Microsoft Wsh And Vbscript Programming For The Absolute Beginner

by Ford, Jr., Jerry Lee

• ISBN13: 9781592007318
• ISBN10: 1592007317
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-02-18
• Publisher: Cengage Learning PTR

Summary

If you are new to programming with Microsoft WSH and VBScript and are looking for a solid introduction, this is the book for you. Developed by computer science professors, books in the for the absolute beginner series teach the principles of programming through simple game creation. You will acquire the skills that you need for more practical WSH and VBScript programming applications and will learn how these skills can be put to use in real-world scenarios. Best of all, by the time you finish this book, you will be able to apply the basic principles you've learned to the next programming language you tackle.

Author Biography

Jerry Lee Ford, Jr. is an author, educator, and IT professional with more than 16 years' experience in information technology, including roles as an automation analyst, technical manager, technical support analyst, and security analyst

Table of Contents

Introduction	xv
PART I Introducing the WSH and VBScript	1	(62)
Getting Started with the Wsh and Vbscript	3	(32)
Project Preview: The Knock Knock Game	4	(1)
What Is the WSH?	5	(14)
WSH Scripting Engines	6	(1)
Selecting a WSH Script Execution Host	6	(1)
Introducing the WSH Core Object Model	7	(1)
How Does the WSH Compare to Windows Shell Scripting?	8	(1)
Understanding How the Windows Shell Works	9	(3)
How Does It All Work?	12	(1)
Operating System Compatibility	13	(1)
How Do You Install It?	14	(1)
How Does It Work with VBScript?	14	(4)
What Other Scripting Languages Does the WSH Support?	18	(1)
Introducing VBScript	19	(7)
VBScript Capabilities	20	(1)
VBScript's Roots	21	(1)
VBScript's Cousins: Visual Basic and VBA	22	(4)
Microsoft Scripting Technologies Web Page	26	(2)
Back to the Knock Knock Game	28	(5)
Designing the Game	28	(4)
The Final Result	32	(1)
Summary	33	(2)
Overview of the Windows Script Host	35	(28)
Project Preview: The Rock, Paper, and Scissors Game	36	(1)
A Detailed Examination of WSH Components	36	(15)
The Core Object Model	37	(2)
WSH Objects and Their Properties and Methods	39	(12)
Configuring WSH Execution Hosts	51	(7)
Configuring WScript and CScript Command-Line Execution	51	(2)
Configuring WScript Desktop Execution	53	(1)
Overriding Command-Line Host Execution Settings	54	(2)
Customizing WScript Settings for Individual Desktop Scripts	56	(2)
Back to the Rock, Paper, and Scissors Game	58	(4)
Designing the Game	58	(3)
The Final Result	61	(1)
Summary	62	(1)
PART II Learning VBScript & WSH Scripting	63	(168)
VBScript Basics	65	(36)
Project Preview: The Math Game	66	(2)
VBScript Statements	68	(1)
VBScript Syntax Rules	68	(5)
Reserved Characters	70	(1)
Adding Comments	70	(3)
Mastering the VBScript Object Model	73	(1)
Working with VBScript Run-Time Objects	74	(5)
Properties	75	(2)
Methods	77	(2)
Using VBScript Run-Time Objects in Your Scripts	79	(2)
Examining Built-in VBScript Functions	81	(2)
Demo: The Square Root Calculator	81	(1)
Demo: A New and Improved Square Root Calculator	82	(1)
Displaying Script Output	83	(6)
The WScript's Echo() Method	84	(1)
The WshShell Object's Popup() Method	84	(2)
The VBScript InputBox() Function	86	(1)
The VBScript MsgBox() Function	87	(2)
Back to the Math Game	89	(10)
A Quick Overview of the WshShell SendKeys() Method	89	(3)
Designing the Game	92	(4)
The Final Result	96	(3)
Summary	99	(2)
Constants, Variables, and Arrays	101	(44)
Project Preview: The Story of Captain Adventure	101	(2)
Understanding How Scripts View Data	103	(1)
