external object

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

Members

The external object has these types of members:

Events

The external object has these events.

Event Description
mssitepinned Fires when a site is pinned to the Start screen.

Methods

The external object has these methods.

Method Description

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)

Obsolete. Adds a Web site or image to the Active Desktop.

AddFavorite

Deprecated. Prompts the user with a dialog box to add the specified URL to the Favorites list.

AddSearchProvider

Warning This method has been deprecated since Internet Explorer8 and removed from Windows 10.

Deprecated. Adds a search provider to the registry.

AddService

Deprecated. User initiated action to add a service.

AddToFavoritesBar

Deprecated. Adds a URL to the Favorites Bar.

AutoCompleteSaveForm

Saves the specified form in the AutoComplete data store.

AutoScan

Obsolete as of Internet Explorer7. Attempts to connect to a Web server by passing the specified query through completion templates.

BrandImageUri

Not supported. Retrieves the URI of an alternate product image.

bubbleEvent

Propagates an event up its containment hierarchy.

BuildNewTabPage

Not supported. Check user's settings to show tab list and/or activities list.

ContentDiscoveryReset

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.

getHostEnvironmentValue

Provides information on the specified characteristic(s) of the user's system.

ImportExportFavorites

Deprecated. Handles the import and export of Internet Explorer favorites.

InPrivateFilteringEnabled

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

Warning
This method has been deprecated since Internet Explorer8 and removed from Windows 10.

Deprecated. Determines if a search provider has been installed for the current user and whether it is set as default.

IsServiceInstalled

Deprecated. Check if a service is already installed.

IsSubscribed

Obsolete. Retrieves a value indicating whether the client subscribes to the given channel.

msActiveXFilteringEnabled

Determines whether ActiveX Filtering is enabled by the user.

msAddSiteMode

Creates a pinned site shortcut to the current webpage on the Windows Start menu.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.
This method is not supported for Windows apps using JavaScript.

msAddTrackingProtectionList

Adds an external Tracking Protection list.

msClearTile

Removes notifications from a tile.

msEnableTileNotificationQueue

Controls notification cycling for a tile.

msEnableTileNotificationQueueForSquare150x150

Controls notification cycling for medium (150x150) tiles.

msEnableTileNotificationQueueForSquare310x310

Controls notification cycling for large (310x310) tiles.

msEnableTileNotificationQueueForWide310x150

Controls notification cycling for wide (310x150) tiles.

msIsSiteMode

Determines whether the current page was launched as a pinned site.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.

msIsSiteModeFirstRun

Determines whether a pinned site was launched for the first time.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.

msPinnedSiteState

Indicates if the site is pinned, not pinned, or pinned with live tiles turned off.
This method will be supported in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 in a future update.

msProvisionNetworks

Attempts to configure a connection profile using credentials specified in an XML document.

msRemoveScheduledTileNotification

Removes a previously-scheduled notification.
This method will only be supported in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 in a future update.

msReportSafeUrl

Reports the current URL as a safe URL.

msScheduledTileNotification

Defines one or more non-recurring, scheduled updates.
This method is only supported in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

msSiteModeActivate

Flashes the pinned site taskbar button.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.
This method is not supported for Windows apps using JavaScript.

msSiteModeAddButtonStyle

Defines an alternate icon image and tooltip for the specified button.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.
This method is not supported for Windows apps using JavaScript.

msSiteModeAddJumpListItem

Adds a new entry to the Jump List of a taskbar button.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.

msSiteModeAddThumbBarButton

Adds a button to the Thumbnail Toolbar.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.
This method is not supported for Windows apps using JavaScript.

msSiteModeClearBadge

Clears the notifications on a pinned site badge in Windows8.

msSiteModeClearIconOverlay

Removes the icon overlay from the taskbar button.
This method is only in IE11 on Windows 10.
This method is not supported for Windows apps using JavaScript.

msSiteModeClearJumpList

Deletes the Jump List.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.

msSiteModeCreateJumpList

Creates a new group of items on the Jump List.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.

msSiteModeRefreshBadge

Causes Windows8 to refresh the site tile badge for a webpage to be sure that it is up to date.

msSiteModeSetIconOverlay

Adds an icon overlay to the pinned site taskbar button.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.
This method is not supported for Windows apps using JavaScript.

msSiteModeShowButtonStyle

Changes the icon image and tooltip of a Thumbnail Toolbar button.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.
This method is not supported for Windows apps using JavaScript.

msSiteModeShowJumpList

Shows updates to the list of items in a Jump List.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.

msSiteModeShowThumbBar

Enables the Thumbnail Toolbar in the thumbnail preview of a pinned site.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.
This method is not supported for Windows apps using JavaScript.

msSiteModeUpdateThumbBarButton

Changes the state of a Thumbnail Toolbar button.
This method is only supported in IE11 on Windows 10.
This method is not supported for Windows apps using JavaScript.

msStartPeriodicBadgeUpdate

Starts a badge update for a tile.
This method is only supported in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

msStartPeriodicTileUpdate

Starts a periodic update for a tile.
This method is only supported in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

msStartPeriodicTileUpdateBatch

Starts a set of periodic updates for a tile.
This method is only supported in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

msStopPeriodicBadgeUpdate

Cancels the currently schedule batch of timed badge updates for a tile.
This method is only supported in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

msStopPeriodicTileUpdate

Cancels the currently schedule batch of timed tiles updates.
This method is only supported in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

msTrackingProtectionEnabled)

Determines whether any Tracking Protection lists are enabled by the user.

NavigateAndFind

Navigates to the specified URL and selects the specified text.
Navigates to the specified URL and selects the specified text.

PhishingEnabled

Not supported. Determines whether 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.

SetActivitiesVisible

Not supported. A setting that notifies the IShellUIHelper3::BuildNewTabPage method whether to show or hide the activities list.

setContextMenu

Constructs a context menu, as specified.

SetRecentlyClosedVisible

Not supported. A setting that notifies the IShellUIHelper3::BuildNewTabPage method whether to show or hide the list of recently closed tabs.

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 Explorer7.

SqmEnabled

Not supported. Determines whether SQM is enabled.

Properties

The external object has these properties.

Property Description
menuArguments
Returns the window object in which the context menu item opened.
This property is not supported for Windows apps using JavaScript.
msIsMetaReferrerAvailable
Indicates if <meta name="referrer"> support is available.
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.

Standards information

There are no standards that apply here.

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).

This object is not supported in HTML Applications.