we're trying to replace the IE with a labVIEW ActiveX IE and manually build/send these commands so that we can create automated sequences for a production test. Therefore, I've used a sniffer (WireShark) and have determined what commands/fields are going across the ethernet to the server (and coming back).
As I mentioned, I tried sending the fully qualified GET message ( URL https://10.4.17.1/setupRfData.axp HTTP/1.1) and saw the ...trying to close message. Assuming I can get past this, my next issue is accessing the response information coming back from the server. Right now it's html, but in the final product it's going to be XML. (1) What is the LabVIEW Invoke Method that allows me access to the response information and (2) Is there a way to setup an Event that would notify me when a response came in. (3) Can the same WebBrowser that currently displays html be used to display XML
Hey mrbean,
Its good to see that you had a little bit of success with the GET and POST commands. To get the HTML behind the web page, you have to use the WebBrowser2's "Document" property. This is going to be returned in LabVIEW as a variant. Then, you need to use the Variant to Data.vi to convert this document reference to a refnum. The type terminal of the Variant to Data.vi is going to be an Automation Refnum. To get this, you will need to put an Automation Refnum control on your front panel; then, you need to right click and "Select ActiveX Class" and navigate to Microsoft HTML Object Library Version 4.0»DispHTMLDocument. The output of the Variant to Data.vi with then be a Refnum to the document object. To get the body of the HTML page, then you will want to wire this document object reference to an ActiveX property node and select the "body' property. This too is another reference, so you will want to wire this to another ActiveX property node and select the "outerHTML" property. This will give you the HTML behind the web page you are viewing.
To get more information about the outerHTML property or the other properties available to you in the WebBrowser, Document, or body classes, you may want to browse through the msdn page you mentioned in your first post. As this ActiveX control is to control am IE web browser, all the properties and methods with the classes mentioned here are outlined on that msdn page.