Working with Data That Never Changes	104	(7)
Assigning Data to Constants	104	(3)
VBScript Run-Time Constants	107	(4)
Storing Data That Changes During Script Execution	111	(13)
VBScript Data Types	111	(1)
Defining Variables	112	(3)
Variable Naming Rules	115	(1)
Variable Scope	116	(1)
Modifying Variable Values with Expressions	117	(4)
Using the WSH to Work with Environment Variables	121	(3)
Working with Collections of Related Data	124	(11)
Single-Dimension Arrays	125	(1)
Multiple-Dimension Arrays	126	(1)
Processing Array Contents	127	(2)
Getting a Handle on the Size of Your Arrays	129	(1)
Resizing Arrays	130	(3)
Building Dynamic Arrays	133	(2)
Erasing Arrays	135	(1)
Processing Data Passed to a Script at Run-Time	135	(2)
Passing Arguments to Scripts	135	(1)
Designing Scripts That Accept Argument Input	136	(1)
Back to the Story of Captain Adventure	137	(7)
Designing the Game	138	(4)
The Final Result	142	(2)
Summary	144	(1)
Conditional Logic	145	(28)
Project Preview: The Star Trek Quiz Game	145	(2)
Examining Program Data	147	(14)
The If Statement	148	(10)
The Select Case Statement	158	(3)
Performing More Complex Tests with VBScript Operators	161	(1)
Back to the Star Trek Quiz Game	162	(10)
Game Development	163	(6)
The Fully Assembled Script	169	(3)
Summary	172	(1)
Processing Collections of Data	173	(30)
Project Preview: The Guess a Number Game	173	(2)
Adding Looping Logic to Scripts	175	(10)
The For . . . Next Statement	175	(3)
The For Each . . . Next Statement	178	(2)
Do . . . While	180	(3)
Do . . . Until	183	(1)
While . . . Wend	184	(1)
Back to the Guess a Number Game	185	(16)
Designing the Game	185	(4)
The Final Result	189	(2)
Creating Shortcuts for Your Game	191	(9)
A Complete Shortcut Script	200	(1)
Summary	201	(2)
Using Procedures to Organize Scripts	203	(28)
Project Preview: The BlackJack Lite Game	203	(2)
Improving Script Design with Procedures	205	(9)
Introducing Subroutines	206	(1)
Creating Custom Functions	207	(1)
Improving Script Manageability	208	(1)
Writing Reusable Code	209	(1)
The Guess a Number Game Revisited	210	(4)
Working with Built-In VBScript Functions	214	(1)
Limiting Variables Scope with Procedures	214	(2)
Back to the BlackJack Lite Game	216	(14)
Designing the Game	216	(9)
The Final Result	225	(5)
Summary	230	(1)
PART III Advanced Topics	231	(200)
Storing and Retrieving Data	233	(44)
Project Preview: The Lucky Lottery Number Picker	233	(2)
Working with the Windows File System	235	(3)
Opening and Closing Files	238	(4)
Writing to Files	242	(3)
Writing Characters	242	(1)
Writing Lines	243	(1)
Adding Blank Lines	244	(1)
Reading from Files	245	(3)
Skipping Lines	246	(1)
Reading Files Character by Character	247	(1)
Reading a File All at Once	247	(1)
Managing Files and Folders	248	(6)
Copying, Moving, and Deleting Files	249	(1)
Copying One or More Files	250	(1)
Moving One or More Files	250	(1)
Deleting One or More Files	251	(1)
Creating a New Folder	251	(1)
Copying Folders	251	(1)
Moving Folders	252	(1)
Deleting Folders	252	(2)
Storing Script Configuration Settings in External Files	254	(3)
INI File Structure	254	(1)
A Working Example	254	(3)
Back to the Lucky Lottery Number Picker	257	(19)
Designing the Game	258	(10)
The Final Result	268	(8)
Summary	276	(1)
Handling Script Errors	277	(42)
Project Preview: The Hangman Game	277	(2)
Understanding VBScript Errors	279	(7)
Understanding Error Messages	280	(1)
Fixing Syntax Errors	281	(2)
Catching Run-Time Errors	283	(2)
Preventing Logical Errors	285	(1)
Dealing with Errors	286	(5)
Letting Errors Happen	286	(1)
Ignoring Errors	287	(1)
Creating Error Handlers	288	(3)
Reporting Errors	291	(2)
Creating a Custom Log File	291	(1)
