System.Windows.Forms.WebBrowser open links in same window or new window with same session

Question

When using the .NET WebBrowser control how do you open a link in a new window using the the same session (ie.. do not start a new ASP.NET session on the server), or how do you capture the new window event to open the URL in the same WebBrowser control?

Answer 1

I just spent an hour looking for the answer, so I though I would post the results here. You can use the SHDocVwCtl.WebBrowser_V1 object to capture the NewWindow event.

NOTE: Code from http://www.experts-exchange.com/Programming/Languages/Visual_Basic/Q_21484555.html#discussion

//-------------------------------VB.NET Version:-------------------------------

Dim WithEvents Web_V1 As SHDocVwCtl.WebBrowser_V1

Private Sub Form_Load()
    Set Web_V1 = WebBrowser1.Object
End Sub

Private Sub Web_V1_NewWindow(ByVal URL As String, ByVal Flags As Long, ByVal TargetFrameName As String, PostData As Variant, ByVal Headers As String, Processed As Boolean)
    Processed = True
    WebBrowser1.Navigate URL
End Sub


//-------------------------------C# Version-------------------------------

private SHDocVw.WebBrowser_V1 Web_V1; //Interface to expose ActiveX methods

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    //Setup Web_V1 interface and register event handler
    Web_V1 = (SHDocVw.WebBrowser_V1)this.webBrowser1.ActiveXInstance;
    Web_V1.NewWindow += new SHDocVw.DWebBrowserEvents_NewWindowEventHandler(Web_V1_NewWindow);
}

private void Web_V1_NewWindow(string URL, int Flags, string TargetFrameName, ref object PostData,string Headers, ref bool Processed)
{
    Processed = true; //Stop event from being processed

    //Code to open in same window
    this.webBrowser1.Navigate(URL);

    //Code to open in new window instead of same window
    //Form1 Popup = new Form1();
    //Popup.webBrowser1.Navigate(URL);
    //Popup.Show();
}

Answer 2

Slightly cleaned up version of Greg's answer. It modifies the passed-in control's behavior rather than relying on a global variable. Usage:

InlinePopups(webBrowser1);

Code:

// interface to expose ActiveX methods
private SHDocVw.WebBrowser_V1 Web_V1;
private void InlinePopups(WebBrowser browser)
{
    // hooks to force new windows to open in the current instance
    Web_V1 = (SHDocVw.WebBrowser_V1)browser.ActiveXInstance;
    Web_V1.NewWindow += new SHDocVw.DWebBrowserEvents_NewWindowEventHandler((string URL, int Flags, string TargetFrameName, ref object PostData, string Headers, ref bool Processed) =>
    {
        Processed = true; // stop event from being processed

        // open in the existing window
        browser.Navigate(URL);
    });
}

Still needs the reference to %WINDIR%\system32\shdocvw.dll, of course.