VBScript in a Nutshell

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By Matt Childs, Paul Lomax, Ron Petrusha

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Released: May 1995

Pages: 508

Microsoft's Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript), a subset of Visual Basic for Applications, is a powerful language for Internet application development, where it can serve as a scripting language for server-side Internet applications (i.e., Active Server Pages), and client-side web pages. It can also be used for system scripting (i.e., Windows Script Host scripts) and programming Outlook forms.

The greater part of this book is an alphabetical VBScript language reference to all VBScript statements, keywords and objects, emphasizing the following details:

The syntax, using standard code conventions
A list of arguments accepted by the function or procedure, if any exist
A description of the data returned by a function
A discussion of how and where the keyword should be used within the scripting environment
A section of notes and solutions to real-world gotchas, and various undocumented behaviors and aspects of the language that help the reader avoid potential problems
A section that focuses on the differences between the language element in VBA and in VBScript
A brief example to illustrate the use of the keyword

Supplementing this focus on VBScript language essentials is a wealth of additional information about VBScript, including:

Basic language information on VBScript data types, constants, variables, and arrays
The difference between VBScript and VBA or JavaScript
The use of the MSIE, Active Server, Outlook, and Windows Script Host object models to interface a script with the application it's controlling
Tables listing VBScript functions and statements by category
The version-specific features of VBScript

Regardless of the types of scripts you're using VBScript to create,VBScript in a Nutshell is the only book you'll need by your side--a complete and easy-to-use language reference.

The Basics
1. Chapter 1 Introduction
  1. VBScript’s History and Uses
  2. What VBScript Is Used For: Gluing Together Objects
  3. Differences Between VBScript and VBA
2. Chapter 2 Program Structure
  1. Functions and Procedures
  2. Class Modules
  3. The Script Level
  4. Reusable Code Libraries
3. Chapter 3 Data Types and Variables
  1. VBScript Data Types: The Many Faces of the Variant
  2. Variables and Constants
4. Chapter 4 Error Handling and Debugging
  1. Debugging
  2. Error Handling
  3. Common Problems Areas, and How to Avoid Them
5. Chapter 5 VBScript with Active Server Pages
  1. How ASP Works
  2. Active Server Pages Object Model
6. Chapter 6 Programming Outlook Forms
  1. Why Program Outlook Forms?
  2. The Form-Based Development Environment
  3. Running Your Code
  4. Program Flow
  5. The Outlook Object Model
  6. Accessing Other Object Models
7. Chapter 7 Windows Script Host
  1. Why Use WSH?
  2. Running WSH Scripts
  3. Program Flow
  4. The WSH Object Model
  5. WSH Language Elements
  6. Accessing Other Object Models
8. Chapter 8 VBScript with Internet Explorer
  1. The <SCRIPT> Tag
  2. What Can You Do with Client-Side Scripting?
  3. Understanding the IE Object Model
Reference
1. Chapter 9 The Language Reference
Appendixes
1. Appendix Language Elements by Category
  1. Array Handling
  2. Assignment
  3. Comment
  4. Constants
  5. Data Subtype Conversion
  6. Date and Time
  7. Dictionary Object
  8. Error Handling
  9. File System Objects
  10. Information Functions
  11. Mathematical and Numeric
  12. Miscellaneous
  13. Object Programming
  14. Program Structure and Flow
  15. String Manipulation
  16. User Interaction
  17. Variable Declaration
2. Appendix VBScript Constants
  1. Color Constants
  2. Comparison Constants
  3. Date and Time Constants
  4. Date Format Constants
  5. Error Constant
  6. Logical and TriState Constants
  7. Message Box Constants
  8. String Constants
  9. Variable Type Constants
3. Appendix Operators
  1. Arithmetic Operators
  2. String Operator
  3. Comparison Operators
  4. Logical and Bitwise Operators
  5. Operator Precedence

Colophon

Title:

VBScript in a Nutshell

By:

Matt Childs, Paul Lomax, Ron Petrusha

Publisher:

O'Reilly Media

Formats:

Print
Safari Books Online

Print:

May 1995

Pages:

508

Print ISBN:

978-1-56592-720-9

| ISBN 10:

1-56592-720-6

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of VBScript in a Nutshell is a Miniature Pinscher. Known only to have existed in Germany up until about 100 years ago, the Miniature Pinscher is said to have descended from the German Pinscher or possibly a cross between the Italian Greyhound and the Dauchshund. He is not a small Doberman as some may think. He was bred to be a ratter and a good barking watchdog.

The Miniature Pinscher is considered the smallest breed of guard dog. It is classified in Group 2, which also classifies the Doberman, Rottweiller, Mastiff, Boxer, and Great Dane within this group.

