Visual Basic Internet Routines

FindFirstUrlCacheEntry: Delete the IE Cache
     
Posted:   Monday December 6, 1999
Updated:   Monday December 26, 2011
     
Applies to:   VB4-32, VB5, VB6
Developed with:   VB6, Windows NT4
OS restrictions:   None
Author:   VBnet - Randy Birch
     

Related:  

FindFirstUrlCacheEntry: Obtain the Contents of the IE Cache
FindFirstUrlCacheEntry: Delete the IE Cache
CoCreateInstance: Delete the IE History Cache
     
 Prerequisites
Internet Explorer 3 or later. Note this is an IE-specific API - other browsers don't use the Windows temporary internet files cache for local file storage.

Now that the method to list the Internet cache contents has been determined, the next logical step is programmatically deleting all or specific files. The code here shows how to populate a list with cache files, and either delete the selected item or all files.  

To protect deletion of cookies, which may contain passwords or other persistent information you want to keep, the Delete All method checks first for the "Cookie" keyword in the URL string, and skips those files. When a single list item is selected the Delete Selected button is disabled if it contains the word "Cookie".

Note: Although all delete routines reload the data from the cache following a deletion, I have found that when performing a Delete All the file system may not have completed the deletion of files before GetCacheURLList executes. This generates an accurate (but misleading) listing showing the files deletion as still present. Therefore, in such cases it may be prudent to delay the call to GetCacheURLList by adding a timer, or leave it up to the user to invoke the routine via a manual call.

 BAS Module Code
None.

 Form Code
To a form, add a listbox (List1), three command buttons (Command1/2/3) and a label (Label1). The Resize event will take care of positioning the controls, and the Load event will set their captions. Setting the list's Sorted property will make viewing the information easier. Add the following code:

Option Explicit
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' Copyright ©1996-2011 VBnet/Randy Birch, All Rights Reserved.
' Some pages may also contain other copyrights by the author.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' Distribution: You can freely use this code in your own
'               applications, but you may not reproduce 
'               or publish this code on any web site,
'               online service, or distribute as source 
'               on any media without express permission.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Private Const ERROR_CACHE_FIND_FAIL As Long = 0
Private Const ERROR_CACHE_FIND_SUCCESS As Long = 1
Private Const ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND As Long = 2
Private Const ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED As Long = 5
Private Const ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER As Long = 122
Private Const MAX_PATH As Long = 260
Private Const MAX_CACHE_ENTRY_INFO_SIZE As Long = 4096

Private Const LMEM_FIXED As Long = &H0
Private Const LMEM_ZEROINIT As Long = &H40
Private Const LPTR As Long = (LMEM_FIXED Or LMEM_ZEROINIT)

Private Const NORMAL_CACHE_ENTRY As Long = &H1
Private Const EDITED_CACHE_ENTRY As Long = &H8
Private Const TRACK_OFFLINE_CACHE_ENTRY As Long = &H10
Private Const TRACK_ONLINE_CACHE_ENTRY As Long = &H20
Private Const STICKY_CACHE_ENTRY As Long = &H40
Private Const SPARSE_CACHE_ENTRY As Long = &H10000
Private Const COOKIE_CACHE_ENTRY As Long = &H100000
Private Const URLHISTORY_CACHE_ENTRY As Long = &H200000
Private Const URLCACHE_FIND_DEFAULT_FILTER As Long = NORMAL_CACHE_ENTRY Or _
                                                    COOKIE_CACHE_ENTRY Or _
                                                    URLHISTORY_CACHE_ENTRY Or _
                                                    TRACK_OFFLINE_CACHE_ENTRY Or _
                                                    TRACK_ONLINE_CACHE_ENTRY Or _
                                                    STICKY_CACHE_ENTRY
Private Type FILETIME
   dwLowDateTime As Long
   dwHighDateTime As Long
End Type

Private Type INTERNET_CACHE_ENTRY_INFO
   dwStructSize As Long
   lpszSourceUrlName As Long
   lpszLocalFileName As Long
   CacheEntryType  As Long
   dwUseCount As Long
   dwHitRate As Long
   dwSizeLow As Long
   dwSizeHigh As Long
   LastModifiedTime As FILETIME
   ExpireTime As FILETIME
   LastAccessTime As FILETIME
   LastSyncTime As FILETIME
   lpHeaderInfo As Long
   dwHeaderInfoSize As Long
   lpszFileExtension As Long
   dwExemptDelta  As Long
End Type

