VBA Internet Explorer Automation 'Permission Denied'

Question

Dim IE as New InternetExplorer
IE.Visible = True

IE.Navigate(\"http://www.google.com\")

Do Until IE.Busy = False
Loop

IE.document.getElementsByTagName(\"Input\")(         


        

Answer 1

This is a common issue with Internet Explorer automation in VBA. It generally seems to happen after a new page has been loaded. I have had success using a combination of DoEvents, Application.Wait, and setting my HTMLDocument object to Nothing after a new page load.

I have posed sample code below to demonstrate:

Option Explicit

Sub IEAutomation()

    Dim IE As InternetExplorer
    Dim html As HTMLDocument
    Dim i As HTMLHtmlElement
    Dim search_bar_id As String
    Dim submit_button_name As String
    Dim search_term As String

    'Define Variables
    search_bar_id = "lst-ib"
    submit_button_name = "btnK"
    search_term = "Learning VBA"

    'Create IE and Naviagate to Google
    Set IE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application") 'Late Binding
    IE.Visible = True
    IE.navigate "http://www.google.com"

    'Wait for IE To Load
    Do While IE.readyState <> READYSTATE_COMPLETE: DoEvents: Loop

    'Create HTMLDocument Object
    Set html = IE.document

    'Enter Search Term into Search Bar and Click Submit Button
    html.getElementById(search_bar_id).innerText = search_term
    Application.Wait Now + TimeValue("0:00:01")
    html.getElementsByName(submit_button_name)(, 1).Click

    'Wait for New Page to Load (** DoEvents Helps with the Permission Issue **)
    Do While IE.readyState <> READYSTATE_COMPLETE: DoEvents: Loop

    'After Page Loads, Reset HTMLDocument Object and Wait 1 Second Before Recreating It
    Set html = Nothing
    Application.Wait Now + TimeValue("0:00:01") '<<< This seems to really help
    Set html = IE.document

    'Print All Elements In H3 Tags to Immediate Window in VBE
    For Each i In html.getElementsByTagName("H3")
        Debug.Print i.innerText
    Next i

End Sub