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keldsor's avatar
keldsor
Brass Contributor
Apr 17, 2023
Solved

Excel VBA and starting URL by clicking Shapes ???

I have a WorkSheet with a lot of Shapes. Each Shape can be "Loaded" with ScreenTip and a Link by a form accesable by the user by clicking the Shape. My users can enter ScreenTip and URL and edit th...
excel
  • keldsor's avatar
    keldsor
    Apr 17, 2023
    I think I found the cause for starting in SafeMode - if you start FireFox (or any other browser, I think) while pressing the SHIFT-key the browser is FORCED to start in SafeMode ... that's my problem !

    I have to choose another key to press when I want the users to open the link !
NikolinoDE's avatar
NikolinoDE
Gold Contributor
Apr 17, 2023

keldsor 

As far as I could understand...

It seems like you are having trouble with opening a URL in a browser from an Excel VBA macro when the browser is not already running. One possible solution could be to use the Shell function to open the URL in the default browser.

Here’s an example:

Sub OpenURL(URL As String)
    Dim browserPath As String
    browserPath = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe"
    Shell (browserPath & " " & URL)
End Sub

This code specifies the path to the Internet Explorer browser and uses the Shell function to open the URL. You can modify the browserPath variable to specify the path to a different browser if desired.

You can call this function from your findLinkTilVielsen subroutine like this:

Public Sub findLinkTilVielsen(Sh As Shape)
    If Trim(Sh.Hyperlink.Address) = "" Then
        visFejlMeddelelse "No link is provided !"
    Else
        On Error GoTo notOK
        OpenURL Sh.Hyperlink.Address
        GoTo goAhead
notOK:  On Error GoTo 0
        visFejlMeddelelse "Link is corrupt !"
goAhead:
    End If
End Sub

This should open the URL in the default browser, even if the browser is not already running.

 

 I hope this helps!

keldsor's avatar
keldsor
Brass Contributor
Apr 17, 2023
THX , it seems to work nicely, BUT ...
I want to use THE DEFAULT browser and NOT Edge ... in my case I use Firefox but it should be posible to just reference 'the default browser' - rigth ?
  • NikolinoDE's avatar
    NikolinoDE
    Gold Contributor
    Apr 17, 2023

    keldsor 

    If you want to open the URL in the default browser for each user, you can use the FollowHyperlink method of the Application object instead of using the Shell function.

    Here’s an example:

    Sub OpenURL(URL As String)
    Application.FollowHyperlink URL
End Sub

    This code uses the FollowHyperlink method to open the URL in the default browser for the current user. You can call this function from your findLinkTilVielsen subroutine like this:

    Public Sub findLinkTilVielsen(Sh As Shape)
    If Trim(Sh.Hyperlink.Address) = "" Then
        visFejlMeddelelse "No link is provided !"
    Else
        On Error GoTo notOK
        OpenURL Sh.Hyperlink.Address
        GoTo goAhead
notOK:  On Error GoTo 0
        visFejlMeddelelse "Link is corrupt !"
goAhead:
    End If
End Sub

    This should open the URL in the default browser for the current user, even if the browser is not already running.

     

    I hope this helps! 

     

    NikolinoDE

    I know I don't know anything (Socrates)

    • keldsor's avatar
      keldsor
      Brass Contributor
      Apr 17, 2023

      ???? I don't get you ... I see NO FollowHyperlink in Application !

      But I must admit you CAN type it AND compile it without errors, but it wont run - it reports:

      Run-time error 438
      Object doesn't support this property or method

      It seems like I have to use this - it works like I want to:

      ActiveWorkbook.FollowHyperlink Sh.Hyperlink.Address & "#" & Sh.Hyperlink.SubAddress

       

      UPDATE:

      No, this last code change didn't do it either - I still get this message with SafeMode or RESET when the browser is NOT running !

      • keldsor's avatar
        keldsor
        Brass Contributor
        Apr 17, 2023
        I think I found the cause for starting in SafeMode - if you start FireFox (or any other browser, I think) while pressing the SHIFT-key the browser is FORCED to start in SafeMode ... that's my problem !

        I have to choose another key to press when I want the users to open the link !

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