Open Tab in IE8 using SendMessage() C#

In this below code, hWnd is th开发者_高级运维e "URL Handle" in Spy++:

'WorkerW -> ReBarWindow32 -> Address Band Root -> Edit' 

The URL is what I want to open.

I use the same method to open tabs in IE7 and send hWnd appropriately. I see that this works fine for IE7 and not for IE8. In IE8, it only opens 4 tabs and then IE8 stops honoring the SendMessage request; however, I can still press CTRL+T OR ALT+Enter to open new tabs in IE8 (so IE8 is still responsive).

/**
 * Open URL in IE (open new tab when newTab is true)
 * hWnd is found at runtime 
 **/
private void LaunchURLinIE(IntPtr hWnd, String url, bool newTab = false)
{
    StringBuilder ob = new StringBuilder(url);
    // Type text in the URL window
    SendMessage(hWnd, WM_SETTEXT, 0, ob);
    if (!newTab)
    {   // Press Enter
        SendMessage(hWnd, WM_KEYDOWN, VK_RETURN, 1);
    }
    else
    {   // Press ALT Enter to open new tab
        SendMessage(hWnd, WM_SYSKEYDOWN, VK_RETURN, 1 << 29);
    }
}

My environment is: Windows XP Service Pack 3 [32-bit OS] , IE8 version 8.0.6001.18702

So, is it IE8 or something I am missing?

UPDATE - 1 I have updated comments on the code so that its clear what code does. The above code works perfectly fine for IE7 (tested upto 15 tabs) but with IE8 it only opens upto 4 tabs.

Update - 2 I was able to sove this by using PostMessage instead of SendMessage.

   private void LaunchURLinIE(IntPtr hWnd, String url, bool newTab = false)
    {
        StringBuilder ob = new StringBuilder(url);
        // Type text in the URL window
        SendMessage(hWnd, WM_SETTEXT, 0, ob);
        if (!newTab)
        {   // Press Enter
            PostMessage(hWnd, WM_KEYDOWN, VK_RETURN, 1);
        }
        else
        {   // Press ALT Enter to open new tab
            PostMessage(hWnd, WM_SYSKEYDOWN, VK_RETURN, 1 

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You might want to try using the COM exposed by the ShDocVw object which can be found as a .dll named Interop.ShDocVw.dll this contains an InternetExplorerClass interface which allows you to do most IE automation reliably.

I am a contributor to SWAT http://sourceforge.net/projects/ulti-swat/, if you would like some good examples feel free to use our source for IE automation located in SWAT.Core/InternetExplorer.cs

There are alot of problems with your code actually, window handles are hardcoded (why?) also you are only sending a key down, the application usually expects a keydown/keyup combo or sometimes a keydown/keypress/keyup sequence in order for it to be valid. Your application makes it seem as if you are holding down the keys you are sending. You may want to use the FindWindow windows API call which can help you find the window handle at runtime for the window you want to send the messages to.

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Should you not send WM_KEYUP as well?

VK_RETURN? Not sure what it does. Would it be better to send CTRL+T keystrokes instead?

• KEYDOWN CTRL
• KEYDOWN T
• KEYUP T
• KEYUP CTRL

You can find key codes with KeyInterop.VirtualKeyFromKey.

I also think you need to use PostMessage:

[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
[DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
private static extern bool PostMessage(IntPtr hWnd, uint Msg, int wParam, int lParam);

private const UInt32 WM_KEYDOWN = 0x0100;
private const UInt32 WM_KEYUP = 0x0101;

public static void IENewTab(IntPtr HWnd)
{
    PostMessage(HWnd, WM_KEYDOWN, KeyInterop.VirtualKeyFromKey(System.Windows.Input.Key.LeftCtrl), 0);
    PostMessage(HWnd, WM_KEYDOWN, KeyInterop.VirtualKeyFromKey(System.Windows.Input.Key.T), 0);
    PostMessage(HWnd, WM_KEYUP, KeyInterop.VirtualKeyFromKey(System.Windows.Input.Key.T), 0);
    PostMessage(HWnd, WM_KEYUP, KeyInterop.VirtualKeyFromKey(System.Windows.Input.Key.LeftCtrl), 0);
}