insert commands from external file

Question

5.00/5 (1 vote)

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Hello everyone,

i have an app with one list and one webbrowser and one external file on the web

lets say this:
my app "C:\App.exe"
my file "Http:\\something.com\file.txt"

the content of the file:

[Title]
Google
Facebook
[URL]
http://www.google.com
http://facebook.com

now how can i make the app read the text file
then include the "Title" objects in the list
then make "OnClick" event for every one as this one

VB

WebBrowser1.Navigate("http://xxxx.xxx")

and this have to be like this:
on the list the first object will be "Google"
and "OnClick" event will be "

VB

WebBrowser1.Navigate("http://www.google.com")

so, is this possible or not
if it possible please help me to do it :(

Posted 5-Feb-12 7:37am

ahmad.afef

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LanFanNinja 5-Feb-12 14:34pm

Check solution below.
If you need any explanation of what the code does just ask.

1 solution

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LanFanNinja · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-05T08:24:00

Solution 1

Sure it is possible!

Personally I would want to store the sites title and url on the same line though.
EXAMPLE:
Google|http://www.google.com/
Facebook|http://www.facebook.com/

Then it would be even easier to parse the file.

For an example I will parse this file into a dictionary with the title being the key and the url being the value.

EDIT: The code was in C# then I realized you wanted VB so I convert the code using the converter at http://converter.telerik.com/[^]

/// C# Code ///

C#

using (WebClient client = new WebClient())
{
    client.DownloadFile("http://something.com/test.txt", "test.txt");
}

string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines(@"test.txt");
Dictionary<string, string> fileData = new Dictionary<string, string>();

for (int i = 0; i < lines.Length; i++)
{
    string[] split = lines[i].Split(new char[] { '|' },
        StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);

    fileData.Add(split[0], split[1]);
}

/// VB.Net Code ///

VB

Using client As New WebClient()
    client.DownloadFile("http://something.com/test.txt", "test.txt")
End Using

Dim lines As String() = File.ReadAllLines("test.txt")
Dim fileData As New Dictionary(Of String, String)()

For i As Integer = 0 To lines.Length - 1
    Dim split As String() = lines(i).Split(New Char() {"|"C}, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)

    fileData.Add(split(0), split(1))
Next

Then just to show it works.
/// C# Code ///

C#

string title = fileData.Keys.ElementAt(0);
string url = fileData[title];

MessageBox.Show(title + " - " + url);

/// VB.Net Code ///

VB

Dim title As String = fileData.Keys.ElementAt(0)
Dim url As String = fileData(title)

MessageBox.Show(title + " - " + url)

the message box would show " Google - http://www.google.com/ "

You could add all these keys to a listBox for example:
/// C# Code ///

C#

for (int i = 0; i < fileData.Count; i++)
{
    sitesListBox.Items.Add(fileData.Keys.ElementAt(i));
}

/// VB.Net Code ///

VB

For i As Integer = 0 To fileData.Count - 1
    sitesListBox.Items.Add(fileData.Keys.ElementAt(i))
Next

then use the SelectedIndexChanged event of the list box to navigate the web browser to the url
/// C# Code ///

C#

private void sitesListBox_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    webBrowser.Navigate(fileData[(string)sitesListBox.SelectedItem]);
}

/// VB.Net Code ///

VB

Private Sub sitesListBox_SelectedIndexChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles sitesListBox.SelectedIndexChanged
    webBrowser.Navigate(fileData(DirectCast(sitesListBox.SelectedItem, String)))
End Sub

NOTE:
There are many ways to do this but this is a quick way that will work just fine.

Posted 5-Feb-12 8:24am

LanFanNinja

Updated 5-Feb-12 12:00pm

v13

Comments

ahmad.afef 5-Feb-12 15:00pm

ok this will only list the text in the list
i'm asking about listing the name only
and create an action for the name
this action will open the link of the name in the browser in the form
so the import will make the name clickable and make this action for
each name in the list
WebBrowser1.Navigate("http://www.google.com")
the url will be hidden for the user and only the name will be viable

thank you and i hope u have the answer :)

LanFanNinja 5-Feb-12 15:06pm

This code will only list the Name i.e. " Google " in the list and then when the name is clicked on the url will be retrieved from the dictionary and passed to the webBrowser.Navigate() method. The user will never see the URL.

So if I am understanding you correctly this is exactly the functionality you are looking for.

