About the Book
This description refers to a previous edition of VBScript Programmer's Reference. For the most recent edition of this book, look for ISBN 0-7645-5993-1. What is this book about?
VBScript is one of Microsoft's scripting languages, which can be employed in a variety of ways — from client-side scripting in Internet Explorer to server-side programming in ASP and the new Microsoft Windows Script Host. The language itself has been gradually increasing in power and flexibility, and the newest release, VBScript 5.0 (which comes with IE5.0), represents a huge increase in functionality and effectiveness:
VBScript books now in demand from VB and WSH developers
New version 5.0 now available with substantial changes — this is first book
Proven Programmer's Reference format
Extensive reference to langauge and object models
What does this book cover?
Here are just a few of the things you'll find in this book:
A complete guide to the VBScript language and its syntax
Up-to-date details of the most recent scripting engines for Internet Explorer, ASP and the Windows Script Host
Coverage of the new features in VBScript 5, including constructing classes, specific data-types and using regular expressions
Coverage of a vast range of uses that VBScript can be put to work with
Extensive reference covering the various implementations and all the relevant object models
Who is this book for?
This book will be useful for anyone who wants to get a grip on VBScript. Whether you've just played around with HTML and want to find out about the world of programming, or whether you're an experienced programmer who needs to learn the VBScript language in order to work with the Windows Script Host or develop ASP pages, this book will show you the way. No prior knowledge of programming is assumed.
Table of Contents:
Introduction. Part 1. The Language.
Chapter 1. A (Very) Short Introduction to Programming.
Chapter 2. Variables and Data Types.
Chapter 3. Control of Flow.
Chapter 4. Error Handling, Prevention and Debugging.
Chapter 5. Using COM Components and Objects.
Chapter 6. Using COM Components with MTS.
Chapter 7. The Built-In and Scripting Runtime Objects.
Chapter 8. Classes in VBScript Writing Your Own COM Objects).
Chapter 9. Windows Script Components.
Chapter 10. The Windows Script Host.
Chapter 11. General Client-Side Web Scripting.
Chapter 12. High-Powered Client Scripting.
Chapter 13. HTML Applications (HTAs).
Chapter 14. Server-Side Web Scripting with ASP.
Chapter 15. Talking to Databases: ActiveX Data Objects.
Chapter 16. Microsoft Script Control
Appendix A. Visual Basic Functions and Keywords.
Appendix B. Differences between VB/VBA and VBScript5.
Appendix C. Code Conventions.
Appendix D. Visual Basic Constants Supported in VBScript.
Appendix E. VBScript Err or Codes and the Err Object.
Appendix F. The Scripting Runtime Library Objects Reference.
Appendix G. Windows Script Host 2.0.
Appendix H. The Browser Object Model – IE4.
Appendix I. The Browser Object Model – IE5.
Appendix J. The Integral ASP Objects.
Appendix K. ADO Object Summary, Constants, and Data Types.
Appendix L. The Microsoft Script Encoder.
About the Author :
Susanne Clark has worked with the latest internet technologies, including DHTML, XML, XSL, IE5 programming and scripting, and has contributed chapters on these subjects to the recently published Professional Visual InterDev 6 Programming from Wrox Press. She is currently working as a user interfaces developer in Seattle, USA. When not dealing with computers, she enjoys spending time with her cats, and reading mystery books. Susanne would like to thank Luca for all of his patience and help. Ti amo. Antonio De Donatis (adedonatis@yahoo.com) began programming in 1984, using a mixture of Basic and assembler on a Commodore 64. Since then, he has designed software the object-oriented way, employing more programming languages and technologies than he can count. He finds programming to be one of the best activities to exercise creativity and to be intellectually active. He has worked for many of the major firms in IT either as employee or as freelance. His current interests include all the technologies involved in the design and implementation of e-commerce solutions. Antonio holds a BS degree in Computer Science from Pisa University (Italy) and he is a Microsoft Certified Professional.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is Technical Director of Kingsley-Hughes Development Ltd, a UK-based training and development firm, where he is a consultant in Internet Development and Windows platform programming. He has co-authored 8 books for Active Path and Wrox Press. His abiding passion is the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence and he is the Welsh Regional Coordinator for SETILeague Inc. In his spare time he writes horror novels, plays the didgeridoo and is currently building a radio telescope in his back yard.
