Using RAS DIALER ???

[ALX]

I am still a newbie...still feeling my way through vb.NET. I am including a procedure in my app that downloads a file from a website. If an internet connection does not exist, it creates one by using "process.start" to fire up Internet Explorer. This works OK, but I'd really prefer to do this without using the UI that Internet Explorer lays out on the display. I want to keep focus on the form in my app ... AND ... I'll need to be able to provide the same service for machines that do not have Internet Explorer installed. I've been trying to research the RAS DIALER but I'm having trouble absorbing Microsoft's reference material on the subject. It appears to be geared toward programmers that already know how to use it. None of my reference books even touch on the subject. I would be very grateful if any body could point me to some reference material that describes how to apply the RAS DIALER in plain english ... or provide a quick & dirty (commented) sample to get me started... Or ... any other methods that would accomplish the same result.
Thanks in advance !!!

 

[vis781]

Unfortunately there is no functionality built into the framework to access the RAS api. You've got to use platform invoke to call these API's, the info on WinInet is pretty sketchy as best. Found this, maybe you've already seen it, but it provides an example written in vb.net.....

http://www.dnzone.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=134

 

[ALX]

Thank You vis ! This is exactly what I have been looking for. I thought I was going to have to start learning C++ or something to make this happen. Seriously, I think I would have quit this project if it weren't for all the help I've received from this forum. This is the stuff you don't find in the reference books.