Microsoft Access: Edge Browser Control is finally here :) (1 Viewer)

[JoeJimenezMicrosoft]

You can continue to give feedback even after GA, but anything you think is super urgent should be brought to our attention in the next couple weeks.

 

[Mohsin Malik]

To be honest, I'm surprised it ever worked for those on the Current Channel as the code either isn't yet included or hasn't yet been activated

Yes, luckily it functioned without issues for two entire weeks for the Current Channel users. I also attempted to utilize the [Change To] option on Current Channel users from the right-click contextual menu to switch their outdated browser to the new browser control. However, this feature is no longer available from March 28, 2023, and any instance of the new browser control is automatically removed when it is used with Current Channel users. Nevertheless, I can observe the Edge Class in the Object Browser for Current Channel Users.

 

[isladogs]

Your findings suggest that the new control and its supporting code is present in the Current Channel version but has been made inaccessible for now.
That would make sense as it means only one code base is required for the various 365 versions.
When its deemed ready for general release, a switch can be set to toggle the feature on.
That could be done remotely without even a version update.

Note that the above is all surmise rather than based on any insider knowledge.
But I do know that a similar 'feature gate' approach is used to fix some bugs very promptly without a version update being required

BTW there are a number of items in the object browser that cannot be used including some old legacy code.
For example, the hidden ISAMStats code which worked up to A2010. It was deprecated in Access 2013 but is still listed in the DAO library

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[sonic8]

BTW there are a number of items in the object browser that cannot be used including some old legacy code.
For example, the hidden ISAMStats code which worked up to A2010. It was deprecated in Access 2013 but is still listed in the DAO library

Removing or changing publicly exposed stuff from a published and widely used object library is a huge deal. It may break binary compatibility of COM objects as well as breaking client code using these parts of the library. This is hardly ever done. Instead old deprecated stuff is usually marked as hidden but left in the library.

 

[strive4peace]

my understanding is that use of the new web browser control is available publically for forms, with reports coming shortly.

To respond to initial question asked by @mohsin ... in case this was missed ...

re: "tips or tricks to make it work with local files" Referencing local files is something that Colin (@isladogs ) mentioned how to do... add https://msaccess/ before the filepath in the browser control source -- so the result might be

https://msaccess/c:\path\webfile.htm

 

[MsAccessNL]

Hi all!
I've been working intensively with the new Edge browser control over the past few days. I have processed my findings / insights on the security features in two blog posts:

• blog.team-moeller.de/2023/04/Sicherheitsfeatures-im-neuen-edge.html
• blog.team-moeller.de/2023/04/Sicherheitsfeatures-im-neuen-edge_13.html
  (Sorry, I am not allowed to post links here)

The content is in German. However, the content can easily be translated into any language using the widget at the top right.

Kind regards
Thomas

Does the WebviewControl.Object.Document.Write still extist? I use this a lot to write/load an html string from my datatabase directly into the Webviewcontrol?

 

[MsAccessNL]

Does the WebviewControl.Object.Document.Write still extist? I use this a lot to write/load an html string from my datatabase directly into the Webviewcontrol?

 

[GPGeorge]

Hi!
The new Edge Browser Control does not have an "Object" property.
The idea is to use JavaScript instead. Joe Jimenez from Microsoft mentioned this in a demo at DAAUG:

HTH
Thomas

What resources are available, if any, to help Access developers get up to speed with JavScript in VBA.

It's all well and good to tout the new Edge-based web browser control. It appears to be a great step forward.

Unfortunately, without an accompanying increase in public information on actually using it, it is not going to go beyond a niche feature.

 

[Mohsin Malik]

Responding to a few points from above:

@Mohsin Malik

Issues:
1. As stated above, using https://msaccess/ as a prefix allows local HTML files to open but loading time is painfully slow
I've reported this as an issue

2. Having to prefix the paths of any internal image or file links in a local HTML file isn't realistic for me.
I don't have to do this in the IE browser control

3. Local PDFs have now been confirmed as a known issue and this will be addressed before general release.
Its definitely nothing to do with whether you have e.g. Acrobat Reader installed

4. I've asked about loading other local files e.g. text, docx etc. Will let you know if I get any feedback I can use here

Hey Microsoft Access Folks! I'm excited to share some great news: the issue of running relative paths in the Edge Browser control has been resolved! Now, you can run local HTML files, render PDFs from local relative paths, and display JPG, PNG, BMP, and GIF files (sample database included).

