Use VBA to Click on javascript href link

I am trying to automate a program that looks up the property tax returns for specific parcels of land. The website I am using to do so is here.

In this example, the parcel ID that I am looking up is 648-30-013.

When I search for that parcel, I arrive at a page with a link that I need to click. The html for the link is below:

<a href='javascript:SubmitThisForm("General.asp", "64830013");'>648-30-013</a>

I've tried using the following code to click the link, but have not been successful. The section I am having trouble with is the last section 'click on parcel ID link. The code works fine when stepped through, but when execucted the objCollection variable does not populate.

'Declare Variables

' Counter variable
Dim i As Integer

' Internet explorer variables
Dim IE As Object
Dim objElement As Object
Dim objCollection As Object
Dim lookupURL As String

' Excel variables
Dim currentParcel As String
Dim year As Integer
Dim jobs As String
Dim completedLoops
Dim totalLoops

' Input variables
'These are the counter variables that loop through your lookup data; where to start and end and how long to loop for
completedLoops = 0
totalLoops = 1
lookupURL = "http://fiscalofficer.cuyahogacounty.us/AuditorApps/real-property/REPI/default.asp"


'Set value of current lookup based on a starting value and # of loops completed
currentParcel = "648-30-013"
Application.StatusBar = "Executing " & completedLoops & " of " & totalLoops & " loops"


' Establish Internet Exploere Instance
' Create InternetExplorer Object
Set IE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
IE.Visible = True

' Navigate to website
IE.Navigate lookupURL

' Wait while IE loading...
Do While IE.Busy
    Application.Wait DateAdd("s", 1, Now)
Loop

' Click on 'By Parcel #' tab
' Create a list of all the <div> tags on the page
Set objCollection = IE.document.getElementsByTagName("div")

' Loop through all <div> tags to find the one with the correct name and input current search term into tag
i = 0
Do While i < objCollection.Length
    If objCollection(i).ID = "tabTabdhtmlgoodies_tabView2_1" Then
        Set objElement = objCollection(i)
        objElement.Click
        Exit Do
    End If
    i = i + 1
    Loop

Do While IE.Busy
    Application.Wait DateAdd("s", 1, Now)
Loop


' Input parcel ID
Set objCollection = IE.document.getElementsByTagName("input")
i = 0
Do While i < objCollection.Length
    If objCollection(i).Name = "parcelNum" Then
        objCollection(i).Value = currentParcel
        Exit Do
    End If
    i = i + 1
    Loop

Do While IE.Busy
    Application.Wait DateAdd("s", 1, Now)
Loop

' Click on search button
Set objCollection = IE.document.getElementsByTagName("input")
i = 0
Do While i < objCollection.Length
    If objCollection(i).Name = "b_2" Then
        Set objElement = objCollection(i)
        objElement.Click
        Exit Do
    End If
    i = i + 1
    Loop

Application.Wait DateAdd("s", 5, Now)


' Click on parcel ID link
Set objCollection = IE.document.getElementsByTagName("a")
Debug.Print objCollection.Length
i = 0
Do While i < objCollection.Length
    If objCollection(i).innerText = currentParcel Then
        Debug.Print objCollection(i).innerText
        Set objElement = objCollection(i)
        objElement.Click
        Exit Do
    End If
    i = i + 1
    Loop

Please let me know if there are better ways to click on this link.

Solution

This worked for me.

If you're doing any amount of web scraping then it's much cleaner to abstract as much of the "guts" as you can into utility methods which you can re-use and which help de-clutter your main code, so you can more easily focus on the "what" versus the "how".

Sub TT()

    Dim i As Integer
    Dim IE As Object
    Dim objElement As Object
    Dim objCollection As Object
    Dim lookupURL As String, div As Object, el As Object
    Dim currentParcel As String
    Dim year As Integer
    Dim jobs As String
    Dim completedLoops
    Dim totalLoops


    completedLoops = 0
    totalLoops = 1
    lookupURL = "http://fiscalofficer.cuyahogacounty.us/AuditorApps/real-property/REPI/default.asp"

    currentParcel = "648-30-013"

    Application.StatusBar = "Executing " & completedLoops & " of " & totalLoops & " loops"

    Set IE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
    IE.Visible = True

    IE.Navigate lookupURL ' Navigate to website
    WaitFor IE

    Set div = IE.document.getelementById("tabTabdhtmlgoodies_tabView2_1")

    If Not div Is Nothing Then

        div.Click
        WaitFor IE
        ' Input parcel ID
        If PopulateInputByName(IE, "parcelNum", currentParcel) Then

            Application.Wait DateAdd("s", 2, Now)

            Set el = GetNamedInput(IE, "b_2")
            If Not el Is Nothing Then

                el.Click
                Application.Wait DateAdd("s", 5, Now)

                Set el = GetLinkByText(IE, currentParcel)
                If Not el Is Nothing Then el.Click 'done!

            Else
                MsgBox "Input 'b_2' not found!"
            End If


        Else
            MsgBox "ParcelNum input not found!"
        End If

    Else
        MsgBox "Tab div not found!"
    End If

End Sub

'*** Begin utility functions ***
'utility: wait until page has loaded
Sub WaitFor(IE As Object)
    Do While IE.ReadyState < 4 Or IE.Busy
        DoEvents
    Loop
End Sub

'utility: find a named input and set its value: return True if this succeeded
Function PopulateInputByName(IE, theName, theValue) As Boolean
    Dim el As Object, rv As Boolean
    Set el = GetNamedInput(IE, theName)
    If Not el Is Nothing Then
        el.Value = theValue
        rv = True
    End If
    PopulateInputByName = rv
End Function

'utility: find a named input
Function GetNamedInput(IE, theName) As Object
    Dim objColl As Object, el As Object, rv As Object
    Set objColl = IE.document.getElementsByTagName("input")
    For Each el In objColl
        If el.Name = theName Then
            Set rv = el
            Exit For
        End If
    Next
    Set GetNamedInput = rv
End Function

'utility: click link with specific text
Function GetLinkByText(IE, theText) As Object
    Dim objColl As Object, el As Object, rv As Object
    Set objColl = IE.document.getElementsByTagName("a")
    For Each el In objColl
        If el.innerText = theText Then
            Set rv = el
            Exit For
        End If
    Next
    Set GetLinkByText = rv
End Function