Your Brief Guide to Scripting Tools
Editors exist for all kinds of scripting needs—some free, some cheap, and
some not-so-cheap. Use this guide to help you find the right product for your
work.
Scripting in Windows has taken different shapes over the years. Many
administrators started by creating DOS batch files to help perform simple tasks
repetitively and without errors. Today, administrators have the flexibility of
actually programming and enhancing Windows with such scripting tools as Windows
Script Host, VBScript and PERL. While there are many scripting flavors to
choose from, just about any scripting language will benefit from a scripting
editor. Such an editor could help you save time with your edits and improve
your accuracy. In this review, I’ll look at a couple of script editors. Also,
for those of you who are fairly new to the world of scripting, I’ll provide you
with several Web sites to visit for more information.
A Pair of Scripting Editors
Primalscript, from Sapien Technologies Inc., is a full-featured and
powerful scripting and programming editor. This editor is chock full of editing
features, options and navigational tools. Particularly useful is the Nexus
area, at the left of the screen, which offers a choice of File, Info, Tools,
Snippets or Type Library Browser display. Other great features include multiple-language
support (VBScript, Perl, HTML, DOS batch files and many others); e-mail and
FTP publishing directly from the editor; and support for source control, spell
checking, macro functions and debug scripting. A feature called Primalsense
will help you change options with specific languages, including code completion
and auto case correction. Every feature is well thought out, easy to use,
and well supported with a great help index. Sapien seems to have packed just
about everything a script creator could want into Primalscript. If
you’re looking for an editor that leaves nothing to the imagination, then
look no further. Primalscript is for you(www.sapien.com).
KiXtart is a free Microsoft-based
scripting enhancement found in the Windows Resource Kit. There are also updated
versions on several Web sites, including www.kixtart.org.
Visual KiXtart Editor, from Version Zero Software, makes working with KiXtart
scripts a much simpler and more efficient task. You’ll find such features
as a File Explorer (which lets you manage multiple scripts simultaneously)
and bookmarks to be handy additions to working with KiXtart scripts. Best
of all, the added colorization and indentation features make reading and navigating
through your KiXtart scripts a breeze.
A great feature of Visual KiXtart Editor is that you can quickly do a test
run of your script directly inside the program. Without this feature, you’d
need to go outside the editor and launch the script manually. For those of
you using or considering KiXtart scripts as part of your routine network administration,
I believe you’ll find that Visual KiXtart Editor is a “must have” addition
to your arsenal of tools. You’ll be able to save time and be less prone to
errors with the feature-rich functions in the program.
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Scripting Alternatives and Resources
Here’s a multiple-choice question: “What’s the best scripting language to learn
and use?” You probably need to consider where you spend most of your time in
order to answer this question properly. For example, if you spend much of your
day working on Web servers, then you might consider a scripting language that
complements Web servers. If you spend most of your time administrating Windows
servers, then perhaps a Windows-oriented scripting language that could reduce
the time spent on routine functions would benefit you the most. Here’s an
overview of just some of the scripting alternatives out there these days.
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Figure 1. Primalscript makes it easy to edit scripts with its
Nexus tabs, line numbering and bookmark support. (Click image to view larger
version.) |
Windows Script
The first Web site you should visit is http://msdn.microsoft.com/scripting. Here you’ll find out
about Windows Script Host (WSH), Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript), and
JScript. You’ll also be provided with a well-organized library of
documentation; user’s guides; and, of course, plenty of downloads. Another Web
site worth stopping by for more WSH information is http://home.att.net/~wshvbs.
KiXtart
KiXtart is a free logon script processor that works with Windows XP, 2000, NT
and 9x. Probably the best place to start for this Windows scripting enhancement
is www.kixtart.org.
On this site you’ll find everything you need to get started and keep track of
the latest KiXtart information. There is a caveat to mention about KiXtart,
though: KiXtart is a Resource Kit utility and not officially supported by
Microsoft. Make sure you perform some thorough testing in a lab environment
before putting it into production. Another great source for KiXtart information
and sample scripts is www.script logic.com/kixtart.
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Figure 2. Your KiXtart scripts will come to life with colors and
automatic indentation in Visual KiXtart Editor. (Click image to view larger
version.) |
Practical Extraction Report Language (PERL)
PERL is an
open-source language that has its origin on the Unix platform. It has since
been ported to the Windows platform. If you’re interested in the Windows
implementation of PERL, check out www.activestate.com for a free
download and various resources. Also, don’t forget to check out the article I
wrote on PERL scripting, “PERL’s Hidden Treasures,” in the
July 2001 issue of this magazine!
Batch Files
I don’t think it would be proper to talk about scripting options without
mentioning batch files. DOS batch files are most Windows administrators’ first
exposure to basic scripting. For many folks, DOS-based batch files are still in
use as part of a daily toolkit. I’ve used DOS batch files in combination with
Microsoft Resource Kit tools for a wide variety of network administration
tasks. One Web site you might find useful on this topic is www.robvanderwoude.com.
Just click on the Batch files tab off the home page and you’ll find some great
definitions and samples. Also, go to your favorite search engine and do some
searches on things like “dos batch” and “batch files” and you’ll be offered a
multitude of references.
Other Alternatives
There are several other general-purpose scripting languages available for free.
Each has its own features and dedicated following, but none has really broken
through to the mainstream of Windows scripting. These include Python (www.python.org),
Tool Command Language (Tcl, http://tcl.activestate.com/) and
Ruby (www.ruby-lang.org/en/). The major benefit to these
alternative languages is that, like PERL, they run on multiple platforms.
They’re worth checking out if you need to support a network with more than just
Windows boxes.
General Scripting Sites
To start investigating the wonderful world of scripting, the first place to
start is your local Internet browser. As with most searches, you’ll probably be
provided with pages of sites to check out. Here are some good starting points:
- http://cwashington.netreach.net/—A great stop that
includes plenty of sample scripts and references to all of the scripting
alternatives I’ve mentioned.
- www.labmice.net—An
easy-to-navigate site. Just click on the “scripting” link off the main
page. This site will provide you with plenty of articles and resources.
- www.desktopengineer.com—Once again, click on the
“scripting” link from the main page. This site focuses largely on WSH and
VBScript.