How to set-up Selenium drive for VBA Web Automation

1. Install Selenium Basic

Selenium Basic is a wrapper that allows you to use Selenium with VBA.

1. Download Selenium Basic:
   • Go to the Selenium Basic GitHub page: https://github.com/florentbr/SeleniumBasic/releases.
   • Download the latest release (SeleniumBasic-x.x.x.x.exe).
2. Install Selenium Basic:
   • Run the downloaded .exe file.
   • Follow the installation instructions.
   • By default, Selenium Basic will be installed in:
     C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\SeleniumBasic.

2. Download ChromeDriver

You need a driver compatible with your Chrome browser version.

1. Determine Your Chrome Version:
   • Open Chrome and go to chrome://settings/help.
   • Note the version number (e.g., 116.0.5845.96).
2. Download the Compatible ChromeDriver:
   • Go to the official ChromeDriver download page: https://googlechromelabs.github.io/chrome-for-testing/#stable.
   • Navigate to the "Stable Channel" section.
   • Select the appropriate driver for your operating system (e.g., Windows 64-bit).
3. Place the ChromeDriver:
   • Extract the downloaded ZIP file.
   • Copy the chromedriver.exe file.
   • Place it in the Selenium Basic installation folder:
     C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\SeleniumBasic.

3. Add Selenium Basic to VBA References

1. Open Excel or any Office application that supports VBA (e.g., Word or Access).
2. Open the VBA editor (Alt + F11).
3. Go to Tools > References.
4. Look for Selenium Type Library in the list.
5. Check the box and click OK.

4. Verify the Installation

To confirm everything is set up correctly:

1. Open the VBA editor and create a new module.
2. Paste the following test code:

   Sub TestSelenium()
       Dim driver As New WebDriver
       driver.Start "chrome"
       driver.Get "https://www.google.com"
       MsgBox "Google has been opened!"
       driver.Quit
   End Sub
   

3. Run the macro (F5).
4. If Chrome opens Google, the setup is successful.

Code Breakdown:

Sub TestSelenium()

• Purpose: This line starts the subroutine named TestSelenium.
• A subroutine in VBA is a block of code that performs a specific task.

Dim driver As New WebDriver

• Purpose: Declares a variable driver as a new instance of the Selenium WebDriver class.
• WebDriver is the main interface in Selenium Basic used to control and interact with web browsers.

driver.Start "chrome"

• Purpose: Starts a new browser session in Google Chrome.
• "chrome" specifies the browser to use. Selenium Basic supports multiple browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
• Behind the Scenes:
  • Selenium Basic interacts with the ChromeDriver.exe file installed earlier.
  • It launches Chrome using the chromedriver.exe.

driver.Get "https://www.google.com"

• Purpose: Navigates the browser to the specified URL, in this case, Google's homepage (https://www.google.com).
• The Get method loads the webpage by sending an HTTP GET request to the URL.

MsgBox "Google has been opened!"

• Purpose: Displays a message box to the user with the text "Google has been opened!".
• This is used to confirm that the script has successfully opened the Google website.

driver.Quit

• Purpose: Closes the browser and terminates the WebDriver session.
• Why Important?: Ensures that the browser process does not remain running in the background, which can consume system resources.

End Sub

• Purpose: Marks the end of the TestSelenium subroutine.

Execution Flow:

1. Initialize: Create a new instance of the WebDriver.
2. Launch Chrome: Open a new Chrome browser session.
3. Navigate: Load the Google homepage.
4. Notify User: Display a confirmation message to the user.
5. Cleanup: Close the browser and end the WebDriver session.

Expected Output:

1. Chrome browser opens automatically.
2. It navigates to Google’s homepage.
3. A message box appears with the text: "Google has been opened!".
4. When you close the message box, the Chrome browser session also closes.