Microsoft KB Archive/327569

= PRB: DeleteUrl Does Not Delete the Internet Explorer History Folder Entry =

Article ID: 327569

Article Last Modified on 12/25/2006

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming)

-



This article was previously published under Q327569



SYMPTOMS
After you call the IUrlHistoryStg::DeleteUrl method for a URL, the URL entry still appears in the Internet Explorer History Shell folder.



RESOLUTION
Use the IContextMenu::InvokeCommand method to delete the items. This is similar to manually deleting the item. The disadvantage to this method is that you cannot disable the confirmation dialog box that appears.

The source code that follows demonstrates the resolution by deleting the first, top-level History Shell folder. Typically, this is the oldest day in the history (for example, Tuesday). You can modify the code to delete a more specific item. // Error checking minimized for clarity. void DeleteUrlFromHistoryShell {   HRESULT hr;

// Call this if needed. CoInitialize( NULL ); IShellFolder* pDesktopFolder = NULL; IMalloc* pMalloc = NULL;

hr = ::SHGetMalloc(&pMalloc);

// Get desktop folder. hr = ::SHGetDesktopFolder(&pDesktopFolder);

// Get the history folder. ITEMIDLIST* pidlHistoryFolder = NULL; hr = ::SHGetSpecialFolderLocation(NULL, CSIDL_HISTORY, &pidlHistoryFolder);

// Get the IShellFolder of the history folder. IShellFolder* pHistoryFolder = NULL; hr = pDesktopFolder->BindToObject(pidlHistoryFolder, NULL, IID_IShellFolder, (void**)&pHistoryFolder);

// Enumerate the history items. IEnumIDList* pHistoryEnum = NULL; hr = pHistoryFolder->EnumObjects(NULL, SHCONTF_FOLDERS | SHCONTF_NONFOLDERS, &pHistoryEnum);

ITEMIDLIST* pidl = NULL; ULONG fetched = 0;

hr = pHistoryEnum->Next(1, &pidl, &fetched);

if (SUCCEEDED(hr)) {       const ITEMIDLIST* pidl2 = pidl;

// Get the IContextMenu interface. IContextMenu* pContextMenu = NULL; hr = pHistoryFolder->GetUIObjectOf(NULL, 1, &pidl2, IID_IContextMenu, NULL, (void**)&pContextMenu);

if (SUCCEEDED(hr)) {           CMINVOKECOMMANDINFO pCommandInfo = { 0 };

pCommandInfo.cbSize = sizeof(CMINVOKECOMMANDINFO); pCommandInfo.lpVerb = _T(&quot;delete&quot;); pCommandInfo.fMask = CMIC_MASK_FLAG_NO_UI; // has no effect hr = pContextMenu->InvokeCommand(&pCommandInfo); }

pContextMenu->Release; }

pHistoryEnum->Release; pHistoryFolder->Release; pMalloc->Release; pDesktopFolder->Release; }



STATUS
This behavior is by design.



MORE INFORMATION
The IUrlHistoryStg2::ClearHistory method clears the deleted history items from the Internet Explorer History Shell folder and internally. DeleteUrl is not designed to delete the Internet Explorer History Shell folder entries. Because many internal functions rely on this method, its behavior cannot be changed.

Steps to Reproduce the Behavior
  Create a console application, and then add the following code:
 * 1) include 
 * 2) include 
 * 3) include 

// Error checking minimized for clarity. int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {   USES_CONVERSION; CoInitialize(NULL);

IUrlHistoryStg2* pUrlHistoryStg2 = NULL; HRESULT hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_CUrlHistory,       NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC, IID_IUrlHistoryStg2,        (void**)&pUrlHistoryStg2);

IEnumSTATURL* pEnumURL; hr = pUrlHistoryStg2->EnumUrls(&pEnumURL);

STATURL suURL; ULONG pceltFetched; suURL.cbSize = sizeof(suURL); hr = pEnumURL->Reset;

while((hr = pEnumURL->Next(1, &suURL, &pceltFetched)) == S_OK) {       hr = pUrlHistoryStg2->DeleteUrl(suURL.pwcsUrl, 0); printf(&quot;\&quot;%s\&quot; deleted.\n&quot;, W2T(suURL.pwcsUrl)); }

pEnumURL->Release; pUrlHistoryStg2->Release; CoUninitialize; }                    Build and run the application. Notice that the first time that you run the code, your history is deleted. The second time that you run the code, the previous history entries are not there anymore.

