VBScript in a Nutshell

VBScript in a Nutshell

Released May 1995
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9781565927209

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Book description

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

  • 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

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

    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.

    Table of contents

    1. VBScript in a Nutshell
      1. Preface
        1. Why This Book?
        2. Who Should Read This Book?
        3. How This Book Should Be Used
          1. If You’re New to VBScript
          2. If You’re a VBScript Programmer
          3. If You’re a VB or VBA Developer New to VBScript
        4. How This Book Is Structured
          1. The Format of the Language Reference
        5. Conventions in This Book
        6. How To Contact Us
          1. Call for Additions and Amendments
      2. I. The Basics
        1. 1. Introduction
          1. VBScript’s History and Uses
          2. What VBScript Is Used For: Gluing Together Objects
            1. Properties
              1. Methods
              2. Events
          3. Differences Between VBScript and VBA
        2. 2. Program Structure
          1. Functions and Procedures
            1. Defining Subroutines: The Sub . . . End Sub Construct
            2. Calling a Subroutine
            3. Defining Functions: The Function . . . End Function Construct
            4. Passing Variables into a Subroutine
            5. Exiting a Routine with the Exit Statement
          2. Class Modules
            1. The Class Construct
            2. Class Variables
            3. Class Properties
            4. Class Methods
            5. Class Events
          3. The Script Level
            1. Active Server Pages
            2. Windows Script Host
            3. Client-Side Scripts for MSIE
            4. Outlook Forms
          4. Reusable Code Libraries
            1. Active Server Pages
            2. Windows Script Host
            3. Client-Side Scripts for MSIE
        3. 3. Data Types and Variables
          1. VBScript Data Types: The Many Faces of the Variant
            1. Variant Data Subtypes
            2. Determining the Variant Subtype
              1. VarType
              2. TypeName
            3. Converting from One Data Subtype to Another
          2. Variables and Constants
            1. What Is a Variable?
            2. What Is a Constant?
            3. Intrinsic Constants
            4. Constants in Type Libraries
            5. Declaring Variables and Constants
              1. Option Explicit
            6. Array Variables
              1. Fixed arrays
              2. Dynamic arrays
              3. Determining array boundaries: UBound and LBound
              4. Multidimensional arrays
              5. Dynamic Multidimensional Arrays
              6. Using UBound with multidimensional arrays
            7. Scope
              1. Script-level scope
              2. Procedure-level scope
              3. Public Scope
              4. Private
        4. 4. Error Handling and Debugging
          1. Debugging
            1. Syntax Errors
              1. Syntax errors at compile time
              2. Syntax errors at runtime
            2. Logical Errors
              1. Logical errors that affect program results
              2. Logical errors that generate error messages
            3. The Microsoft Script Debugger
              1. Launching the Script Debugger
              2. The Script Debugger interface
              3. Tracing execution with the Script Debugger
              4. Determining the value of a variable, expression, or function at runtime
              5. Changing variable values at runtime
          2. Error Handling
            1. The On Error Resume Next Statement
            2. The Err Object
              1. Err object properties
              2. Err object methods
          3. Common Problems Areas, and How to Avoid Them
        5. 5. VBScript with Active Server Pages
          1. How ASP Works
            1. The global.asa File
            2. Including Server-Side Script in Web Pages
          2. Active Server Pages Object Model
            1. Application
              1. ObjectContext
              2. Request
              3. Response
              4. Server
              5. Session
        6. 6. Programming Outlook Forms
          1. Why Program Outlook Forms?
          2. The Form-Based Development Environment
            1. Interfaces and Objects
            2. Outlook Form Design Mode
            3. The VBScript Environment
          3. Running Your Code
          4. Program Flow
          5. The Outlook Object Model
            1. The Current Item
            2. The Inspector Object
            3. The Pages Collection
            4. The FormDescription Object
            5. The NameSpace Object
            6. The MAPIFolder Object
            7. Outlook Constants
