Vista - Variable within Object Reference Line

Is there a way to use a variable within an object reference line? The
particular situation is with an "InternetExplorer.Application" object, but I
think this is really just a generic vbscript question that could apply to
other situations.

I would like to pass an argument to be used within an object reference for a
script that manipulates some web form data. The argument would come from the
command line or be passed into a function. For example, I'd like to replace
something like:

Set IE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
Set frmFieldA = IE.Document.Form1.Field1

with the functional equivilant of:

arg1 = Wscript.Arguments(0)
arg2 = Wscript.Arguments(1)
Set IE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
Set frmFieldA = IE.Document.<arg1>.<arg2>

I've tried basic string concatentation with &, but since VBS is expecting a
non-quoted literal object reference, I'm not sure if this is possible. Has
anyone done something similar with whatever object you were using?

Thanks in advance.

Set frmFieldA = IE.Document.Forms(arg1).Elements(arg2)

Tim


"tReg" <tReg@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:BEEE9701-657E-407C-94B5-7642A6814C22@xxxxxx

Or, possibly:

arg1 = Wscript.Arguments(0)
arg2 = Wscript.Arguments(1)
Set IE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
execute "Set frmFieldA = IE.Document." & arg1 & "." & arg2

In either case, you would likely want to also do some error checking.


/Al

"Tim Williams" <timjwilliams at gmail dot com> wrote in message
news:eFkPcK39IHA.2324@xxxxxx

No luck with the above suggestions.

Here's a generic example of the scenario where I'm trying to insert a
variable into an object reference:

---------------------
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

strFileMethod = "OpenTextFile"
Set objFile = objFSO. & strFileMethod & ("Text_File.txt", 1, False)
-------------------------

And a quick IE object example:

--------------------------
Set IE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")

IE.Height = 600
IE.Width = 800
IE.Left = 0
IE.Top = 0
IE.Visible = 1

IE.Navigate "http://www.google.com"
Wscript.Sleep 2000
Do While IE.Busy
Loop

'This echo will work
IE.Document.F.Q.Value = "Foo"
Wscript.Echo IE.Document.F.Q.Value

'This echo will give an error
frmName = "F.Q"
Wscript.Echo IE.Document.(frmName).Value
---------------------------

I'm running into VBScript compilation error: Expected identifier in either
case.

My specific scenarios are obviously more complicated than the above, but the
general principle is the same.

Any ideas on a way to make this work?

"tReg" wrote:
Different objects require different methods. The scheme suggested by Mr.
Dunbar was *SPECIFIC* to the InternetExplorer.Application object.

The FileSystemObject has no similar "selector" capabilities, so of course
you can't use that technique.

Now, Mr. Dunbar's technique *should* have worked, if you followed it
correctly.

To wit:

strFileMethod = "OpenTextFile"
Execute "Set objFile = objFSO." & strFileMethod & "(""Text_File.txt"", 1,
False)"

However...

Execute is a very very SLOW thing to use, and you should avoid it in
"mission critical" situations.

Besides, it really makes no sense to use it in this particular scenario,
because there isn't any other metho on FileSystemObject that has the same
"signature" as OpenTextFile.

I'm *guessing* that you wanted to choose between OpenTextFile and
CreateTextFile, no?

But where the arguments to OpenTextFile are in the form:
object.OpenTextFile(filename[, iomode[, create[, format]]])
For CreateTextFile you need
object.CreateTextFile(filename[, overwrite[, unicode]])

So you really need completely different arguments, not just a different
method name.

Which means this whole exercise is nonsense, really.

Do it the *right* way:

If strFileMethod = "OpenTextFile" Then
Set objFile = FSO.OpenTextFile( filename, 1, False )
Else
Set objFile = FSO.CreateTextFile( filename, False )
End If

It may *look* like more code, but it's actually a *MUCH* shorter path of
execution (by milliseconds, almost surely) and has the advantage that it will
work.

Try to avoid Execute unless you are desparate.

I appreciate all the quick replies to my thread.

My example scenarios were given as a general vbscript language question in
order to determine if a variable can be included within an object reference
line that isn't necessarily expecting concatenated input.

I understand the actual practical application of my FileSystemObject doesn't
serve any specific real world value, but that wasn't necessarily the point.
In other object reference situations it might, and I figured the code would
basically look the same (since the vbscript error messages are the same), so
I provided it as a basic demonstration.

I couldn't get Tim's suggestion to work with named elements within my IE
form example, but IE object scripting isn't my strong suit. If the method he
provided can be made to work within my Google search example replacing the
named object reference to the form, I'd like to see it.

Thanks again.

Can you show the exact code you tried with IE (and maybe also the relevant
HTML source) ?

For google search:

IE.document.forms("f").elements("q")
or
IE.document.getElementById("q")

should both work.

Tim


"tReg" <tReg@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1B90D56E-3D3E-4805-8429-26E99CE55443@xxxxxx

"Old Pedant" <OldPedant@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:40C66953-026F-4582-8E02-459E1909E97C@xxxxxxSlowness one good reason to avoid the technique, the other being
reliability. No, I'm not saying there is anything intrinsically wrong with
the execute statement itself. But the code it attempts to execute could be
buggy, *especially* if input values are plugged in without first verifying
their validity.

/Al