Interacting with the web using WebRobot v1.0

We will now make things a bit more complicated for ourselves, by uploading files to YouSendIt. This site allows you to share files by uploading them to a central server, and then warning the recipient of the share that they have a file ready to download.

This page uses JavaScript extensively to modify the content that is presented to the user, and also the fields and actions contained inside the forms, so it will not be as straightforward to use. We will parse the page, and upload a file to a multipart form on this site.

First, we will create a Windows Forms Project. Then, we will d ouble-click on the main form. You should see an empty Load handler:

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As _
	System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

End Sub

Next, we will add a reference to the WebRobot component:

Write the following code on the Load handler:

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
    Dim wrobot As New foxtrot.xray.WebRobot
    wrobot.Base = "http://www.yousendit.com/"
    wrobot.LoadPage("/")
    'getting file upload form from page
    Dim wform As foxtrot.xray.Form = wrobot.GetFormByName("tform") 
    'displaying the amount of fields on the form
    MessageBox.Show("The form contains " & wform.FieldCount & " fields") 
End Sub

Our upload form arrives with zero fields, since the YouSendIt page populates the form dynamically, using JavaScript. For this particular case, we must add the form input fields by hand.