Development Tools

Suprisingly enough, you probably already have the tools you need to develop web pages, even active server pages using VBScript. Web pages are simply text files that include special instructions for the web browser.

You can view any page's HTML source code by right-clicking on the page and choosing "View Source." With VBScript (ASP), or any other server-side scripting language, you cannot view the source code. These languages are processed by the web server prior to returning the HTML code back to your browser.

In order to develop applications using a server-side scripting language such as VBScript, ColdFusion, or PHP, you need a web server. There are many free web server software products available for download, and even a built-in web server with Microsoft Windows. This server can be used to test out your VBScript code without requiring you to upload the scripts to a public web server and pay hosting fees. See below for installation instructions.

To install Personal Web Server, a scaled down version of Microsoft's IIS (Internet Information Server), go to your computer's Control Panel and select the following:

  • Add/Remove Programs
  • Window's Setup tab
  • Select Internet Tools
  • Click Details Button



    After performing the steps above you will view the screen below. Click the checkbox for the Personal Web Server and then proceed to click "OK".

    Windows will prompt you to restart, and then follow the instructions for installing Personal Web Server. As will all great Window's applications, you may be prompted to restart once more before you can begin testing your scripts.



    Once Personal Web Server (PWS) is installed, you will see an icon in the taskbar's tray (bottom right corner where the clock is).

    You will then see a screen similar to the image on the right. This is your control panel for the Personal Web Server. What you want to do is create a folder on your computer where you want to store all of your pages.

    Choose the "Advanced" section of the PWS Control Panel. On the "Home" directory icon, right-click and choose "Properties". You can then browse your computer for the folder you designate as your web server's home directory.

    After these steps are complete, make sure the "Allow Directory Browsing" checkbox is selected in the PWS Manager (Advanced section). Place any file into your designated folder. Open a browser and instead of "http://www.somesite.com", type in either:

  • http://localhost
  • http://127.0.0.1
  • http://yourcomputername

    Either of these will activate your web server and it will display the contents of your designated web folder. You are now ready to either cut-and-paste the provided scripts, or create your own VBScript (ASP) files and test them out. Remember that in order to let the server software know that your files are Active Server Pages, you must save them with the suffix ".asp"

    For further instructions, the next page includes many useful links to VBScript (ASP) resources. Please note that the best resource is a good book which includes progressive exercises to help you acquire an understanding for the programming languages. A book is also great for future references of infrequently used functions.

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