Recording an Error Message in the Application Event Log	292	(1)
Back to the Hangman Game	293	(24)
Designing the Game	294	(14)
The Final Result	308	(9)
Summary	317	(2)
Using the Windows Registry to Configure Script Settings	319	(32)
Project Preview: Part 2 of the Hangman Game	319	(2)
Introducing the Windows Registry	321	(5)
How Is the Registry Organized?	322	(1)
Understanding How Data Is Stored in the Registry	323	(3)
Accessing Registry Keys and Values	326	(1)
Creating a Key and Value to Store Script Settings	326	(3)
Creating or Modifying Registry Keys and Values	326	(1)
Accessing Information Stored in the Registry	327	(1)
Deleting Keys and Values	327	(1)
Retrieving System Information Stored in the Registry	327	(2)
Back to Part 2 of the Hangman Game	329	(20)
Creating the Setup Script	330	(3)
Updating the Hangman Game	333	(16)
Summary	349	(2)
Working with Built-In Vbscript Objects	351	(46)
Project Preview: The Tic-Tac-Toe Game	351	(2)
Leveraging VBScript's Built-In Collection of Objects	353	(3)
Built-In Object Properties	355	(1)
Built-In Object Methods	355	(1)
Creating Custom Objects	356	(6)
Defining a Custom Object	356	(1)
Defining Object Properties and Methods	357	(1)
Creating Event Procedures	358	(4)
Working with the Err Object	362	(1)
Working with Regular Expressions	362	(6)
Replacing Matching Patterns	363	(3)
Testing for Matching Patterns	366	(1)
Creating Matches Collections	367	(1)
Back to the Tic-Tac-Toe Game	368	(27)
Designing the Game	369	(14)
The Final Result	383	(12)
Summary	395	(2)
Combining Different Scripting Languages	397	(34)
Project Preview: The VBScript Game Console	397	(2)
Introducing Windows Script Files	399	(8)
Examining WSH Supported XML Tags	400	(1)
Using the <?job?> Tag	400	(1)
Using the <?XML?> Tag	401	(1)
The <comment> </comment> Tags	402	(1)
The <job> </job> Tags	402	(2)
The <package> </package> Tags	404	(1)
The <resource> </resource> Tags	405	(1)
The <script> </script> Tags	405	(2)
Executing Your Windows Script Files	407	(1)
Back to the VBScript Game Console	407	(23)
Designing the Game	407	(1)
Using XML to Outline the Script's Structure	408	(1)
Writing the First JScript	409	(2)
Developing the VBScript Game Console	411	(9)
Writing the Second JScript	420	(1)
The Final Result	420	(10)
Summary	430	(1)
PART IV Appendices	431	(2)
Appendix A WSH Administrative Scripting	433	(34)
Desktop Administration	434	(4)
Configuring the Desktop Background	434	(2)
Configuring the Screen Saver	436	(2)
Network Administration	438	(3)
Mapping Network Drives	438	(2)
Disconnecting Mapped Drives	440	(1)
Printer Administration	441	(3)
Connecting to a Network Printer	441	(2)
Disconnecting from a Network Printer	443	(1)
Computer Administration	444	(4)
Managing Services	444	(2)
User Account Administration	446	(2)
Scheduling the Execution of Administrative Scripts	448	(5)
The AT Command	448	(2)
The Windows Scheduler	450	(1)
Creating a Master Scheduling Script	451	(2)
Disk Management	453	(4)
Automating Disk Cleanup	453	(2)
Automating the Disk Defrag Process	455	(2)
Integrating VBScript with Other Applications	457	(10)
Automating Microsoft Word Reports Generation	457	(4)
Automating the Creation of Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets	461	(3)
Automating the Execution of Third-Party Applications	464	(3)
Appendix B Built-In VBScript Functions	467	(6)
VBScript Functions	467	(6)
Appendix C What's on the Companion Web Site?	473	(8)
Script Examples	473	(4)
VBScript Editors	477	(4)
Adersoft VbsEdit	477	(1)
VBSEditor	478	(1)
SitePad Pro	479	(2)
Appendix D What Next?	481	(6)
Recommended Reading	481	(1)
Locating WSH and VBScript Resources Online	482	(5)
Index	487