Article ID: 262110 - Last Review: March 29, 2007 - Revision: 3.1

How To Clear Cache When Your Application Hosts a WebBrowser Control

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SUMMARY

When your application hosts a WebBrowser control, there may be a need to clear the cache programmatically. This feature is not available through the interfaces of the WebBrowser control. This article explains how to use WinInet API functions to clear the cache directly.
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MORE INFORMATION

Use WinInet API FindFirstURLCacheEntry to find the first cache entry and use FindNextUrlCacheEntry to enumerate through the cache. Use DeleteUrlCacheEntry to delete each entry.

Note that FindFirstUrlCacheGroup, FindNextUrlCacheGroup, and DeleteUrlCacheGroup are used in the following example. These API functions have only became available with Internet Explorer 5, so proper checking as shown is needed to prevent errors.

The following steps show you how to use the WinInet API in Visual Basic to clear all the files in the cache.

  1. Create a new Visual Basic standard EXE project.
  2. Create a command button under form1.
  3. Paste the following code in the module of form1:
    Option Explicit

Private Declare Function FindFirstUrlCacheGroup Lib "wininet.dll" ( _
    ByVal dwFlags As Long, _
    ByVal dwFilter As Long, _
    ByRef lpSearchCondition As Long, _
    ByVal dwSearchCondition As Long, _
    ByRef lpGroupId As Date, _
    ByRef lpReserved As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function FindNextUrlCacheGroup Lib "wininet.dll" ( _
    ByVal hFind As Long, _
    ByRef lpGroupId As Date, _
    ByRef lpReserved As Long) As Long
    
Private Declare Function DeleteUrlCacheGroup Lib "wininet.dll" ( _
    ByVal sGroupID As Date, _
    ByVal dwFlags As Long, _
    ByRef lpReserved As Long) As Long
    
Private Declare Function FindFirstUrlCacheEntry Lib "wininet.dll" Alias "FindFirstUrlCacheEntryA" ( _
    ByVal lpszUrlSearchPattern As String, _
    ByRef lpFirstCacheEntryInfo As INTERNET_CACHE_ENTRY_INFO, _
    ByRef lpdwFirstCacheEntryInfoBufferSize As Long) As Long
    
Private Type INTERNET_CACHE_ENTRY_INFO
    dwStructSize As Long
    szRestOfData(1024) As Long
End Type

Private Declare Function DeleteUrlCacheEntry Lib "wininet.dll" Alias "DeleteUrlCacheEntryA" ( _
    ByVal lpszUrlName As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function FindNextUrlCacheEntry Lib "wininet.dll" Alias "FindNextUrlCacheEntryA" ( _
    ByVal hEnumHandle As Long, _
    ByRef lpNextCacheEntryInfo As INTERNET_CACHE_ENTRY_INFO, _
    ByRef lpdwNextCacheEntryInfoBufferSize As Long) As Long

Private Const CACHGROUP_SEARCH_ALL = &H0
Private Const ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES = 18
Private Const ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS = 259
Private Const CACHEGROUP_FLAG_FLUSHURL_ONDELETE = &H2
Private Const BUFFERSIZE = 2048

Private Sub Command1_Click()
    Dim sGroupID As Date
    Dim hGroup As Long
    Dim hFile As Long
    Dim sEntryInfo As INTERNET_CACHE_ENTRY_INFO
    Dim iSize As Long
        
    On Error Resume Next
    
    ' Delete the groups
    hGroup = FindFirstUrlCacheGroup(0, 0, 0, 0, sGroupID, 0)
    
    ' To avoid error using it with IE4 as FindFirstUrlCacheGroup is not implemented
    If Err.Number <> 453 Then
        If (hGroup = 0) And (Err.LastDllError <> 2) Then
            MsgBox "An error occurred enumerating the cache groups" & Err.LastDllError
            Exit Sub
        End If
    Else
        Err.Clear
    End If
    
    If (hGroup <> 0) Then
        'we succeeded in finding the first cache group.. enumerate and
        'delete
        Do
            If (0 = DeleteUrlCacheGroup(sGroupID, CACHEGROUP_FLAG_FLUSHURL_ONDELETE, 0)) Then
               
               ' To avoid error using it with IE4 as FindFirstUrlCacheGroup is not implemented
               If Err.Number <> 453 Then
                 MsgBox "Error deleting cache group " & Err.LastDllError
                 Exit Sub
               Else
                  Err.Clear
               End If
            End If
            iSize = BUFFERSIZE
            If (0 = FindNextUrlCacheGroup(hGroup, sGroupID, iSize)) And (Err.LastDllError <> 2) Then
                MsgBox "Error finding next url cache group! - " & Err.LastDllError
            End If
        Loop Until Err.LastDllError = 2
    End If
  
  ' Delete the files
    sEntryInfo.dwStructSize = 80
    iSize = BUFFERSIZE
    hFile = FindFirstUrlCacheEntry(0, sEntryInfo, iSize)
    If (hFile = 0) Then
        If (Err.LastDllError = ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS) Then
            GoTo done
        End If
        MsgBox "ERROR: FindFirstUrlCacheEntry - " & Err.LastDllError
        Exit Sub
    End If
    Do
        If (0 = DeleteUrlCacheEntry(sEntryInfo.szRestOfData(0))) _
            And (Err.LastDllError <> 2) Then
            Err.Clear
        End If
        iSize = BUFFERSIZE
        If (0 = FindNextUrlCacheEntry(hFile, sEntryInfo, iSize)) And (Err.LastDllError <> ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS) Then
            MsgBox "Error:  Unable to find the next cache entry - " & Err.LastDllError
            Exit Sub
        End If
    Loop Until Err.LastDllError = ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS
done:
    MsgBox "cache cleared"
    Command1.Enabled = True
End Sub
  4. Run your project and click Command1. The cache in your computer will be cleared.
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REFERENCES

For more information about the syntax of the WinInet caching function, see the following Microsoft MSDN Online Web Workshop site:
Persistent URL Cache Functions (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms903369.aspx)
For more information about developing Web-based solutions for Microsoft Internet Explorer, visit the following Microsoft Web sites:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/ie/ (http://msdn.microsoft.com/ie/)

http://support.microsoft.com/iep (http://support.microsoft.com/iep)
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5
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Keywords: 
kbcaching kbhowto kbsbnworkshop kbwebbrowser KB262110
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Retired KB ArticleRetired KB Content Disclaimer
This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.
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