Parse internet explorer tree structure via vba.

Hi,

Please copy this link into your internet explorer address bar:

http://www.google.com/trends/explore#cmpt=q

At the lower left there is something like a tree structure called "All Categories". By clicking on any node in this tree you will recognize the changed url the browsers address bar. I want to create a list via vba that looks like this:

All Categories | http://www.google.com/trends/explore#cmpt=q
Arts & Entertainment | http://www.google.com/trends/explore#cat=0-3&cmpt=q
Celebrities & Entertainment New | http://www.google.com/trends/explore#cat=0-3-184&cmpt=q
Comics & Animation | http://www.google.com/trends/explore#cat=0-3-316&cmpt=q
...

How do I parse / read this object???

Thank you very much!
Lloyd

Any ideas?

Are you after them all or only elements of a certain "depth"? IE do you want everything form that list and all sublists or just 1 level of sublist?

Hi Kyle,

I have to apologize for the delayed feedback. For some reason I am not able to login on excelforum via internet explorer anymore. I now use chrome. Your code throws this error Run-time-error '-2147012894 (80072ee2)': Automation error in line

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Lloyd

Odd, but try replacing:

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With:

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Hi Kyle,

thank you very much!

I don't want to overstay your time, but as I am a total newbie to embedded java, I want to please for a short explanation that this code is doing in detail.

I like to do some modifications in the result list:

The current solution lists the child nodes before parent nodes, I like to have the opposite order in the result list.

Thank you very much!

Lloyd

No problem Lloyd, the code is JavaScript rather than java. The bulk of the work is done by the getall function, it's recursive so may well takes some getting your head round, the problem with having the headings first is that a lot of the child categories are in more than one parent, so where would they sit - in the list I gave you, they're only listed once, would you want them listed in each parent category?

for reference, the javascript code un minified is:

PHP Code: 

var getall = function(categories,out) {
    var out = out || {};
    var category = undefined;
    var ref;
    for (var key in categories) {
        if (key == 'name') {
            category = categories[key];
            continue;
        }
        if (key == 'id') {
            ref = categories[key];
            continue;
        }
        var mytype = typeof(categories[key]);
        if (mytype == 'object'
        || mytype == 'array') {
            out=getall(categories[key],out);
        };
    }
    if (category !== undefined) {
        if (out[category] === undefined) {
            out[category] = [];
        }

       out[category].push(ref);
    }
    return (out);
} 


Kyle, you are right. I wasn't aware of the redundant elements.
I am happy with this solution.
Thank you very very much!

Lloyd

Glad it helped. as a word of warning for the future, google ain't easy to get data from through automation. It's down to how they build their web applications, a lot of the content is built through javascript so you need to know where to look to find what you're after. 99/100 times you'd be better off looking for an alternative source of data if you need to parse it automatically from a web page