how to debug vbscript?

hi folks, i am new to vbscript. How do I debug vbscript script?

Al
Mon Jul 14 22:07:20 CDT 2008


"Gene." <Gene@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2CD57DF0-ED12-4634-9D13-0A04002C56D0@microsoft.com...
> hi folks, i am new to vbscript. How do I debug vbscript script?

How new? What other languages have you debugged, and what tools have you
used? Do you have a sample of the kinds of scripts you want to develop? What
scripting engine will you use (WSH, HTA, HTML, or...)?

/Al

Gene
Tue Jul 15 09:43:04 CDT 2008

Hi Al

i know i can execute cscript with //x option.
Is that possible to open the same script inside of Visual Studio and execute
it from there? if yes, how do i supply input parameters?

Gene.

"Al Dunbar" wrote:

>
> "Gene." <Gene@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2CD57DF0-ED12-4634-9D13-0A04002C56D0@microsoft.com...
> > hi folks, i am new to vbscript. How do I debug vbscript script?
>
> How new? What other languages have you debugged, and what tools have you
> used? Do you have a sample of the kinds of scripts you want to develop? What
> scripting engine will you use (WSH, HTA, HTML, or...)?
>
> /Al
>
>
>

krazymike
Tue Jul 15 10:08:12 CDT 2008

Running your script from the Command Prompt will give you error
messages with line #.

On Jul 14, 2:10=A0pm, Gene. <G...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> hi folks, i am new to vbscript. How do I debug vbscript script?

mr_unreliable
Tue Jul 15 17:28:51 CDT 2008

Gene. wrote:
> hi folks, i am new to vbscript. How do I debug vbscript script?

Aside from visual studio, there are two possibilities,
albeit probably more crude than vs.

They are MSE (Microsoft Script Editor) and Microsoft
Script Debugger.

The MSE comes with earlier versions of ms office,
(like Ofc2k) and maybe even later versions too
(look for MSE.EXE on your system).

The microsoft script debugger is somewhat ancient,
and does not get a lot of respect from the denizens
of this ng. MSD can be found on the ms scripting
website.

If you do have mse, that is generally seen as better
than MSD.

You can find discussions about how to use them by
using google advanced group search, and searching
this ng.

http://groups.google.com/advanced_search

cheers, jw
____________________________________________________________

You got questions? WE GOT ANSWERS!!! ..(but,
no guarantee the answers will be applicable to the questions)

Michael
Tue Jul 15 21:22:57 CDT 2008

> The MSE comes with earlier versions of ms office,
> (like Ofc2k) and maybe even later versions too
> (look for MSE.EXE on your system).

It's MSE7.EXE (for at least Office 2003 and 2007, maybe earlier)...

--
Michael Harris

Al
Tue Jul 15 20:50:04 CDT 2008


"Gene." <Gene@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F090EE0D-076B-4761-BE7F-20F4C8D72DB8@microsoft.com...
> Hi Al
>
> i know i can execute cscript with //x option.

If that is your answer to my first question, you are new enough that we have
no idea what you know about scripting and what you do not. And that makes it
difficult to know how best to answer your question.

> Is that possible to open the same script inside of Visual Studio and
> execute
> it from there? if yes, how do i supply input parameters?

How would you like it if I ignored your questions by asking more of my own?
;-)

/Al

> Gene.
>
> "Al Dunbar" wrote:
>
>>
>> "Gene." <Gene@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:2CD57DF0-ED12-4634-9D13-0A04002C56D0@microsoft.com...
>> > hi folks, i am new to vbscript. How do I debug vbscript script?
>>
>> How new? What other languages have you debugged, and what tools have you
>> used? Do you have a sample of the kinds of scripts you want to develop?
>> What
>> scripting engine will you use (WSH, HTA, HTML, or...)?
>>
>> /Al
>>
>>
>>

Joe
Wed Jul 16 02:54:58 CDT 2008

"Gene." <Gene@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F090EE0D-076B-4761-BE7F-20F4C8D72DB8@microsoft.com...
> Hi Al
>
> i know i can execute cscript with //x option.
> Is that possible to open the same script inside of Visual Studio and
> execute
> it from there? if yes, how do i supply input parameters?
>
> Gene.
>
> "Al Dunbar" wrote:
>
>>
>> "Gene." <Gene@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:2CD57DF0-ED12-4634-9D13-0A04002C56D0@microsoft.com...
>> > hi folks, i am new to vbscript. How do I debug vbscript script?
>>
>> How new? What other languages have you debugged, and what tools have you
>> used? Do you have a sample of the kinds of scripts you want to develop?
>> What
>> scripting engine will you use (WSH, HTA, HTML, or...)?
>>
>> /Al
>>
>>
Add CScript.exe //X as an external tool and use propmt for arguments option.

