VB.NET - Log into website with out website open

I want to开发者_高级运维 create a program to fetch information from a website (that's fine). However, you need to be logged in to get this information.

I just want two simple textbox controls that I would type my username and password into and hit submit and the information would be returned to me so I can use it. (I don't want to use a webbrowser control)

Sorry if I wasn't clear

And also (this really isn't important, but its up to you if you want to answer, it's probably hard) How would I go about checking if I am still logged into a website or not (as in TRUE or FALSE)

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you can pass credentials into a HttpWebRequest object.

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You could use a webbrowser control since it is easy, and just set its display to not visible - the user would never see anything. You could still interact with the page just like normal. You could use the same control to log yourself out by clicking on the logout button. You would set everything up and test it with visible=true, and when it all works, set visible to false.