VBScript (''"
Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition"'') is an
Active Scripting
Active Scripting (formerly known as ActiveX Scripting) is the technology used in Windows to implement component-based scripting support. It is based on OLE Automation (part of COM) and allows installation of additional scripting engines in the form ...
language developed by Microsoft that is modeled on
Visual Basic. It allows
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
system administrators to generate powerful tools for managing computers without
error handling and with
subroutine
In computer programming, a function or subroutine is a sequence of program instructions that performs a specific task, packaged as a unit. This unit can then be used in programs wherever that particular task should be performed.
Functions may ...
s and other advanced programming constructs. It can give the user complete control over many aspects of their computing environment.
VBScript uses the
Component Object Model to access elements of the environment within which it is running; for example, the FileSystemObject (FSO) is used to
create, read, update and delete files. VBScript has been installed by default in every desktop release of
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
since
Windows 98; in
Windows Server since
Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack; and optionally with
Windows CE (depending on the device it is installed on).
A VBScript script must be executed within a
host environment, of which there are several provided with Microsoft Windows, including:
Windows Script Host (WSH),
Internet Explorer (IE), and
Internet Information Services (IIS). Additionally, the VBScript hosting environment is embeddable in other programs, through technologies such as the Microsoft Script Control ().
History
VBScript began as part of the Microsoft Windows Script Technologies, launched in 1996. This technology (which also included
JScript) was initially targeted at web developers. During a period of just over two years, VBScript advanced from version 1.0 to 2.0, and over that time it gained support from Windows
system administrators seeking an automation tool more powerful than the
batch language first developed in the early 1980s. On August 1, 1996,
Internet Explorer was released with features that included VBScript.
In version 5.0, the functionality of VBScript was increased with new features including
regular expressions;
classes; the ''With'' statement; the ''Eval'', ''Execute'', and ''ExecuteGlobal'' functions to evaluate and execute script commands built during the execution of another script; a function-pointer system via GetRef, and
Distributed COM (DCOM) support.
In version 5.5, ''SubMatches'' were added to the ''regular expression'' class in VBScript, to finally allow script authors to capture the text within the expression's groups. That capability had already been available in JScript.
With the advent of the
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a proprietary software framework developed by Microsoft that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It was the predominant implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) until bein ...
, the scripting team took the decision to implement future support for VBScript within
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is an open-source, server-side web-application framework designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. It was developed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic web sites, applications and services. The name stan ...
for web development, and therefore no new versions of the VBScript engine would be developed. It would henceforth be supported by Microsoft's ''Sustaining Engineering Team'', who are responsible for bug fixes and security enhancements. For Windows system administrators, Microsoft suggests migrating to
Windows PowerShell. However, the scripting engine will continue to be shipped with future releases of Microsoft Windows and IIS.
Environments
When employed for client-side web development in Microsoft
Internet Explorer, VBScript is similar in function to
JavaScript. It is used to write executable functions that are embedded in or included from HTML pages and interact with the
Document Object Model (DOM) of the page, to perform tasks not possible in HTML alone. However, other web browsers such as
Firefox and
Opera and recently
Chrome
Chrome may refer to:
Materials
* Chrome plating, a process of surfacing with chromium
* Chrome alum, a chemical used in mordanting and photographic film
Computing
* Google Chrome, a web browser developed by Google
** ChromeOS, a Google Chrome- ...
do not have built-in support for VBScript. This means that where client-side scripting and cross-browser compatibility are required, developers usually choose JavaScript over most other programming languages, such as VBScript.
VBScript is also used for server-side processing of web pages, most notably with Microsoft
Active Server Pages (ASP). The ASP engine and type library, , invokes to run VBScript scripts. VBScript that is embedded in an ASP page is contained within <% and %> context switches. The following example of an ASP page with VBScript displays the current time in 24-hour format, but it is also used as the default script for error messages with the Windows operating systems.
<% Option Explicit %>
VBScript Example
<%
' Grab current time from Now() function.
' An '=' sign occurring after a context switch (<%) is shorthand
' for a call to the Write() method of the Response object.
Dim timeValue : timeValue = Now %>
The time, in 24-hour format, is
<%=Hour(timeValue)%>:<%=Minute(timeValue)%>:<%=Second(timeValue)%>.
VBScript can also be used to create applications that run directly on a workstation running
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
. The simplest example is a script that makes use of the
Windows Script Host (WSH) environment. Such a script is usually in a stand-alone file with the
file extension .vbs
. The script can be invoked in two ways: is used to display output and receive input through a GUI, such as dialog and input boxes. is used in a
command line environment.
VBScript can be included in two other types of scripting files:
Windows Script File
A Windows Script File (WSF) is a file type used by the Microsoft Windows Script Host. It allows mixing the scripting languages JScript and VBScript within a single file, or other scripting languages such as Perl, Object REXX, Python, or Kixtart if ...
s, and
HTML Applications.