The Miniature Pinscher has been characterized as having a heroic demeanor and a striking personality. Pinscher owners commonly affirm that the dog is only small and fragile in appearance. Maureen Dempsey was the production editor, and Nancy Kotary was the copyeditor for VBScript in a Nutshell. Jeff Holcomb was the proofreader. Jane Ellin and Emily Quill provided quality control. Mary Sheehan provided production support. Brenda Miller wrote the index.

Ellie Volkhausen designed the cover of this book based on a design by Edie Freeman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarXPress 3.32 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

Alicia Cech and David Futato designed the interior layout based on a series design by Nancy Priest. Mike Sierra implemented the design in FrameMaker 5.5. The text and heading fonts are ITC Garamond Light and Garamond Book. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Rhon Porter using Macromedia FreeHand 8 and Adobe Photoshop 5. This colophon was written by Maureen Dempsey.

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Customer Reviews

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oreilly VBScript in a Nutshell

4.6

(based on 8 reviews)

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Displaying reviews 1-8

9/8/2001

(2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)

3.0

VBScript in a Nutshell Review

By sherazi

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VBScript in a Nutshell:

This is the best VBScript I have ever read. Explanations when appropriate, examples where needed, and a virtually complete reference section, formatted exactly as a reference book should be - command, syntax, parameters, returns and examples. Easy to find exactly what you are looking for. This book has save me a considerable amount of reference time, as well as giving me the info I needed when I needed it. My hat off the authors, this book is worth every penny I paid for it - and then some

9/4/2001

5.0

VBScript in a Nutshell Review

By fred

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VBScript in a Nutshell:

Stepping out of the bookstore I was wondering if I would be regretting buying this book. Well... I DIDN'T REGRET BUYING IT! It was worth every cent. I hope all the other books from O'reilly would be just as good as this one.

10/13/2000

5.0

VBScript in a Nutshell Review

By Jase T. Wolfe

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VBScript in a Nutshell:

9/30/2000

5.0

VBScript in a Nutshell Review

By Steve

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VBScript in a Nutshell:

Nice one - easy to read and easy to understand . A proper reference for VBScript.

9/19/2000

5.0

VBScript in a Nutshell Review

By terry mealy

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VBScript in a Nutshell:

So good it almost makes VBScript seem like a good scripting language!

7/27/2000

5.0

VBScript in a Nutshell Review

By Anonymous

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VBScript in a Nutshell:

I have always favored O'Reilly reference books and this one is no exception. It is the only book I need for writing VBScript in Active Server Pages. Being a programmer who never programmed in VB before but wanted to learn ASP, I needed a complete, well-indexed guide to the language -THIS IS IT!

7/27/2000

4.0

VBScript in a Nutshell Review

By Anonymous

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VBScript in a Nutshell:

I needed a good VBScript reference book to consult when doing scripting projects for my company.

The entire book isn't just a reference to the VBScript language-- that's only about half of the book.

The reference is organized alphabetically and contains a description, rules and usually a decent example of the VBScript function, statement, method, etc.

So the surprise is the first half of the book, and it may be important to you and it may not. There are 20 pages on general program structure that most every programmer will find boring: pasing parameters by reference, passing variables into a subroutine, etc. After 8 more pages on data types and 22 pages on error handling/debugging, the authors included four other sections on VBScript with Active Server Pages, Programming Outlook forms, Windows Script Host, and VBScript with Internet Explorer. I found these sections to be out of the scope of what I was looking for in what

O'Reilly calls a "desktop quick reference" book: simply a reference to the language.

I gave it four stars because the thing is only $( ) and you are getting 500 pages. I bought the book

for the reference, even if it has this other stuff I don't care about. If you are programming VBScript or ASP in Notepad without "Help" to consult, this may be the best pure VBScript book out there. It will come in handy.

7/27/2000

5.0

VBScript in a Nutshell Review

By Kenn

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VBScript in a Nutshell:

Covers EVERYTHING. Scripting techniques, error handling, differences between VB, VBA and

VBScript, Structuring your program for reuse, etc. It gives a quick, down and dirty, high-level overview of the places you're most likely to use VBScript -- ASP, IE, Outlook and Windows Shell Scripts (wsh) -- and an incredible reference to nearly every VBScript function, procedure and call. This book is not for the beginner looking to learn the language -- it's for the intermediate or advanced scripter who already knows a little but needs a reference to know HOW to use the functions, etc. It excels in this regard, not only explaining every command and option under VBScript, but also the syntax, parameters, rules and even 'Programming Tips & Gotchas'.

In short, if you need a true reference that documents nearly every facet of the VBScript language, this is a must have.

Displaying reviews 1-8