Open new web page in new tab in WebBrowser control

Question

I'm using WebBrowser control in my c# application, and I want to open web pages in it.
It's completely done.

My problem:

Any link in the web page that its target is _blank will open in new IE Window.

I'd like to open such link in new tab in my application.

How to do it?

Thanks!

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 15 '11 at 16:55

private void Browser_ProgressChanged(object sender, WebBrowserProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
    var webBrowser = (WebBrowser)sender;
    if (webBrowser.Document != null)
    {
        foreach (HtmlElement tag in webBrowser.Document.All)
        {
            if (tag.Id == null)
            {
                tag.Id = String.Empty;
                switch (tag.TagName.ToUpper())
                {
                    case "A":
                    {
                        tag.MouseUp += new HtmlElementEventHandler(link_MouseUp);
                        break;
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}


private void link_MouseUp(object sender, HtmlElementEventArgs e)
{
    var link = (HtmlElement)sender;
    mshtml.HTMLAnchorElementClass a = (mshtml.HTMLAnchorElementClass)link.DomElement;
    switch (e.MouseButtonsPressed)
    {
        case MouseButtons.Left:
        {
            if ((a.target != null && a.target.ToLower() == "_blank") || e.ShiftKeyPressed || e.MouseButtonsPressed == MouseButtons.Middle)
            {
                AddTab(a.href);
            }
            else
            {
                CurrentBrowser.TryNavigate(a.href);
            }
            break;
        }
        case MouseButtons.Right:
        {
            CurrentBrowser.ContextMenuStrip = null;
            var contextTag = new ContextTag();
            contextTag.Element = a;
            contextHtmlLink.Tag = contextTag;
            contextHtmlLink.Show(Cursor.Position);
            break;
        }
    }
}

See more at dotBrowser.sf.net project

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 15 '11 at 13:25

This seems to be a common problem with the browser control. It's not really a fully-functional browser and things like tabbed browsing and pop-ups are a pain with it.

A lot of things I find online simply say "you can't do that with this control." Kind of a cop-out, really. But I have in the past stumbled across this project which extends the control to add additional functionality. It's kind of old, and I haven't actually used it. But it claims to have additional support for targeted links by means of "tabs" or MDI controls. Might be worth a try.

Fun Mun Pieng · Answer 3 · 2011-03-16T02:49:13.800

There is two ways you can work around on this. Both methods begin with capturing the click event and then detecting whether an "a" element is clicked.

Method 1 simply gets the URL, cancel the click, and have the open a new tab. Opening a new tab may be achieved by simply instantiating a new WebBrowser control at the right place.

Method 2 simply removes the _blank from the target so that the page opens on the current browser rather than spawning another browser window.

private void Go(string url)
{
    webBrowser1.Navigate(url);
    webBrowser1.DocumentCompleted += new WebBrowserDocumentCompletedEventHandler(webBrowser1_DocumentCompleted);
}

void webBrowser1_DocumentCompleted(object sender, WebBrowserDocumentCompletedEventArgs e)
{
    webBrowser1.Document.Click += new HtmlElementEventHandler(Document_Click);
}

void Document_Click(object sender, HtmlElementEventArgs e)
{
    HtmlElement ele = webBrowser1.Document.GetElementFromPoint(e.MousePosition);
    while (ele != null)
    {
        if (ele.TagName.ToLower() == "a")
        {
            // METHOD-1
            // Use the url to open a new tab
            string url = ele.GetAttribute("href");
            // TODO: open the new tab
            e.ReturnValue = false;

            // METHOD-2
            // Use this to make it navigate to the new URL on the current browser/tab
            ele.SetAttribute("target", "_self");
        }
        ele = ele.Parent;
    }
}

However, do note that these methods don't prevent browser windows from being opened outside your application via JavaScript.

I wish you were around 2years ago when I asked the same question lol. Thanks for answering! Much appreciated! :) — , Mar 15 '11 at 13:43
@Lucifer, I'm 28 years old. I definitely was around 2 years ago. :D anyway, feel free to drop me questions anytime. :D Thanks for the vote — Fun Mun Pieng, Mar 15 '11 at 13:46
@Mostafa Shaeri, I've edited my answer to handle nested elements. — Fun Mun Pieng, Mar 16 '11 at 02:49

Open new web page in new tab in WebBrowser control

3 Answers3

Linked