Kathie Kingsley-Hughes In addition to writing web development books for Active Path and Wrox Press, Kathie Kingsley-Hughes is the Managing Director of UK-based Kingsley-Hughes Development Ltd, where she specializes primarily in the development and delivery of training courses in web development skills. She began teaching in 1985 and has lectured at several UK colleges and other training establishments and she is currently teaching at ZDU. Any spare time is taken up with astronomy, photography and hiking in the mountains.
Brian Matsik is the President and Senior Consultant at OOCS in Charlotte, NC. He is MCSD certified and has been working with Visual Basic, VBScript, and VBA for over six years. He currently specializes in ASP, SQL Server, and VB COM. Brian can be reached at brianmat@oocs.com.
Erick Nelson is a 18 year old Internet developer and programmer, and creator of the award winning website cues.com. about which he spoke at both the 1998 and 1999 Professional ASP Developer's Conference. Erick began his programming career at age 16, and now has experience using ASP, VBScript and Visual Basic to design sites. Erick enjoys playing computer games and working on his online RPG system. His outdoor activities include mountain biking, swimming, cliff jumping, playing tennis and snow skiing. He can be reached at erick@ericknelson.com.
Piotr Prussak works for ACEN in Buffalo, NY as a developer (although he is originally from Poland). He creates ASP, VB and Java Applications for the company and its clients. He also spends some time working with the SQL server and ColdFusion, probably more than he should. When he's not programming and mentoring, he either writes stuff, or edits stuff written by others. Sometimes he sleeps, eats and relaxes like any other human being. In the past life he used to be a photographer, but that was just too relaxing. Piotr (or Peter, as some might call him) is married to lovely Joanne, who is an MIS student at a local University. Sometimes they travel all over the world and are disconnected from the world of computers and 24 hour news.
Daniel Read is Senior Developer at Compass, Inc. in Atlanta, GA, where he and fellow team members build IIS/ASP/VB/MTS e-commerce web sites, as well as client/server and distributed systems. Daniel sometimes longs for his simpler, statically linked days as an X-Base developer and DOS command line junkie, but today enjoys the power afforded by the arsenal of Microsoft's Windows DNA tools and technologies. His other interests include camping, crime fiction, listening to music of all sorts, and going to as many concerts as he can. He's not sure if co-authoring a programming book will help him meet the woman of his dreams, but it sure would be nice.
Carsten Thomsen is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, who started programming in Visual Basic back in 1993, when it was version 3.0. Presently he is pursuing Microsoft Certified Systems Developer certification and was recently awarded the MVP title for his contributions to the Microsoft Visual Basic newgroups. For the last 4 years he has been developing 2-tier and 3-tier client/server solutions based on MS SQL Server, MTS and MSMQ, but has more recently been moving towards browser-based development, based on MS IIS, using ASP/VBScript, COM/ActiveX components and Visual Basic WebClasses. In whatever spare time he has, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his two daughters, Nicole and Caroline, and his girlfriend Mia. He works out at a local gym and (at spectator-level) enjoys ice hockey and soccer. He is generally considered a computer freak, and spends too much time at the computer.
Paul Wilton After an initial start as a Visual Basic applications programmer, Paul found himself pulled into the net and has spent the last 18 months helping create internet and intranet solutions. Currently he is developing web-based systems, primarily using Visual Basic 6 and SQL Server 7, along with numerous other technologies.