A Windows Script File (WSF) is styled after XML. A WSF file can include multiple VBS files. As a result, WSF files provide a means for code reuse: a library of classes or functions can be stored in one or more
.vbs
files, which can be included in
.wsf
files, so the functionality can be reused in a modular way. The files have extension
.wsf
and can be executed using or , just as a
.vbs
file can.
An HTML Application (HTA) is styled after HTML. The HTML in the file is used to generate the user interface, and a scripting language such as VBScript is used for the program logic. The files have extension
.
and can be executed using .
VBScript (and JScript) can also be used in a Windows Script Component, an ActiveX-enabled script class that can be invoked by other
COM
Com or COM may refer to:
Computing
* COM (hardware interface), a serial port interface on IBM PC-compatible computers
* COM file, or .com file, short for "command", a file extension for an executable file in MS-DOS
* .com, an Internet top-level d ...
-enabled applications. These files have extension .
VBScript is simple to create and can be coded using an easy to use text editor like Notepad. A simple VBScript saved by the
.vbs
extension can be run on a Windows system by double clicking it.
Functionality
Language features
The language of VBScript is modeled on Visual Basic, and therefore can be reviewed using similar categories: procedures, control structures, constants, variables, user interaction, array handling, date/time functions, error handling, mathematical functions, objects, regular expressions, string manipulation, and so on.
The following are some key points of introduction to the VBScript language by Microsoft
A "procedure" is the main construct in VBScript for separating code into smaller modules. VBScript distinguishes between a function, which can return a result in an assignment statement, and a subroutine, which cannot. Parameters are positional, and can be passed by value or by reference.
Control structures include the usual iterative and conditional Do Loops, If-Then-Else statements, and Case statements, with some more complex variants, such as ElseIf and nested control structures.
As a memory aid in coding, and certainly for readability, there are a large number of constants, such as True and False for logical values, vbOKCancel and vbYesNo for MsgBox codes, vbBlack and vbYellow for color values, vbCR for the carriage return character, and many others.
Variables have "
Variant
Variant may refer to:
In arts and entertainment
* ''Variant'' (magazine), a former British cultural magazine
* Variant cover, an issue of comic books with varying cover art
* ''Variant'' (novel), a novel by Robison Wells
* " The Variant", 2021 e ...
" type by default, but it is possible (and sometimes necessary) to force a particular type (integer, date, etc.) using conversion functions (CInt, CDate, etc.)
User interaction is provided through the functions
MsgBox
and
InputBox
which provide a simple dialogue box format for messages and input. Both functions display prompting messages, with the former returning a standard response, and the latter returning one user-supplied text or numeric value. For more elaborate GUI interaction with controls, VBScript can be used in combination with HTML, for example, in an
HTML Application. Event-driven forms are not supported as in Visual Basic or
Visual Basic for Applications.
Names are not case-sensitive. However, it is considered a best practice of VBScript style to be consistent and to capitalize judiciously.
VBScript functionalities
When hosted by the
Windows Script Host, VBScript provides numerous features which are common to scripting languages, but not available from
Visual Basic 6.0
The original Visual Basic (also referred to as Classic Visual Basic) is a third-generation event-driven programming language from Microsoft known for its Component Object Model (COM) programming model first released in 1991 and declared leg ...
. These features include direct or easy access to:
* Named and unnamed command line arguments,
*
Stdin and
stdout, which could be redirected,
* WSH.Echo which writes to the console and cannot be redirected,
* WSH.ExitCode which can be tested from DOS batch files, or by the process which invoked the script file,
* Network Printers,
* Network Shares,
* Special Folders, e.g. Desktop, Favorites, MyDocuments and so on,
* Network user information, such as group membership,
* Methods for runtime execution of text defined at runtime: Eval and Execute,
* Methods for executing scripts on remote machines,
* Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
* Functionality for embedding a VBScript engine in other applications, using a widely known language.
CScript, the command line runner, provides options for:
* Interactive or Batch Mode,
* Invoking Debug Mode from the command line,
* Error reporting including the line number.
Additional functionality
File system management, file modification, and streaming text operations are implemented with the Scripting Runtime Library
scrrun.dll
. This provides objects such as FileSystemObject, File, and TextStream, which expose the Windows file system to the programmer.
Binary file and memory I/O are provided by the "ADODB.Stream" class, which can also be used for string builders (to avoid excessive string concatenation, which can be costly), and to interconvert byte arrays and strings. Database access is made possible through
ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), and the
IIS Metabase
Prior to IIS 7, Microsoft's Internet Information Services stores its information in an internal database called the MetaBase. The metabase is an inheritable, hierarchical database that allows for configuration of HTTP/ HTTPS, FTP, SMTP, and NNT ...
can be manipulated using the GetObject() function with sufficient permissions (useful for creating and destroying sites and virtual directories). XML files and schemas can be manipulated with the
Microsoft XML Library Application Programming Interface
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how t ...
s (, ), which also can be used to retrieve content from the World Wide Web via the XMLHTTP and ServerXMLHTTP objects (class strings "MSXML2.XMLHTTP.6.0" and "MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP.6.0", respectively).
