Passing data to a cgi written in javascript

[Jerry]

How do I pass data to a remote system that has diplayed a web form on my pc.
The form was
written in javascript. I need to click on a check box, enter the from date,
enter the to date, and
sellect an item from a drop down menu, then click a button named submitt.
I am a beginer so be gentle.

Thanks in advance,
Jerry

[Dan Appleman]

Jerry:

What you describe may vary from possible to nightmarish.
Every request to a web server follows a certain form, with a URL followed by a
bunch of parameters.
So you can figure out what a particular combination of check boxes, form data,
etc. actually sends to a server, and just send it yourself from an application.
This is the technique I used in my "stock quote" server in my book "Developing
ActiveX Components with Visual Basic 6", where I figured out what parameters
certain stock reporting web pages used, and faked out the server by sending the
same parameters.
To do this you'll need to learn a bit more HTML, especially the use of the GET
and POST methods, and reading form code to figure out what the server needs to
see.

Where this can fall apart is if the server is using cookies or other tracking
mechansims. You can mimic those as well, but it's a lot trickier.

Now, another approach is to actually automate what the browser does. On this I
am also a beginner - I know that IE has powerful automation capabilities from
within the page, but am not sure how much flexibility you have at automating it
from outside.

You might check out Carl Franklin's book "Visual Basic 6.0 Internet Programming"
for a good introduction to doing Internet programming directly from VB. I found
it to be quite accessible to beginners (which is what I was when I read the
previous edition for the first time).

Best of luck

Dan




Jerry wrote:

> How do I pass data to a remote system that has diplayed a web form on my pc.
> The form was
> written in javascript. I need to click on a check box, enter the from date,
> enter the to date, and
> sellect an item from a drop down menu, then click a button named submitt.
> I am a beginer so be gentle.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Jerry

[Phil Weber]

> How do I pass data to a remote system that has=20
> displayed a Web form on my PC?

Jerry: See the article "Post Form Data Without a Browser," in the =
December,=20
1999 issue of VBPJ:=20
http://www.devx.com/premier/mgznarch...299/hm1299.asp =
..
---
Phil Weber
DevX.com, Inc.