VBScript Language
What is VBScript
• Based on the Visual Basic family of languages
• Supports object oriented features
• Interpreted
• Loosely Typed
• Implicitly Declared
Contents
• Syntax Rules
• Comments
• Naming Rules
• Data Types
• Storage
– Variables, Constants, Arrays
• Operators
– Arithmetic, Comparison, Logical, Assignment, Concatenation
• Branching
– If
– Select
• Looping
– While
– Do…While
– For
• Sub/Functions
– Built-In
– User defined
Syntax Rules
• VBScript is not case sensitive
– Except for strings (denoted by double-quotes)
• Each statement can only exist on one line
– Unless you use a line continuation
• Statements can be either simple statements or
compound statements
Comments
Rem commented statement
‘ commented statement
• Can be a complete line or a portion of a line.
• VBScript does not support multi-line comments.
The comment symbol must be put at the start
of each comment.
Naming Rules
1. Must begin with a letter or the underscore
• Good: count, strInfo, _data
• Bad: 2day, 4get, *count violate this rule.
2. Cannot contain special characters except the
underscore
• Good: Names using alphabets, numbers and the underscore.
• Bad: Names using symbols and other special characters.
3. Cannot match a reserved word
• Bad: for, if, Select
4. Must be unique within a context
5. Must be less than 256 characters
Naming Convention
objDescriptiveName
• obj
– Three letter prefix for the data type
• DescriptiveName
– A descriptive name for the variable
– First letter of each word in upper case
Literal Types
• Numeric
– 1
– 3.14
– 3E7
• Boolean
– True
– False
• Characters
– “Hello World”
– “123 Straw Lane”
– “43210”
• Date
– #07/21/2006#
– #Jan 6, 2008#
Variables
Dim variableName
• Variables hold values that can change during
program execution
• They function just like temporary storage
locations
• Declaration of variables is optional, but
recommended
Constants
Const constantName = value
• Constant names hold values that cannot change
during program execution
• Constants should be used in place of hard-
coded values
Operations
• Operations are the many forms of computations,
comparisons etc that can be performed in VB
• Most operations are binary in the form:
operand1 operator operand2
• Other operations are unary in the form
operator operand1
• When an operator has 2 symbols, you cannot separate
them with a space:
– Good: 2 <> 3
– Bad: 2 < > 3
Arithmetic
• Used to perform calculations
• Both operands must be numeric values
• The result is a numeric value
+ Addition
- Subtraction, Negation
* Multiplication
/ Division
\ Integer Division
^ Exponent
Mod Modulo
Comparison
• Used to compare the value of two items
• Both operands must be of the same data type
• The result is a Boolean value
= Equality
<> Inequality
< Less than
> Greater than
<= Less than or equals
>= Greater than or equals
Logical
• Used to reduce Boolean values into a single Boolean
value
• Both operands must be Boolean values
• The result is a Boolean value
And Conjunction
Or Disjunction
Not Negation
Xor Exclusion
And Truth Table
• Conjunction
• Used when both conditions are required
Operand1 Operand2 Result
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F
Or Truth Table
• Disjunction
• Used when either condition is sufficient
Operand1 Operand2 Result
T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F
Not Truth Table
• Unary Operand
• Used to change the value of a condition
Operand 1 Result
T F
F T
Xor Truth Table
• Exclusion
• Used when either condition should be different
Operand1 Operand2 Result
T T F
T F T
F T T
F F F
Assignment
• Changes the value of a variable
• =
• Uses the same symbol as an equality check operator.
• Assignment only occurs when used in any of the
following forms:
variable = literal value
variable = expression
variable = variable
Concatenation
• Combines 2 data types for display as a string
• &
Branching
• Allows you to avoid running certain sections of
your code
• Code is only executed when a condition (or
conditions) evaluate to True
• Provides a single application the ability to react
differently to different input values
If
If condition Then
statement(s)
End If
• Performs an operation only if the condition
evaluates to True
• Used when an action is either performed or not
performed.
If…Else
If condition Then
statement(s)
Else
statement(s)
End If
• Performs the If portion only if the condition
evaluates to True and the Else portion otherwise.
• Used in an either or scenario when an operation is
always performed.
If…ElseIf
If condition1 Then
statement(s)
ElseIf condition2 Then
statement(s)
Else
statement(s)
End If
• Only one section can be executed even if many conditions
evaluate to True.
• Used in a multiple choice scenario
• Inclusion of the last Else is optional
Select
Select Case variable
statement(s)
Case value1
statement(s)
Case value2
statement(s)
Case Else
statement(s)
End Select
• Used to choose between 1 of several discrete values for a
variable.
• Inclusion of Case Else is optional
• Less powerful compared to the If statement
Loops
• Allows you to repeat running certain sections of your
code
• Code executes when a condition (or conditions)
evaluate to True
• Be careful with Loops. They can result in infinite
processing.
• Forms
– Entry Condition
• Entry only when a initial condition is met
– Iterated
• Repeats for a specific number of times
Loops: Cautionary Items
1. Can this loop ever be entered
• If no, then you don’t need the loop
2. Can this loop ever be exited
– If no, then you have an infinite loop
Loop: Parts
1. Where does the loop start?
• Expressed as an assignment
2. When does the loop end?
• Expressed as a condition
3. How is the loop variable altered?
• Expressed as an arithmetic operation
• Ensure that you are increasing/decreasing properly
While
While condition
statement(s)
Wend
• Entry Condition Loop
• Simplest form of the loop
• Requires manual modification of the loop
condition
For
For variable = start To finish [Step change]
statement(s)
Next
• Iterated Loop
• Favored because all the loop details are in the
definition statement
Function
Function functionName(parameter list)
statement(s)
functionName = value
End Function
• Block of code used to perform an operation
• Both VBScript and QTP provide a large number of
built-in functions
• You can add your own built-in functions to the list
Best Practices
• Comment liberally
• Use a naming convention
• Avoid mixing cases
• Indent your code