--

Joe Fawcett (MVP - XML)

http://joe.fawcett.name

mr_unreliable
Mon Jul 21 11:16:06 CDT 2008

Gene. wrote:
> hi folks, i am new to vbscript. How do I debug vbscript script?

Gene, Although visual studio and the other debuggers
(mse/mse7 and msd) may be fine, I must confess that
I have only rarely used them. What I mostly use is
"Brute Force" (or unsophisticated muddling-through).

As has been said already, if you simply run your
(attempt at a) script, then the script engine will
report any obvious "bugs" (errors) that it finds,
and tell you which line of your code to look for
the bug. This will get out any "syntax" (language)
bugs.

After that, you will be chasing logic errors. The
most fundamental way to do this is with msgboxes.
That is, if something is going wrong, put in a
msgbox to report on the variables. And if you
don't know WHERE things are going wrong, then
put in msgboxes periodically along the flow of
your script, to give yourself a periodic report
on things.

The scripting languages are pretty simple and
straight-forward. You can probably find most
bugs by simply examining the code. If something
is especially "sticky" (or resistant to debugging),
then you can ask about it here.

For my own debugging, I like to emulate the vb
"immediate" window pane, where you can write
progress messages using the vb "debug.print"
statement. wsh scripting doesn't have this
capability built in, but you can make one up using
a listbox control displayed on an hta, or one of
the other (non-ms) scripting gui interfaces.

cheers, jw
____________________________________________________________

You got questions? WE GOT ANSWERS!!! ..(but, no guarantee
the answers will be applicable to the questions)

Al
Mon Jul 21 21:44:41 CDT 2008


"mr_unreliable" <kindlyReplyToNewsgroup@notmail.com> wrote in message
news:%23%23$xgv06IHA.2260@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Gene. wrote:
>> hi folks, i am new to vbscript. How do I debug vbscript script?
>
> Gene, Although visual studio and the other debuggers
> (mse/mse7 and msd) may be fine, I must confess that
> I have only rarely used them. What I mostly use is
> "Brute Force" (or unsophisticated muddling-through).
>
> As has been said already, if you simply run your
> (attempt at a) script, then the script engine will
> report any obvious "bugs" (errors) that it finds,
> and tell you which line of your code to look for
> the bug. This will get out any "syntax" (language)
> bugs.
>
> After that, you will be chasing logic errors. The
> most fundamental way to do this is with msgboxes.
> That is, if something is going wrong, put in a
> msgbox to report on the variables. And if you
> don't know WHERE things are going wrong, then
> put in msgboxes periodically along the flow of
> your script, to give yourself a periodic report
> on things.

This is, indeed, the way a lot of debugging is done. The trick is to write
code that is, up front, easier to debug...

> The scripting languages are pretty simple and
> straight-forward. You can probably find most
> bugs by simply examining the code.

There's the rub, as a lot of poorly written script is similarly difficult to
read and/or understand.

So, how do you make code more debuggable? Here are some key points:

- keep the logic simple, and resist the temptation to use tricks and
incidental side effects to accomplish things, as these will get in your way
when they do not work.

- use structured programming concepts and forms.

- write code in a modular form. This allows you to debug individuals
modules, whether subs, functions, classes, or combinations of them, so that
they are known to be reliable. Then you debug at a higher level, namely how
they fit together.

- more on modularity: move your main-line script code into a subroutine;
avoid the use of global variables as much as possible; and keep the number
of inter-module interactions and dependencies to a minimum.

- use a variable/module naming scheme that reflects the meaning or use of
the variable; don't re-use existing variables for other purposes; include
comments that explain what is being accomplished, not how - the how is given
by the code, i.e.:

' add one to the index
index = index + 1

the above comment could have been written by a robot - do it this way
instead:

' advance to the next element of the collection
index = index + 1

> If something
> is especially "sticky" (or resistant to debugging),
> then you can ask about it here.

Yes, by all means, yes.


/Al

> For my own debugging, I like to emulate the vb
> "immediate" window pane, where you can write
> progress messages using the vb "debug.print"
> statement. wsh scripting doesn't have this
> capability built in, but you can make one up using
> a listbox control displayed on an hta, or one of
> the other (non-ms) scripting gui interfaces.
>
> cheers, jw
> ____________________________________________________________
>
> You got questions? WE GOT ANSWERS!!! ..(but, no guarantee
> the answers will be applicable to the questions)
>
>