My .vbs notes on a (web) page:
vbs = Microsoft Visual Basic Script
Sesame Script: Starting and Stopping Scripts
Sesame Script: Special Characters
Ex:
' a comment is any line that starts with a single quote character "'"; you can also put a comment at the end of a line
Ex:
Wscript.Echo First & " " & Last ' primary purpose of the ampersand is to concatenate
Ex:
Wscript.Echo "There are " & intComputers & _ " computers in use by the Accounting department: " & _ intServer & " servers and " & intDesktop & " desktop machines." ' The line continuation character is the underscore "_"
Ex:
Wscript.Echo "Line 1" : Wscript.Echo "Line 2" ' a way to put more than one command on a line
Ex:
vbtab ' places a tab into output stream
Ex:
vbcrlf ' places a carrage return / line feed into output stream
Ex:
Wscript.Echo "line 1"
Ex:
Wscript.Quit ' stops script from within
Ex:
Wscript.StdOut.Write "ABCD" ' Outputs "ABCD" and the next output will follow the "D"
Ex:
Wscript.StdOut.WriteLine "WXYZ" ' Outputs "WXYZ" and a carriage return
Ex:
Wscript.StdOut.WriteBlankLines 2 ' Outputs two carriage returns
Variables etc. (whole bunch of vbs architecture/theory stuff):
Sesame Script: Class is in Session
Sesame Script: Variables and Constants
Data Types:
Ex:
Const X = 2 ' put a literal value into a constant, another convention is to use caps for consts
Ex:
Dim arrArray(7) ' Mostly required to dim arrays as otherwise the syntax looks like a method ' Tells that you’ll be using this as a variable in the script ' Here seven is the size of the array (eight elements, 0 though 7)
Ex:
ReDim arrArray(5) ' Use after a Dim arrArray() used earlier in a script where the size was not yet known, or want to change
Ex:
Option Explicit ' All variables MUST be dimmed after this command is used, good best practice
Ex:
arrArray(3) = "m" ' Assign a value to an array element
Collections:
Array:
Class:
Properties:
"Properties describe something, whereas methods take an action on that thing."
Property is to Method as Feature is to Action.
Methods:
Method Parameters:
Binding:
Creating an Object Reference – Microsoft Windows 2000 Scripting Guide
Binding – Microsoft Windows 2000 Scripting Guide
Connecting to Objects – Microsoft Windows 2000 Scripting Guide
If... Then... ElseIf... Else... End If:
Sesame Script: Make a Decision
Ex:
If condition Then
action
End If
Ex:
If condition Then
action1
action2
End If
Ex:
If condition Then
action1
action2
Else
action3
action4
End If
Ex:
If condition1 Then
action1
ElseIf condition2 Then
action2
Else ' else is a catch-all if all the above ifs evaluate false
action3
End If
If…Then…Else Statement – VBScript Language Reference
Taking Multiple Actions by Using If Then Else – Microsoft Windows 2000 Scripting Guide
Ex:
If condition Then Action ' this is the un-prefered syntax, all on one line with no End If
The Select Case conditional statement selectively executes different groups of code by comparing a variable to a Case (a series of conditions). If one of the cases (conditions) is satisfied, then the code associated with that case is executed.
Choice = 1 ' could be a string, etc.
Select Case Choice
Case 1
' Case 1 actions
Case 2
' Case 2 actions
Case 3, 4
' Note that two or more comma seperated cases can exist on one line like an Or
' DevGuru example of this
' Case 3 actions
Case Else
' Case not 1, 2, 3, or 4 actions
' The Else is optional, but must be at the end of the Select block
End Select
Sesame Script: Thrown for a Loop
For Each... Next loop cycles once for each element in an object (collection or array)
Ex. For Each... Next example with a Collection:
Set Drives = CreateObject(Scripting.FileSystemObject.Drives)Ex. For Each... Next example with an Array:
For Each Drive in Drives ' Note the plural and singular tenses!
Wscript.Echo "Drive letter: " & Drive.DriveLetter
Next
Dim arrArray(3)
arrArray(0) = 100
arrArray(1) = 150
arrArray(2) = 200
arrArray(3) = 250
For Each intArray in arrArray
Wscript.Echo intArray
Next
For... Next loop cycles based on a counter
Ex. For... Next structure:
For <counter> = <start> to <end> [Step <intStep>]
' do something
Next
Ex. For... Next loop:
Dim arrCount()
size = 3
ReDim arrCount(size)
For i = size to 0 Step -1
arrCount(i) = i
Wscript.Echo arrCount(i)
Next
Ex. Do... Loop Until loops:
Do ' actions Loop Until bStop Do ' action1 ' action2 Loop Until lcase(strChoice) = "exit"
Note that the Loop Until is not evaluated until the code goes through the Do/Loop Until code block and hits it
String Manipulations:
Ex. of RIGHT:
NewString = Right(SourceString, intNumberOfCharactorsFromRightToReturn)
Ex. of LEFT:
NewString = Left(SourceString, intNumberOfCharactorsFromLeftToReturn)
Ex. of MIDDLE:
NewString = Mid(SourceString, intPositionInStringToReturnFrom) ' Returns from that spot to the end of the string
Ex. of MIDDLE:
NewString = Mid(SourceString, intPositionInStringToReturnFrom, intNumberOfCharactorsFromMiddleToReturn)
Ex. of LENGHT:
intLenghtOfString = Len(SourceString)
Ex. of LCase:
sLowerCase = LCase(sMixedCase)
Ex:
Wscript.Echo "Now: " & Now
Wscript.Echo "Date: " & Date
Wscript.Echo "Two months from Now: " & DateAdd("m", 2, Now)
Wscript.Echo "Days left in the year: " & DateDiff("d", Now, #1/1/2008#)
Wscript.Echo "Day: " & Day(Now)
Wscript.Echo "Month: " & Month(Now)
Wscript.Echo "Year: " & Year(Now)
Wscript.Echo "Day of the week: " & Weekday(Now)
Wscript.Echo "Day of the week, readable: " & WeekdayName(Weekday(Now))
Stuff that goes in the "what" part of DateAdd and DateDiff:
Ex:
now ' returns the date and time