          6. Accessing Other Object Models
        7. 7. Windows Script Host
          1. Why Use WSH?
          2. Running WSH Scripts
          3. Program Flow
            1. Simple Script Files
            2. Script Files with XML Code
          4. The WSH Object Model
            1. The WScript Object
            2. The WshArguments Object
            3. The WshEnvironment Object
            4. The WshNetwork Object
            5. The WshShell Object
            6. The WshShortcut Object
            7. The WshSpecialFolders Object
            8. The WshUrlShortcut Object
          5. WSH Language Elements
          6. Accessing Other Object Models
        8. 8. VBScript with Internet Explorer
          1. The <SCRIPT> Tag
            1. <SCRIPT> Attributes
              1. The LANGUAGE attribute
              2. The SRC attribute
              3. The FOR attribute
            2. Where to Place the <SCRIPT> Tag
            3. Using <!——> with <SCRIPT>
          2. What Can You Do with Client-Side Scripting?
            1. Interacting with the Client
            2. Handling Events
            3. Data Validation
          3. Understanding the IE Object Model
            1. The Window Object
            2. The Document Object
            3. The Elements Collection and HTML Intrinsic Controls
              1. The textbox control
              2. The checkbox control
              3. The radio button control
              4. The list box
              5. Command button controls
            4. The History Object
            5. The Event Object
            6. Using the Document Object Model
      3. II. Reference
        1. 9. The Language Reference
          1. Abs Function
          2. Array Function
          3. Asc, AscB, AscW Functions
          4. Atn Function
          5. Call Statement
          6. CBool Function
          7. CByte Function
          8. CCur Function
          9. CDate Function
          10. CDbl Function
          11. Chr, ChrB, ChrW Functions
          12. CInt Function
          13. Class Statement
          14. CLng Function
          15. Const Statement
          16. Cos Function
          17. CreateObject Function
          18. CSng Function
          19. CStr Function
          20. Date Function
          21. DateAdd Function
          22. DateDiff Function
          23. DatePart Function
          24. DateSerial Function
          25. DateValue Function
          26. Day Function
          27. Dictionary Object
          28. Dictionary.Add Method
          29. Dictionary.CompareMode Property
          30. Dictionary.Count Property
          31. Dictionary.Exists Method
          32. Dictionary.Item Property
          33. Dictionary.Items Method
          34. Dictionary.Key Property
          35. Dictionary.Keys Method
          36. Dictionary.Remove Method
          37. Dictionary.RemoveAll Method
          38. Dim Statement
          39. Do . . . Loop Statement
          40. Drive Object
          41. Drives Collection Object
          42. End . . . Statement
          43. Erase Statement
          44. Err Object
          45. Err.Clear Method
          46. Err.Description Property
          47. Err.HelpContext Property
          48. Err.HelpFile Property
          49. Err.Number Property
          50. Err.Raise Method
          51. Err.Source Property
          52. Escape Function
          53. Eval Function
          54. Execute Statement
          55. Exit Statement
          56. Exp Function
          57. File Object
          58. File.Copy Method
          59. File.Delete Method
          60. File.Move Method
          61. File.OpenAsTextStream Method
          62. File System Object Model
          63. Files Collection Object
          64. FileSystemObject Object
          65. FileSystemObject.BuildPath Method
          66. FileSystemObject.CopyFile Method
          67. FileSystemObject.CopyFolder Method
          68. FileSystemObject.CreateFolder Method
          69. FileSystemObject.CreateTextFile Method
          70. FileSystemObject.DeleteFile Method
          71. FileSystemObject.DeleteFolder Method
          72. FileSystemObject.DriveExists Method
          73. FileSystemObject.Drives Property
          74. FileSystemObject.FileExists Method
          75. FileSystemObject.FolderExists Method
          76. FileSystemObject.GetAbsolutePathName Method
          77. FileSystemObject.GetBaseName Method
          78. FileSystemObject.GetDrive Method
          79. FileSystemObject.GetDriveName Method
          80. FileSystemObject.GetExtensionName Method
          81. FileSystemObject.GetFile Method
          82. FileSystemObject.GetFileName Method
          83. FileSystemObject.GetFileVersion Method
          84. FileSystemObject.GetFolder Method
          85. FileSystemObject.GetParentFolderName Method
          86. FileSystemObject.GetSpecialFolder Method
          87. FileSystemObject.GetStandardStream Method
          88. FileSystemObject.GetTempName Method
