Powershell: wirte value in a input type=file Form.

Question

I have a input type=text inputboxes on a webpage i load and fill with values and click the submitbutton which works fine:

$ie=New-Object -comobject InternetExplorer.Application 
$ie.visible=$true 
$ie.Navigate("https://myurl/test.html") 
while($ie.busy){Start-Sleep 1} 
$ie.Document.getElementById("field_firstName").value="Firstname" 
$ie.Document.getElementById("field_lastName").value="Lastname" 
$ie.Document.getElementById("btn_upload").Click() 
while($ie.busy){Start-Sleep 1}

I'd also like to populate a input type=file box with c:\temp\test.txt and upload this. I read that because of security reasonse the value= is not supported from the browsers.

Is there any workaround to do this with powershell? Maybe "click" the browse button and select the file or use sendkey's ?

Answer 1

I would strongly consider using WebClientor HttpWebRequest instead of driving the IE GUI. There is a WebClient example using PowerShell.

Answer 2

Check Jaykul's post. He uses Watin for automation. Just download the assembly and try. I was able to set the value and then submit the form like this:

$WatinPath = 'c:\bin\watin\WatiN.Core.dll' #path with downloaded assembly
$watin     = [Reflection.Assembly]::LoadFrom( $WatinPath )

$ie        = new-object WatiN.Core.IE("https://myurl/test.html")
$file1 = $ie.FileUpload('file1') #id of the input
$file1.set('C:\temp\test.txt') # path to the file

# and now just find the button and click on it
$o = $ie.Button('send') #send is id of the submit button
$o.Click()

I understand your reasons to use IE instead of WebClient and similar classes, however use them in other cases if possible.

Edit:

In case you don't have ID of the element, but only the name, you can try

$f = $ie.FileUpload({param($fu) $fu.GetAttributeValue("name") -eq 'the name you have' })

or

$f = $ie.FileUploads | ? { $_.GetAttributeValue("name") -eq 'the name you have' }

Answer 3

Yes, you would have to use the SendKeys route if you want to do this in IE. Direct text-entry into the box is blocked in IE8 and higher.