Test Internet Connection from within Access

[Mihail]

Can I test the Internet Connection from within Access ?

I have a hyperlink field that contains URLs to web pages.
I like to test if the computer can access the Internet in order to enable/disable the control "GoToThisPage" in the related form.

Can that be done ? How ?

Thank you !

[Rabbit]

You can ping the address and see if that's successful.

[zmbd]

Ping may not work 100% depending on the host file list, proxy, or other I.T. interferences.

For example... if I try to ping the IP for MSN at work... the ping will fail because the company DSN server traps all direct IP access; however, if I use the URL I Can connect without issue (well... unless the Internet is down)

What I have done is use automation to create an IE object, navigate to a known webpage and wait for the ready state to show valid. Requires the references for IE which adds some overhead but not much.

I've also ran across the "wininet.dll" and some code to use it; however, I've not had the time to really determine the usage so I'm not sure if it has the same issues as I've ran into with my I.T. - but it looks promising as there appears to be proxy detection.

[Mihail]

Thank you both for answers !
I'll try the suggestions and I'll inform you about the results.

[ADezii]

The API can easily tell you as to whether or not you are connected to the Internet:

Public Declare Function InternetGetConnectedState Lib "wininet.dll" _
(ByRef dwflags As Long, ByVal dwReserved As Long) As Long

Public Function GetInternetConnectedState() As Boolean
  GetInternetConnectedState = InternetGetConnectedState(0&, 0&)
End Function

Dim strConnected As String
 
strConnected = IIf(GetInternetConnectedState(), "Connected", "NOT CONNECTED")
 
MsgBox strConnected, vbInformation, "Internet Connected Status"

[zmbd]

ADezii
THANK YOU!
That makes me feel better about that API call... the code you posted is very similar to what I had found; however, I didn't understand it completely and I don't like to suggest something I don't understand.

[ADezii]

@zmbd:
Glad that everything was cleared up for you - my pleasure.

[NeoPa]

If you have Windows API needs then there's a good chance that ADezii will be your man. He's done a lot of work in that area and has experience with all sorts of requirements :-)

[Mihail]

May I use this even if I don't understand very well ?
Thank you ADezii ! Good job !

[ADezii]

You are quite welcome, Mihail. You most certainly can use this functionality even if you do not fully understand the Code. The Code can actually be simplified by DELETING the Function altogether, eliminating the IIf() Construct, and making the API Call directly as in:

If InternetGetConnectedState(0&, 0&) Then
  MsgBox "Connected"
Else
  MsgBox "NOT Connected"
End If

P.S. - You would still need the API Declaration, namely:

Public Declare Function InternetGetConnectedState Lib "wininet.dll" _ 
(ByRef dwflags As Long, ByVal dwReserved As Long) As Long