          89. FileSystemObject.MoveFile Method
          90. FileSystemObject.MoveFolder Method
          91. FileSystemObject.OpenTextFile Method
          92. Filter Function
          93. Fix Function
          94. Folder Object
          95. Folder.Copy Method
          96. Folder.CreateTextFile Method
          97. Folder.Delete Method
          98. Folder.Move Method
          99. Folders Collection Object
          100. Folders.Add Method
          101. For . . . Next Statement
          102. For Each . . . Next Statement
          103. FormatCurrency, FormatNumber, FormatPercent Functions
          104. FormatDateTime Function
          105. Function Statement
          106. GetObject Function
          107. GetRef Function
          108. Hex Function
          109. Hour Function
          110. If . . . Then . . . Else Statement
          111. Initialize Event
          112. InputBox Function
          113. InStr, InStrB Functions
          114. InstrRev Function
          115. Int Function
          116. Is Operator
          117. IsArray Function
          118. IsDate Function
          119. IsEmpty Function
          120. IsNull Function
          121. IsNumeric Function
          122. IsObject Function
          123. Join Function
          124. LBound Function
          125. LCase Function
          126. Left, LeftB Functions
          127. Len, LenB Functions
          128. LoadPicture Function
          129. Log Function
          130. LTrim Function
          131. Match Object
          132. Matches Collection Object
          133. Me Operator
          134. Mid, MidB Functions
          135. Minute Function
          136. Month Function
          137. MonthName Function
          138. MsgBox Function
          139. Now Function
          140. Oct Function
          141. On Error Statement
          142. Option Explicit Statement
          143. Private Statement
          144. Property Get Statement
          145. Property Let Statement
          146. Property Set Statement
          147. Public Statement
          148. Randomize Statement
          149. ReDim Statement
          150. RegExp Object
          151. RegExp.Execute Method
          152. RegExp.Global Property
          153. RegExp.IgnoreCase Property
          154. RegExp.Pattern Property
          155. RegExp.Replace Method
          156. RegExp.Test Method
          157. Rem Statement
          158. Replace Function
          159. RGB Function
          160. Right, RightB Functions
          161. Rnd Function
          162. Round Function
          163. RTrim Function
          164. ScriptEngine Function
          165. ScriptEngineBuildVersion Function
          166. ScriptEngineMajorVersion Function
          167. ScriptEngineMinorVersion Function
          168. Second Function
          169. Select Case Statement
          170. Set Statement
          171. Sgn Function
          172. Sin Function
          173. Space Function
          174. Split Function
          175. Sqr Function
          176. StrComp Function
          177. String Function
          178. StrReverse Function
          179. Sub Statement
          180. Tan Function
          181. Terminate Event
          182. TextStream Object
          183. TextStream.Close Method
          184. TextStream.Read Method
          185. TextStream.ReadAll Method
          186. TextStream.ReadLine Method
          187. TextStream.Skip Method
          188. TextStream.SkipLine Method
          189. TextStream.Write Method
          190. TextStream.WriteBlankLines Method
          191. TextStream.WriteLine Method
          192. Time Function
          193. Timer Function
          194. TimeSerial Function
          195. TimeValue Function
          196. Trim Function
          197. TypeName Function
          198. UBound Function
          199. UCase Function
          200. Unescape function
          201. VarType Function
          202. Weekday Function
          203. WeekdayName Function
          204. While . . . Wend Statement
          205. With Statement
          206. Year Function
      4. III. Appendixes
        1. A. 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
            1. Drive Object
            2. Drives Collection Object
            3. File Object
            4. Files Collection Object
            5. FileSystemObject Object
            6. Folder Object
            7. Folders Collection Object
            8. TextStreamObject
          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. B. 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. C. Operators
          1. Arithmetic Operators
          2. String Operator
          3. Comparison Operators
            1. The Is operator
          4. Logical and Bitwise Operators
          5. Operator Precedence
      5. Index
      6. Colophon

    Product information

    • Title: VBScript in a Nutshell
    • Author(s):
    • Release date: May 1995
    • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
    • ISBN: 9781565927209