Private Declare Function FindFirstUrlCacheEntry Lib "wininet" _
   Alias "FindFirstUrlCacheEntryA" _
  (ByVal lpszUrlSearchPattern As String, _
   lpFirstCacheEntryInfo As Any, _
   lpdwFirstCacheEntryInfoBufferSize As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function FindNextUrlCacheEntry Lib "wininet" _
   Alias "FindNextUrlCacheEntryA" _
  (ByVal hEnumHandle As Long, _
   lpNextCacheEntryInfo As Any, _
   lpdwNextCacheEntryInfoBufferSize As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function FindCloseUrlCache Lib "wininet" _
   (ByVal hEnumHandle As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function DeleteUrlCacheEntry Lib "wininet" _
   Alias "DeleteUrlCacheEntryA" _
  (ByVal lpszUrlName As String) As Long
   
Private Declare Sub CopyMemory Lib "kernel32" _
   Alias "RtlMoveMemory" _
   (pDest As Any, _
    pSource As Any, _
    ByVal dwLength As Long)

Private Declare Function lstrcpyA Lib "kernel32" _
  (ByVal RetVal As String, ByVal Ptr As Long) As Long
                        
Private Declare Function lstrlenA Lib "kernel32" _
  (ByVal Ptr As Any) As Long
  
Private Declare Function LocalAlloc Lib "kernel32" _
   (ByVal uFlags As Long, _
    ByVal uBytes As Long) As Long
    
Private Declare Function LocalFree Lib "kernel32" _
   (ByVal hMem As Long) As Long
         


Private Sub Form_Load()

   Command1.Caption = "Get Cache"
   Command2.Caption = "Delete Selected"
   Command3.Caption = "Delete All"
   Label1.Caption = ""

End Sub


Private Sub Form_Resize()

   If Me.WindowState <> vbMinimized Then
   
      If Me.Width > 3000 Then
      
         With Command1
            .Left = Me.ScaleWidth - .Width - 200
            .Top = 200
         End With
         
         With Command2
            .Left = Command1.Left
            .Top = Command1.Top + Command1.Height + 100
         End With
         
         With Command3
            .Left = Command1.Left
            .Top = Command2.Top + Command2.Height + 100
         End With
         
         With Label1
            .Left = 200
            .Top = Me.ScaleHeight - 100 - Label1.Height
         End With
         
         With List1
            .Left = 200
            .Top = 200
            .Width = Command1.Left - 300
            .Height = (Me.ScaleHeight - 300) - (Me.ScaleHeight - Label1.Top)
         End With
      
      End If
      
   End If
   
End Sub


Private Sub Command1_Click()

   With List1
   
     'this speeds up adding to the list
     'and eliminates list flicker
      .Visible = False
      .Clear
      Call GetCacheURLList()
      .Visible = True
      
      Label1.Caption = .ListCount & " files listed."
      
   End With

End Sub


Private Sub Command2_Click()

   Dim cachefile As String
   Dim currindex As Long
   Dim currtopindex As Long
   
  'delete the selected file
   With List1
   
     'because we're going to reload
     'the cache following the deletion,
     'be nice and save the current list 
     'position so it can be restored later
      currtopindex = .TopIndex
      currindex = .ListIndex
      cachefile = .List(currindex)
      
      Call DeleteUrlCacheEntry(cachefile)
      
     'reload the list, hiding the list box
     'to prevent flicker. (This workaround
     'will not provided the desired results
     'if a DoEvents is added to the
     'GetCacheURLList routine!)
     
      .Visible = False
      GetCacheURLList
      .TopIndex = currtopindex
      
      If currindex >= .ListCount Then
         .ListIndex = currindex - 1
      Else
         .ListIndex = currindex
      End If
      
      .Visible = True
      
      Label1.Caption = .ListCount & " files listed."
   
