Automation Error Unspecified Error with Internet Explorer Object Excel VBA

Question

I have been working with some code for a while and literally, all of the sudden it broke on me. Here is the error message I'm getting:

Run-time error '-2147467259 (80004005)'
Automation error
Unspecified error

the line of code is specifically when instantiating an InternetExporer object, except I have done nothing to change the code. It just stopped working. What could be the issue?

This has happened before and I corrected it by explicitly calling the library (MSHTML for a HTMLBsaeObject before), except I'm using just an Object when naming the variables

Public Sub ValueLineResearch()

    setUp
    Dim myFund As String

    loginN = Sheets("Logins").Range("B2").Text
    pwStr = Sheets("Logins").Range("B3").Text

    'Get the site
    iEx.Navigate "https://jump.valueline.com/login.aspx"
    iEx.Visible = True

    Call waitForIE

    'Need to login now don't we
    iEx.Document.forms("aspnetForm").Item("ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder_LoginControl_txtUserID").Value = loginN
    iEx.Document.forms("aspnetForm").Item("ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder_LoginControl_txtUserPw").Value = pwStr
    iEx.Document.forms("aspnetForm").Item("ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder_LoginControl_btnLogin").Click

    Call waitForIE
    Application.Wait DateAdd("s", 6, Now)

    iEx.Navigate "https://research.valueline.com/secure/research#sec=library"

    Call waitForIE

    For Each el1 In iEx.Document.getElementsByClassName("symbol-search textInput ui-autocomplete-input mod_search-symbols primary_symbol_search")
        el1.Value = fundToResearch
    Next

    Application.Wait DateAdd("s", 2, Now)

    iEx.Document.forms("quoteSearch").submit

    Call waitForIE
    Application.Wait DateAdd("s", 2, Now)

    iEx.Navigate "https://research.valueline.com/secure/research#list=recent&sec=company&sym=" & fundToResearch

    Call waitForIE

    'store the Doc
    Set ieDoc = iEx.Document

    'For linkItem = 0 To ieDoc.Links.Length - 1
    '    'Get the PDF
    '    If InStr(1, ieDoc.Links(linkItem).href, ".pdf", vbTextCompare) > 0 And InStr(1, ieDoc.Links(linkItem).href, "UserGuide", vbTextCompare) <= 0 Then
    '        ieDoc.Links(linkItem).Click
    '        iEx.Visible = True
    '        Exit For
    '    End If
    'Next linkItem

    Set iEx = Nothing    

End Sub

And the setup sub is this:

set iEx = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
fundToResarch = LCase(InputBox("Please Enter a Fund"))

Could you post your code?

Gareth
– Gareth

2014-09-20 11:55:28 +00:00
Commented Sep 20, 2014 at 11:55 — Gareth
– Gareth, Commented Sep 20, 2014 at 11:55

greatwolf · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-07 02:09:30Z

6

I've had a similar problem getting the 'Automation Error' creating an instance of InternetExplorer within a function that is called multiple times. It works fine to start, but after a number of calls will crash with the automation error. I discovered that I had multiple IE processes in memory, which means that setting objIE = Nothing is insufficient to remove the process from memory. The solution is to call the 'Quit' method before setting objIE to Nothing.

That is:

objIE.Quit

'Put in a brief pause

set objIE = Nothing

edited Jan 7, 2015 at 2:09

greatwolf

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answered Jan 6, 2015 at 21:18

TechBrummie

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1 Comment

jDave1984 Over a year ago

I have since moved all of my web scraping for this sheet into C# but I'm definitely keeping this in mind for the future! I had just assumed setting the object to null was closing it, but didn't realize that it wasn't closing the invisible window.

Tony L. · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-10 19:52:33Z

0

For others who end up here with the same error...

This can also be caused by referencing the Document object property in an InternetExplorer object after quitting and setting it to nothing. Note that this is not what is happening in the question. I was able to replicate the error with code similar to this:

Dim ie As New InternetExplorer
ie.Visible = True
ie.Navigate "google.com"

ie.Quit
Set ie = Nothing

If ie.Document Is Nothing Then 'Error thrown here
    MsgBox "Can't get here"
End If

answered Nov 10, 2016 at 19:52

Tony L.

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