Unfortunately, we can't embed Office format files like DOCX, XLSX, or PPTX in the Edge Browser control. If that becomes possible, it would be an incredible feature for automating tasks within Access. However, XML, JSON, and TXT formats are supported.

Feel free to download the attached ZIP file for a quick test, and please share your findings or additional insights with the community! A big shout-out to Joe and all the Microsoft Access team members—thank you! #MicrosoftAccess #EdgeBrowserControl #WebBrowser

 

[strive4peace]

... Unfortunately, we can't embed Office format files like DOCX, XLSX, or PPTX in the Edge Browser control. If that becomes possible, it would be an incredible feature for automating tasks within Access. However, XML, JSON, and TXT formats are supported. ...

that being the case ... wonder if unzipping a Word (/Excel/Ppt) document to get the source files would be at all useful ... maybe @isladogs can test that?

 

[Mohsin Malik]

Hey @JoeJimenezMicrosoft! It would be great if you could optimize the loading time for local files via https://msaccess/. Currently, it takes a few seconds to load any local resources. Please consider adding a property for the control that allow us to set the Type/Protocol instead of using https://msaccess/, and that can also be changed through VBA. #MicrosoftAccess #EdgeBrowserControl #WebBrowser

 

[isladogs]

Hi @Mohsin Malik
I discovered the same changes as you earlier today. Lots of improvements in the past few weeks though a few issues still to be resolved
I've alerted @JoeJimenezMicrosoft to your two posts so hopefully he will respond when he has time.

@strive4peace
Sorry Crystal but I don't understand your comment re unzipping Office docs.

 

[strive4peace]

@strive4peace
Sorry Crystal but I don't understand your comment re unzipping Office docs.

if you change the file extension (DOCX, for instance) to ZIP, you can unzip them ...

 

[isladogs]

if you change the file extension (DOCX, for instance) to ZIP, you can unzip them ...

I'm still no wiser but I tried both renaming as .zip & creating a real .zip file. The Word doc still shows as gobbledygook in the browser control

 

[strive4peace]

I'm still no wiser but I tried both renaming as .zip & creating a real .zip file. The Word doc still shows as gobbledygook in the browser control

creating a real .zip file? It already IS a real zip file ... just doesn't have a ZIP file extension. Depending what you want, you can then open other files that were in the zip -- and I'm assuming this gives us a way to read information from other Office files with JavaScript instead of VBA. Obviously one file alone isn't going to look like a real Word document ... put there are possibilities I guess

 

[strive4peace]

with Word, if you save file in RTF (Rich Text Format), does it show ok in the browser control, Colin? @isladogs

 

[isladogs]

No it doesn't

 

[strive4peace]

thanks for checking, @isladogs

My next question was to ask about older version files like DOC, XLS, and PPT (/PPS old PowerPoint Show file -- just rename extension)

 

[isladogs]

I'm not sure how useful it is to test older formats
The older .doc format is more understandable but it is still not displayed properly.
I've not tested the older Excel/PowerPoint formats but I suspect outcomes would be the same

The reality is the Edge browser control cannot be used to display Office docs within Access
In the past that was possible with the IE browser though recently the files have loaded outside the Access window

 

[strive4peace]

I'm not sure how useful it is to test older formats
The older .doc format is more understandable but it is still not displayed properly.
I've not tested the older Excel/PowerPoint formats but I suspect outcomes would be the same

The reality is the Edge browser control cannot be used to display Office docs within Access
In the past that was possible with the IE browser though recently the files have loaded outside the Access window

Thanks for testing, Colin. I agree, not that useful -- but they weren't zip files and I was wondering