Vbscript in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Paul Lomax (Author), Matt Childs (Author), Ron Petrusha (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2000

Lightweight yet powerful, VBScript from Microsoft® is used in four main areas: server-side web applications using Active Server Pages (ASP), client-side web scripts using Internet Explorer, code behind Outlook forms, and automating repetitive tasks using Windows Script Host (WSH). VBScript in a Nutshell, Second Edition delivers current and complete documentation for programmers and system administrators who want to develop effective scripts.

Completely updated for VBScript 5.6, WSH 5.6 and ASP 3.0, VBScript In a Nutshell, Second Edition includes updated introductory chapters that will help you keep current with the significant changes since the first edition was published. New chapters introduce the Windows Script Component for creating binary COM components, and the Script Encoder.

The main part of the book is a comprehensive reference focusing on VBScript essentials with an alphabetical reference to all statements, keywords and objects, and a section of notes and solutions to real-world gotchas--various undocumented behaviors and aspects of the language--to help you avoid potential problems. Each entry in the reference section details the following:

• The keyword's syntax, using standard code conventions
• A list of arguments accepted by the function or procedure, if any exist
• A discussion of how and where the keyword should be used within the scripting environment
• A discussion of the differences between the operation of the keyword in Visual Basic or VBA and in VBScript

Regardless of your level of experience programming with VBScript, VBScript in a Nutshell, Second Edition is the book you'll want by your side--the most complete, up-to-date, and easy-to-use language reference available.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

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.

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.

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.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 495 pages
• ISBN-10: 1565927206
• ASIN: B00008CM4D
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,629,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good reference, it may have information you don't care about, June 23, 2000

By 

JRK "jkunz" (N.H.) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: VBScript in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly)) (Paperback)

It's about time someone else reviewed this book!

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.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Reference, July 24, 2000

By 

"kenneg" - See all my reviews

This review is from: VBScript in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly)) (Paperback)

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.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How did I manage this before?, October 14, 2000

By 

Jase T. Wolfe - See all my reviews

This review is from: VBScript in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly)) (Paperback)

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.