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 external Object

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external Object

Allows access to an additional object model provided by host applications of the Windows Internet Explorer browser components.

Members Table

The following table lists the members exposed by the external object.

Attributes/Properties
Show:
Attributes/Properties
Methods
PropertyDescription
frozen Retrieves whether content is able to handle events.
menuArguments Returns the window object in which the context menu item opened.
onvisibilitychange Sets or retrieves a value on visibility change.
scrollbar Sets or retrieves whether to show the scrollbar.
selectableContent Sets or retrieves whether selectable content is valid.
version Retrieves a string representing the version in the format "N.nnnn platform", where N is an integer representing the major version number, nnnn is a number of characters representing the minor version number, and platform is the platform (win32, mac, alpha, and so on).
visibility Retrieves whether content is visible.
MethodDescription
AddChannel Obsolete. Presents a dialog box that enables the user to add the specified channel, or to change the channel URL, if it is already installed.
AddDesktopComponent Adds a Web site or image to the Microsoft Active Desktop.
AddFavorite Prompts the user with a dialog box to add the specified URL to the Favorites list.
AddSearchProvider Adds a search provider to the registry.
AddService New for Internet Explorer 8  User initiated action to add a service.
AddToFavoritesBar New for Internet Explorer 8  Adds a URL to the Favorites Bar.
AutoCompleteSaveForm Saves the specified form in the AutoComplete data store.
AutoScan No longer available as of Internet Explorer 7. Attempts to connect to a Web server by passing the specified query through completion templates.
BrandImageUri Not supported. Retrieves the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of an alternate product image.
bubbleEvent Propagates an event up its containment hierarchy.
ContentDiscoveryReset New for Internet Explorer 8  Resets the list of feeds, search providers, and Web Slices associated with the page.
CustomizeClearType Not supported. Sets a registry value to turn ClearType on or off.
CustomizeSettings Not supported. Saves the user settings from a "first run" page.
DefaultSearchProvider Not supported. Retrieves the name of the user's default search provider.
DiagnoseConnection Not supported. Attempts to diagnose problems with the network connection.
ImportExportFavorites Deprecated. Handles the import and export of Internet Explorer favorites.
InPrivateFilteringEnabled New for Internet Explorer 8  Detects whether the user has enabled InPrivate Filtering.
IsSearchMigrated Not supported. Determines whether autosearch settings were migrated from a previous version of Internet Explorer.
IsSearchProviderInstalled Determines if a search provider has been installed for the current user and whether it is set as default.
IsServiceInstalled New for Internet Explorer 8  Check if a service is already installed.
IsSubscribed Obsolete. Retrieves a value indicating whether the client subscribes to the given channel.
NavigateAndFind Navigates to the specified URL and selects the specified text.
PhishingEnabled Not supported. Determines whether Microsoft Phishing Filter is enabled.
raiseEvent Triggers an event, as specified.
RunOnceHasShown Not supported. Determines whether the "first run" page has been shown.
RunOnceRequiredSettingsComplete Not supported. Sets a registry value to indicate whether the "first run" page completed successfully.
RunOnceShown Not supported. Sets a registry value to indicate that the "first run" page has been shown.
SearchGuideUrl Not supported. Retrieves the URL of a page that can be used to install additional search providers.
setContextMenu Constructs a context menu, as specified.
ShowBrowserUI Opens the specified browser dialog box.
SkipRunOnce Not supported. Enables the user to select "first run" settings at a later time.
SkipTabsWelcome Not supported. Disables the welcome screen that appears when opening a new tab in Internet Explorer 7.
SqmEnabled Not supported. Determines whether Software Quality Monitoring (SQM) is enabled.

Remarks

In a hosting scenario, the object model is defined by the application hosting the Internet Explorer components (refer to the hosting application for documentation). For more information about how to implement extensions to the Dynamic HTML (DHTML) object model, see About the Browser.

This object is not supported in HTML Applications.

Standards Information

There is no public standard that applies to this object.

Applies To

window, Window Constructor
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window.external and vb 2005      im_still_learning ... yecril   |   Edit   |   Show History
In order to not get a "window.external is null or not an object" error you have to set security permissions to full trust, among other things, but this was what stopped me.

Imports System.Security.Permissions
<PermissionSet(SecurityAction.Demand, Name:="FullTrust")> _
<System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
Public Class Form1

.

.

.

I write because this has been the bane of my life for about a week.
You get the same effect by viewing the offending page within Microsoft Office Outlook.

How to use window.external in a html dialog?      Leonxx   |   Edit   |   Show History

My sample is as below:

main.htm

<script>window.showModelessDialog("dialog.htm");</script>

dialog.htm

<SCRIPT>
function fnSaveForm(){
if (window.external != undefined && window.external != null)
{
alert(window.external);
this.AutoCompleteSaveForm(oForm);
}
}
</SCRIPT>
<html>
<body>
<FORM NAME="oForm">
This text is saved:
<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="AutoCompleteTest">
</FORM>
<INPUT TYPE=button VALUE="Save Value" onclick="fnSaveForm()">
</body>
</html>

Open main.htm, then click "save value" in the dialog in IE 7/8, the error message (not exactly) is: property or method is not supported by the object at line

this.AutoCompleteSaveForm(oForm);

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