Susanne Clark has worked with the latest internet technologies, including DHTML, XML, XSL, IE5 programming and scripting, and has contributed chapters on these subjects to the recently published Professional Visual InterDev 6 Programming from Wrox Press. She is currently working as a user interfaces developer in Seattle, USA. When not dealing with computers, she enjoys spending time with her cats, and reading mystery books. Susanne would like to thank Luca for all of his patience and help. Ti amo. Antonio De Donatis (adedonatis@yahoo.com) began programming in 1984, using a mixture of Basic and assembler on a Commodore 64. Since then, he has designed software the object-oriented way, employing more programming languages and technologies than he can count. He finds programming to be one of the best activities to exercise creativity and to be intellectually active. He has worked for many of the major firms in IT either as employee or as freelance. His current interests include all the technologies involved in the design and implementation of e-commerce solutions. Antonio holds a BS degree in Computer Science from Pisa University (Italy) and he is a Microsoft Certified Professional.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is Technical Director of Kingsley-Hughes Development Ltd, a UK-based training and development firm, where he is a consultant in Internet Development and Windows platform programming. He has co-authored 8 books for Active Path and Wrox Press. His abiding passion is the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence and he is the Welsh Regional Coordinator for SETILeague Inc. In his spare time he writes horror novels, plays the didgeridoo and is currently building a radio telescope in his back yard.
Kathie Kingsley-Hughes In addition to writing web development books for Active Path and Wrox Press, Kathie Kingsley-Hughes is the Managing Director of UK-based Kingsley-Hughes Development Ltd, where she specializes primarily in the development and delivery of training courses in web development skills. She began teaching in 1985 and has lectured at several UK colleges and other training establishments and she is currently teaching at ZDU. Any spare time is taken up with astronomy, photography and hiking in the mountains.
Brian Matsik is the President and Senior Consultant at OOCS in Charlotte, NC. He is MCSD certified and has been working with Visual Basic, VBScript, and VBA for over six years. He currently specializes in ASP, SQL Server, and VB COM. Brian can be reached at brianmat@oocs.com.
Erick Nelson is a 18 year old Internet developer and programmer, and creator of the award winning website cues.com. about which he spoke at both the 1998 and 1999 Professional ASP Developer's Conference. Erick began his programming career at age 16, and now has experience using ASP, VBScript and Visual Basic to design sites. Erick enjoys playing computer games and working on his online RPG system. His outdoor activities include mountain biking, swimming, cliff jumping, playing tennis and snow skiing. He can be reached at erick@ericknelson.com.
Piotr Prussak works for ACEN in Buffalo, NY as a developer (although he is originally from Poland). He creates ASP, VB and Java Applications for the company and its clients. He also spends some time working with the SQL server and ColdFusion, probably more than he should. When he's not programming and mentoring, he either writes stuff, or edits stuff written by others. Sometimes he sleeps, eats and relaxes like any other human being. In the past life he used to be a photographer, but that was just too relaxing. Piotr (or Peter, as some might call him) is married to lovely Joanne, who is an MIS student at a local University. Sometimes they travel all over the world and are disconnected from the world of computers and 24 hour news.
Daniel Read is Senior Developer at Compass, Inc. in Atlanta, GA, where he and fellow team members build IIS/ASP/VB/MTS e-commerce web sites, as well as client/server and distributed systems. Daniel sometimes longs for his simpler, statically linked days as an X-Base developer and DOS command line junkie, but today enjoys the power afforded by the arsenal of Microsoft's Windows DNA tools and technologies. His other interests include camping, crime fiction, listening to music of all sorts, and going to as many concerts as he can. He's not sure if co-authoring a programming book will help him meet the woman of his dreams, but it sure would be nice.
Carsten Thomsen is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, who started programming in Visual Basic back in 1993, when it was version 3.0. Presently he is pursuing Microsoft Certified Systems Developer certification and was recently awarded the MVP title for his contributions to the Microsoft Visual Basic newgroups. For the last 4 years he has been developing 2-tier and 3-tier client/server solutions based on MS SQL Server, MTS and MSMQ, but has more recently been moving towards browser-based development, based on MS IIS, using ASP/VBScript, COM/ActiveX components and Visual Basic WebClasses. In whatever spare time he has, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his two daughters, Nicole and Caroline, and his girlfriend Mia. He works out at a local gym and (at spectator-level) enjoys ice hockey and soccer. He is generally considered a computer freak, and spends too much time at the computer.
Paul Wilton After an initial start as a Visual Basic applications programmer, Paul found himself pulled into the net and has spent the last 18 months helping create internet and intranet solutions. Currently he is developing web-based systems, primarily using Visual Basic 6 and SQL Server 7, along with numerous other technologies.
