VBScript in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference - Softcover

Childs, Matt; Lomax, Paul; Petrusha, Ron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1565927206 ISBN 13: 9781565927209

Publisher: O'Reilly Media, 1995

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review:

Because it applies the concise and popular Nutshell format to Microsoft's preferred scripting language, VBScript in a Nutshell is a valuable learning resource and reference. Focusing on the core language rather than on any specific application, this book teaches how to write clear, efficient VBScript code. Whether developing for the Web, automating Windows, or customizing Microsoft Outlook, this book will help the reader do a better job.

Though it caters to new users, VBScript is mainly a reference book. Each piece of the core VBScript specification (plus the Dictionary and FileSystemObject objects that make up the Microsoft Scripting Runtime) is described in an alphabetized entry. For each statement, function, operator, and object, the book gives a quick description of the element's syntax, concise rules of its proper use, information on returned values (if any), and some examples of the language element used correctly in practice. Two additional sections on each language element will be valuable to novices and anyone stumped by errors: a "Rules at a Glance" section that documents correct usage, and a section called "Programming Tips & Gotchas" that highlights common mistakes. --David Wall

Topics covered: Core VBScript and the most important object models on which it operates, including Microsoft Internet Explorer and the Windows Scripting Host. Tutorial material and reference entries explain structure, syntax, and program design.

About the Author:

Matt Childs is a vice president with Integrity Solutions Inc., one of Alaska's leading custom software development companies. Matt is responsible for overseeing all in-house development, and over the past year has worked with the State of Alaska and Alaska's two largest telecommunications companies. Matt has worked in the information technology field for nine years, and has been a VB programmer since Visual Basic 3. During most of his early career, Matt was an information technology manager for a large transportation company, where he developed custom software solutions and systems integration for the company's largest clients. Matt has industry experience with utilities; express transportation; and chemical, petroleum, and retail companies. In the winter, Matt spends his free time with his telescope, and during the long Alaska summer days, he enjoys playing softball and spending time with his family. Matt, his wife LeAndra and their daughter Meghan recently returned to Anchorage, Alaska, after spending some time in the southern United States. Matt is also a fiction writer and a freelance journalist.

Paul Lomax, author of O'Reilly's VB & VBA in a Nutshell and a coauthor of VBScript in a Nutshell, is an experienced VB programmer with a passion for sharing his knowledge--and his collection of programming tips and techniques gathered from real-world experience.

Ron Petrusha is an editor for O'Reilly and is the author/coauthor of many books, including VBScript in a Nutshell. Ron has a background in quantitative labor history, specializing in Russian labor history, and holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Columbia University. He began working with computers in the mid 1970s, programming in SPSS (a programmable statistical package) and FORTRAN on the IBM 370 family. Since then, he has been a computer book buyer, an editor of a number of books on Windows and Unix, and a consultant on projects written in dBASE, Clipper, and Visual Basic.

About this edition

• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 1565927206
• ISBN 13: 9781565927209
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 508