Assuming that you are on a Win32 platform (does IE still run on Macs?), this could be done from perl.

It would not be easy, and it would require either a pretty goood understanding of the Win32 APIs or a lot of research and perseverance.

The best starting point would be to look at Win32::GuiTest. Look into the source as the POD as displayed on cpan does not mention most of the functionality available within this module. The particular part of the source that is interesting is the @EXPORT_OK section that lists all the APIs that can be exported by the module. It begins. 

@EXPORT_OK = qw(
                $debug
                ClientToScreen
                FindWindowLike
                GetChildDepth
                GetChildWindows
                GetClassName
                GetCursorPos
                GetDesktopWindow
                GetComboText
                GetComboContents
                GetListText
                GetListContents
                GetParent
                GetScreenRes
                GetWindow
                GetWindowID
                GetWindowLong
                GetWindowRect
                GetWindowText

[download]

Most of these function are undocumented in the pod from what I can see, but if you use an interactive debugger session you can explore the apis listed in the source and get a (brief) usage for them as shown here. 

perl -de1
C:\test>perl -de1
Default die handler restored.

Loading DB routines from perl5db.pl version 1.07
Editor support available.

Enter h or `h h' for help, or `perldoc perldebug' for more help.

main::(-e:1):   1
  DB<1> use Win32::GuiTest qw[:ALL :SW]

  DB<5> print GetForegroundWindow( 'A totally meaningless parameter' )
Usage: Win32::GuiTest::GetForegroundWindow() at (eval 8)[E:/Perl/lib/p
+erl5db.pl:1521] line 2.

  DB<7> $f = GetForegroundWindow()

  DB<8> print $f
346162044

  DB<10> GetWindowText()
Usage: Win32::GuiTest::GetWindowText(hwnd) at (eval 13)[E:/Perl/lib/pe
+rl5db.pl:1521] line 2.

  DB<12> print GetWindowText( $f )
Command Prompt - perl5.6.1 -de1

[download]

If any of this makes sense to you and you wish to pursue this course, get that far and come back with any specific qustions you have and I'll try to help further.

Good luck.

Examine what is said, not who speaks.
"Efficiency is intelligent laziness." -David Dunham
"When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." -Richard Buckminster Fuller

In reply to Re: Perl application to read the current browser page by BrowserUk
in thread Perl application to read the current browser page by Anonymous Monk

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