LanFanNinja 5-Feb-12 15:07pm

Also if the convert at developerFusion happens to be down there is another converter here for you to use.
telerik code converter

LanFanNinja 5-Feb-12 15:25pm

Recheck the solution if you need the code in VB I decided to convert it for you anyway.

LanFanNinja 5-Feb-12 15:30pm

Again if you need any help with the code just ask as I realize my code is not just a copy and past solution it will need to be modified a little for your needs.

ahmad.afef 5-Feb-12 15:52pm

thank you very much
and i'll do my best to make it work with me
and if i need any help i'll ask you
thx again bro :)

LanFanNinja 5-Feb-12 15:54pm

You're very welcome.

ahmad.afef 5-Feb-12 16:56pm

bro there is a problem with the code :(
it don't list the text file items in the list box
here is my code:

Imports System.Net
Imports System.IO

Public Class Form1

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Using client As New WebClient()
client.DownloadFile("http://mencfw.freehosting.com/", "file.txt")
End Using

Dim lines As String() = File.ReadAllLines("file.txt")
Dim fileData As New Dictionary(Of String, String)()

For i As Integer = 0 To lines.Length - 1
Dim split As String() = lines(i).Split(New Char() {"|"c}, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)

fileData.Add(split(0), split(1))
Next
For i As Integer = 0 To fileData.Count - 1
ListBox1.Items.Add(fileData.Keys.ElementAt(i))
Next

End Sub

End Class

LanFanNinja 5-Feb-12 17:08pm

Hey you need to change the URL in this line
client.DownloadFile("http://mencfw.freehosting.com/", "file.txt")

from
"http://mencfw.freehosting.com/"

to this
"http://mencfw.freehosting.com/file.txt"

let me know if it works now.

EDIT:
I updated my solution to reflect this change as well.

Also when we are done here you may want to remove your URL from the above comment if you don't want your site visited by lots of people just yet.

ahmad.afef 5-Feb-12 17:52pm

so it worked like charm
now i can see the items in the list as wanted
but when i click the item the browser don't do any thing :S
and i solved it by using this code:
Private Sub ListBox1_SelectedIndexChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles ListBox1.SelectedIndexChanged
WebBrowser1.Navigate(fileData(DirectCast(ListBox1.SelectedItem, String)))
End Sub

instead of this one

Private Sub sitesListBox_SelectedIndexChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
webBrowser.Navigate(fileData(DirectCast(sitesListBox.SelectedItem, String)))
End Sub

i'm really thankful for you bro :D :D :D
thx alot

LanFanNinja 5-Feb-12 17:55pm

You're welcome. Glad it works for you. :)

LanFanNinja 5-Feb-12 17:58pm

Also Thanks for pointing that out I will update my solution to reflect this change.

ahmad.afef 6-Feb-12 10:43am

i'm sorry, i feel like intruder but there is no one was able to help me except you.
the line:
Dim fileData As New Dictionary(Of String, String)()

how i can access it from another SUB

like this code will be in form load sub
how can i use it in another sub like this one:
Private Sub sitesListBox_SelectedIndexChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles sitesListBox.SelectedIndexChanged
webBrowser.Navigate(fileData(DirectCast(sitesListBox.SelectedItem, String)))
End Sub

again i'm sorry for asking too much :(

LanFanNinja 6-Feb-12 10:55am

You will need to create fileData at class level. Here is an example of how you would do this.

Public Partial Class Form1
Inherits Form

' fileData is declared here at class level and can be accessed from
' within any method in this class.
Private fileData As New Dictionary(Of String, String)()

Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
' using fileData in Form1_Load event handler
fileData.Add("Google", "http://www.google.com/")
End Sub

Private Sub SomeOtherMethod()
' using fileData in some random method
fileData.Add("Facebook", "http://www.facebook.com/")
End Sub

Private Sub sitesListBox_SelectedIndexChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles sitesListBox.SelectedIndexChanged
' using fileData inside sitesListBox_SelectedIndexChanged
' event handler
webBrowser.Navigate(fileData(DirectCast(sitesListBox.SelectedItem, String)))
End Sub
End Class

Is this what you wanted to know?

ahmad.afef 6-Feb-12 11:13am

man, your like programming god :D

thx a lot bro <3

LanFanNinja 6-Feb-12 11:37am

LOL!! Thank you and you're welcome.