Customer Reviews

Windows Script Host Programmer's Reference

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have spent months and many bucks trying to learn how to create com objects for WinNT. This book gave me both the information and the insight to create, debug and run simple WSC and ASP components written in VBScript in less than 3 hours from the time I realized that such a thing was possible. Finding out about WSH 2.0 has made me a Microsoft NT Zealot and quite possibly created a monster. We'll see :-). In any event, I think I have written my last ksh script.

This book is typical of Wrox Press - Minimal fluff, Maximum information. This is a true reference for WSH, VBScript and JScript including syntax and object models. I highly recommend it for all experienced NT Administrators. If you looking for someone to hold your hand, wait and buy Windows Script For Dummies.

I originaly bought this book for a quick intro to scripting Active X objects for a particular project, but soon found myself open to the possibilities of creating COM objects, which I wasn't expecting. Serendipity is a good thing. Anyone writing code for Windows platforms should get up to speed on this and the WSH is a easy way to do it. Mr. Esposito's style is very easy to follow, and I could actually get some personality from the text-- unusual for a programming book. WSH will inspire you to script and control EVERYTHING on your NT network. Interesting book at a good price.

This book was my first stab at WSH, and I was dissapointed with this book. The bright side is that it shows most examples in several languages (VB Script, JavaScript, WS), and the first half of the book is pretty good. Howerver, in the second half of the book, all Esposito did was introduct objects that he had compliled and written and how readers could use and implement them. If he wants to promote his own objects and explain them, he should have written a book entitled "These are my objects and how to use them". Otherwise, he should have stuck to the subject matter, WSH, itself (or renamed this book!).

Additionally, Esposito is very flowery in hiw writing. If I want flowery writing, I'll check out something in the fiction section of Amazon, but for my technical books, I want to-the-point information.

One other thing I saw that another reader noted is that most of what Esposito addresses is Win98. I would have hoped to find more NT / 2K stuff since that's what most of us in the real world are running and supporting.

I expected it to be a reference guide, but it really requires a lot of deduction to pull anything together. The book isn't clear on which version of the WSH it is using, doesn't provide usage code examples for all listed commands in both Java Script and VBScript, and either lightly touches upon, or completely skips major concepts. It reads pretty dry, and really should make the source code readily available right in the book, instead of having to navigate through Wrox's site to find it. Might be a good "additional information" type book once you buy and read a real instructional or reference book for the WSH.

I appreciated Mr. Esposito's deep knowledge of WSH and his tipically italian colloquial style. No other book I read about WSH was so clear and rich of detailed advices about system management, task automation and COM. The custom components included inspire you to do more and more through COM: I seamlessly found myself "scripting" on windows the same things that previously I could afford only on my Unix systems, and in a native language. Together with a good VB and JS language reference, this book is a MUST for every windows system administrator.

If the WSH has a capability not covered in this book, have have yet to encounter it (and I use WSH each day). This is not a reference for vbscript or jscript; this is a generic programming guide to using the WSH. If you know one or more activex scripting languages, get this book. Easy reading; few mistakes (remember: it's not .ws, it's .wsf by default).

Someone else reviewed this book and rated it low (2 stars) because they said it was geared too much for a developer. Well, thats why the title says "Windows Scripting Host" PROGRAMMERS REFERENCE". In the future before you review a book, understand what the book is trying to accomplish. This is a great reference, with good examples

Great book for learning WSH and its associated object models. This book has an emphaisis on creating reuable code, using both WSH 1 & 2. Dino Esposito also gives us some shell extensions he has written in VB & C++.

Dino is a gifted technical writer. Check out his articles at MSDN. I came to this book for remote scripting needs in an intranet project. What I found was the best presentation of the current state of MS's vision for scripting technologies - way beyond where I thought they were going. The usage of elementary XML with WSH indicates how pervasive and committed MS is to developing their scripting platform. This is a must read for any MS developer as well as motivated non-programming NT Administrators who want to control their Windows environment.

J Stivers MCSD MSDBA IBM Midrange Systems and Programming Professional