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Sesame Script

Archive

Sesame Script is the column for the very beginner and for those who are just starting to venture into more advanced areas. The goal of this column is to teach the basics of Windows scripting for system administration automation. We’ll provide you with the information you’ll need to begin reading and understanding scripts and to start modifying those scripts to suit your own needs. If there’s anything in particular about scripting you’re finding confusing, let us know, you’re probably not alone.

Downloadable Sesame Script Archive! Download all the *Sesame Script* columns (from the very first column through the September, 2007 edition) in one easy-to-read, fully-searchable .chm file.

Beginner

•	Scripting: Your First Steps June 2005 If you’re brand new to scripting, start here.

•	Starting and Stopping Scripts October 2006 What’s the difference between Cscript and Wscript, and why does it matter? Information on different options for running scripts, and how to stop them once they’ve started.

•	Special Characters August 2005 Find out what those special characters in VBScript are used for: &, _, and '.

•	Variables and Constants July 2005 An introduction to using variables and constants.

•	Make a Decision November 2006 How to work with If…Then statements in VBScript.

•	Thrown for a Loop October 2005 Read through collections and arrays, and execute one section of code over and over on different data using loops.

•	Thrown for a Loop, Part 2 November 2007 Learn all about using Do loops to run code over and over and over….

•	Class is in Session September 2005 Classes, objects, properties, methods…all those confusing topics explained in one article. Don’t be confused any longer!

•	What Type of Data is That? January 2006 What is a data type, and why do we care?

•	Working with Strings: Knowing Your Right from Your Left August 2006 Use the Left, Right, and Mid functions to work with strings.

•	It’s All About Teamwork March 2007 Can’t we all just get along? The Select and Case keywords seem to be able to.

•	Working with Dates April 2007 Do you know what the date is? Windows does. Find out how to work with dates within your scripts.

Beginner Plus

•	Why Did You Do That? March 2006 A few simple guidelines that might make your lives a little bit easier. Or least make your scripts easier to understand.

•	The Dictionary Object September 2006 Learn how to organize data within your script by using the Dictionary object.

•	How to Read an SDK February 2006 Learn the basics of reading Software Development Kits and Language References – and why you need them.

•	Getting – or Creating – Objects April 2006 Finally, the Scripting Guys reveal the difference between VBScript CreateObject, VBScript GetObject, WSH CreateObject, and WSH GetObject.

•	Hunting for Objects October 2007 Looking for the classes and methods you need for your script? Here we explain it’s mostly a matter of hunting around to find what you need.

•	Introduction to Error Handling May 2006 Because mistakes do happen.

•	Functions, Subroutines, and Beyond June 2006 Find out what functions and subroutines are all about, then learn how to create a library of these procedures for use in multiple scripts.

•	Let’s Get Together July 2006 Easy scripts are, well, easy. But what happens if you want to do something a little more complicated? Here’s one way to do that: just combine two or more of those easy scripts.

•	WMI Query Language December 2006 Learn how to communicate with the WMI object model so you can retrieve exactly the information you’re looking for.

•	Working With Numbers January 2007 Yes, we know. But it turns out that there’s no escape from mathematics, not even in system administration scripting. Fortunately, though, VBScript includes a number of functions that make arithmetic far less of a chore than it was back in your school days.

•	Scripting Text Files February 2007 Text files are extremely useful to system administration scripters. And they just might be your ticket to Scripting Games stardom, too.

•	Files and Folders, Part 1 May 2007 How do I copy/move/delete a file? And how can I do that only to files x number of days/months/years old? In Part 1 we find out how to use the FileSystemObject to do all of these things, and then some.

•	Files and Folders, Part 2 June 2007 Part 2 in our trilogy on managing files and folders. As far as we know, no cats we harmed during the writing of this column.

•	Files and Folders, Part 3 July 2007 The final installment in our trilogy on managing the file system concludes with a shocking twist: using Windows PowerShell to copy, move, and delete files and folders.

•	Working with the Registry August 2007 Learn how to read from and write to the registry, and – if you’re careful – delete from the registry.

•	Introduction to Scripting Microsoft Office: Excel and Word September 2007 Learn how your scripts can harness the power of Microsoft Office applications like Word and Excel.

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