Learning VBScript

Paul Lomax is technical director of Mentorweb (http://www.mentorweb.net/), a leading Web design and hosting company. Over the past two years Paul has created and maintained over 60 commercial Web sites for Mentorweb's clients. He is also the driving force behind ShopAssistant, a new NT/ASP based high-end shopping cart/Web commerce server (http://www.shopassistant.com/). He has been a programmer for over 12 years and has been a dedicated fan of Visual Basic since version 1. Paul has written systems for financial derivatives forecasting, satellite TV broadcasting, the life insurance industry, and he's written a major materials tracking system for the Oil and Gas industry. He is also responsible for the concept, design, and programming of the successful "Contact" series of national business databases. Paul has also created a Web resource dedicated to VBScript at http://www.vbscripts.com/. When not sitting in front of a keyboard, Paul can usually be found behind the wheel of a racing car competing in events around the UK. Paul and his family -- wife Deborah and children Russel and Victoria -- have recently returned to their home in England after several years spent living in the Arabian gulf.

Table of Contents. Preface. 1.Introduction The Need for VBScript The Components of Client-Side Processing What Can Be Achieved Using VBScript? Summary. 2. What Is VBScript? VBScript and the Visual Basic Family How Does VBScript Work? VBScript Beyond the Browser VBScript Versus JavaScript VBScript and Netscape Navigator Summary. 3.Getting Started The Tag Invoking Scripts Some Scripting Basics VBScript Data Types: The Many Faces of the Variant Variables and Constants Operators Summary. 4. Program Flow and Structure Control Statements Functions and Procedures The Web Calculator Example Application VBScript Coding Conventions Summary. 5.Controlling the Browser Objects and Their Properties, Methods, and Events The MSIE Scripting Object Model Summary. 6.The Element Object and HTML Intrinsic Controls The Element Object HTML Intrinsic Controls Summary. 7.Using the ActiveX Control Pad What Is the ActiveX Control Pad? Downloading and Installation Using the ActiveX Control Pad The ACLIST Utility Summary. 8.The HTML Layout Control The Toolbox Creating an HTML Layout Summary. 9.An HTML Layout Common Menu Object Creating the Menu Bar Adding the Menu Layout to an HTML Document Summary. 10.Date and Time in VBScript Checking the Validity of a Date Returning the Client Machine's Date and Time Splitting Up the Time Splitting Up the Date Calculations with Dates and Times Reformatting Date Expressions A Cookie Example A Countdown Example Summary. 11.Describing Your Hyperlinks Link Descriptions Using HTML Intrinsic Objects Link Descriptions Using the Status Bar Link Descriptions Using an ActiveX Label Control Summary. 12.Image Maps Made Easy The Screen Coordinate Scheme Defining a Clickable Image Map Creating the Image Map Script Summary. 13.Building Dynamic HTML Pages Document Object Methods Building a Document on Download Adding Variables to a Web Page at Download Time Creating a New Web Page from a Script Summary. 14.Form Input Validation Working with Object References Data Validation Functions Formatting Data The Timing of Data Validation Summary. 15.Error Handling and Debugging Debugging Error Handling Building Robust Applications Common Problem Areas, and How to Avoid Them Summary. 16.The VBScript Shopping Cart The Design of the User Interface The Shopping Cart Code Handling the Customer's Order Submitting the Order to the Server Source Code for Shopping Cart Example. 17. Handling Other Browsers Determining the Browser Handling the Browser Summary. A.VBScript 1.0 Language Quick Reference B.VBScript Version 2 C.VBScript 2.0 Intrinsic Constants D.ActiveX Controls Quick Reference E.Active Server Pages F.The Learning VBScript CD-ROM. Index.