   End With
   
End Sub


Private Sub Command3_Click()

   Dim cachefile As String
   Dim cnt As Long
  
   With List1
  
     'delete all files
      For cnt = 0 To .ListCount - 1
      
         cachefile = .List(cnt)
         
        'if the file is a cookie let's not
        'delete it in case it is used to
        'store password data.
        '
        'remove the Instr() test if you want
        'to delete cookies as well
         If InStr(cachefile, "Cookie") = 0 Then
            Call DeleteUrlCacheEntry(cachefile)
         End If
      Next
   
      .Visible = False
      GetCacheURLList
      .ListIndex = -1
      .Visible = True
      
      Label1.Caption = .ListCount & " files listed."
      
   End With
   
End Sub


Private Sub List1_Click()

   Command2.Enabled = InStr(List1.List(List1.ListIndex), "Cookie") = 0

End Sub


Private Sub GetCacheURLList()
    
   Dim icei As INTERNET_CACHE_ENTRY_INFO
   Dim hFile As Long
   Dim cachefile As String
   Dim posUrl As Long
   Dim posEnd As Long
   Dim dwBuffer As Long
   Dim pntrICE As Long
   
   List1.Clear
   
  'Like other APIs, calling FindFirstUrlCacheEntry or
  'FindNextUrlCacheEntry with an buffer of insufficient
  'size will cause the API to fail. Call first to
  'determine the required buffer size.
   hFile = FindFirstUrlCacheEntry(0&, ByVal 0, dwBuffer)
   
  'both conditions should be met by the first call
   If (hFile = ERROR_CACHE_FIND_FAIL) And _
      (Err.LastDllError = ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER) Then
   
     'The INTERNET_CACHE_ENTRY_INFO data type
     'is a variable-length UDT. It is therefore
     'necessary to allocate memory for the result
     'of the call and to pass a pointer to this
     'memory location to the API.
      pntrICE = LocalAlloc(LMEM_FIXED, dwBuffer)
        
     'allocation successful
      If pntrICE <> 0 Then
         
        'set a Long pointer to the memory location
         CopyMemory ByVal pntrICE, dwBuffer, 4
         
        'call FindFirstUrlCacheEntry again
        'now passing the pointer to the
        'allocated memory
         hFile = FindFirstUrlCacheEntry(vbNullString, _
                                        ByVal pntrICE, _
                                        dwBuffer)
       
        'hfile should = 1 (success)
         If hFile <> ERROR_CACHE_FIND_FAIL Then
         
           'loop through the cache
            Do
            
              'the pointer has been filled, so move the
              'data back into a ICEI structure
               CopyMemory icei, ByVal pntrICE, Len(icei)
            
              'CacheEntryType is a long representing
              'the type of entry returned
               If (icei.CacheEntryType And _
                   NORMAL_CACHE_ENTRY) = NORMAL_CACHE_ENTRY Then
               
                 'extract the string from the memory location
                 'pointed to by the lpszSourceUrlName member
                 'and add to a list
                  cachefile = GetStrFromPtrA(icei.lpszSourceUrlName)
                  List1.AddItem cachefile

               End If
               
              'free the pointer and memory associated
              'with the last-retrieved file
               Call LocalFree(pntrICE)
               
              'and again by repeating the procedure but
              'now calling FindNextUrlCacheEntry. Again,
              'the buffer size set to 0 causing the call
              'to fail and return the required size as dwBuffer
               dwBuffer = 0
               Call FindNextUrlCacheEntry(hFile, ByVal 0, dwBuffer)
               
              'allocate and assign the memory to the pointer
               pntrICE = LocalAlloc(LMEM_FIXED, dwBuffer)
               CopyMemory ByVal pntrICE, dwBuffer, 4
               
           'and call again with the valid parameters.
           'If the call fails (no more data), the loop exits.
           'If the call is successful, the Do portion of the
           'loop is executed again, extracting the data from
           'the returned type
            Loop While FindNextUrlCacheEntry(hFile, ByVal pntrICE, dwBuffer)
  
         End If 'hFile
         
      End If 'pntrICE
   
   End If 'hFile
   
  'clean up by closing the find handle,
  'as well as calling LocalFree again
  'to be safe
   Call LocalFree(pntrICE)
   Call FindCloseUrlCache(hFile)
   
End Sub


Private Function GetStrFromPtrA(ByVal lpszA As Long) As String

   GetStrFromPtrA = String$(lstrlenA(ByVal lpszA), 0)
   Call lstrcpyA(ByVal GetStrFromPtrA, ByVal lpszA)
   
End Function
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