Functionality can also be added through ActiveX technologies. Security concerns have led to many ActiveX controls being blacklisted in the Internet Explorer process by Microsoft, which deploys the
killbit via monthly Windows security updates to disable vulnerable Microsoft and third party code.
Programmers can utilize the extensibility via COM (ActiveX) modules to specifically equip the Script Host and VBScript with required or desired functions. The "VTool" component, for instance, adds a number of dialog windows, binary file access, and other functionality.
Development tools
Microsoft does not routinely make available an IDE (
Integrated Development Environment) for VBScript, although the
Microsoft Script Editor
The Microsoft Script Editor (MSE or "MSE.EXE" or "mse7.exe" in Office 2003) is an optional tool included in Microsoft Office 2000 through Office 2007 and is found in "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11" directory for Office 2003 (under 32-b ...
has been bundled with certain versions of Microsoft Office.
For debugging purposes the Microsoft Script Debugger can still be used in current Windows versions, even though the tool has not been updated in years. It allows the user to set break points in the VBScript code but the user interface is more than clumsy.
There are VBScript debuggers available from third-party sources, and many
text editors
A text editor is a type of computer program that edits plain text. Such programs are sometimes known as "notepad" software (e.g. Windows Notepad). Text editors are provided with operating systems and software development packages, and can be us ...
offer
syntax highlighting for the language.
During execution, when an error occurs, the script host issues a message stating the type of error and the number of the offending line.
Uses
Although VBScript is a general-purpose scripting language, several particular areas of use are noteworthy. First, it used to be widely used among system administrators in the Microsoft environment., but it has since been vastly surpassed by
PowerShell. Second, VBScript is the scripting language for
Micro Focus Unified Functional Testing, a test automation tool. A third area to note is the adoption of VBScript as the internal scripting language for some embedded applications, such as industrial operator interfaces and human machine interfaces. The hierarchical DBMS
InterSystems Caché (which has its roots in the language
MUMPS
MUMPS ("Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System"), or M, is an imperative, high-level programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. It was originally developed at Massachusetts Gener ...
) also supports an implementation of VBScript, Cache BASIC, for programming stored code.
VBScript omits several useful features of the full Visual Basic, such as strong typing, extended error trapping and the ability to pass a variable number of parameters to a subroutine. However, its use is relatively widespread because it is easy to learn and because those who implement code in the language need not pay royalties to Microsoft as long as the VBScript trade mark is acknowledged. When an organization licenses
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) from Microsoft, as companies such as Autodesk, StatSoft, Great Plains Accounting and Visio (subsequently acquired by Microsoft) have done, it is allowed to redistribute the full VBA code-writing and debugging environment with its product.
VBScript is used in place of VBA as the macro language of Outlook 97.
VBScript can be effectively used for automating day to day office tasks as well as monitoring in the Windows-based environment. It can also be used in collaboration with ADODB
ActiveX Data Objects (ADODB) for effective database connectivity.
VBScript can also be used to create
malware
Malware (a portmanteau for ''malicious software'') is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, depri ...
and viruses, such as the
ILOVEYOU worm that spread through email attachment in Outlook 97 that cost billions of dollars.
See also
*
AppleScript
*
FastTrack Scripting Host
*
HTML Components
HTML Components (HTCs) are a legacy technology used to implement components in script as Dynamic HTML (DHTML) "behaviors" in the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser. Such files typically use an .htc extension and the "text/x-component" MIME ty ...
*
JavaScript
*
JScript .NET
JScript .NET is a .NET programming language developed by Microsoft.
The primary differences between JScript and JScript .NET can be summarized as follows:
Firstly, JScript is a scripting language, and as such programs (or more suggestively, ...
*
JScript
*
PerlScript
ActivePerl is a distribution of Perl from ActiveState (formerly part of Sophos) for Windows, macOS, Linux, Solaris, AIX and HP-UX.
A few main editions are available, including: Community (free, for development use only), and several paid tiers up ...
*
Windows PowerShell
*
Windows Script File
A Windows Script File (WSF) is a file type used by the Microsoft Windows Script Host. It allows mixing the scripting languages JScript and VBScript within a single file, or other scripting languages such as Perl, Object REXX, Python, or Kixtart if ...
References
External links
VBScript Language Reference Microsoft Docs
Is VBScript Dead? isvbscriptdead.com
VBScript Commands ss64.com
ss64.com
WMI Overview Microsoft TechNet
{{Authority control
BASIC programming language family
Internet Explorer
Microsoft programming languages
Programming languages created in 1996
Scripting languages
Windows components