HTML Applications: Giving WSH a User Interface
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So you’ve been writing scripts for a while. You’re accustomed to the bland look of the Cscript window and the lack of substance of the Wscript environment. You need something with a little more substance; something that looks like a real application so that you don’t feel as though your programming skills are inferior.
If you’ve been reading my articles you’ve already learned how to interact with your users but there’s still something missing. Your scripts have a lackluster shine at best. Sure they may work like an application, but they just don’t look the part. It’s time to add a UI.
A UI, or user interface, is the combination of windows and forms that make up an application’s desktop presence. For years we’ve grown used to seeing applications running inside of these visual containers. Not since the days of DOS have we seen interactive command prompt windows, so why should we believe that WSH would be stuck inside of this archaic mold? In fact, it’s not.
While WSH itself is forced to run within the constraints of the Cscript or Wscript environments, there is another Windows Scripting technology that uses WSH and yet has the ability to break away from this trip down memory lane.
That technology is known as HTML Applications. These are, in a sense, WSH scripts packaged inside of an HTML environment. This environment relies on both the Windows Script Host engine and Internet Explorer to provide scripters with a whole new scripting environment. One that is as powerful as it is tangible.
Okay, so HTML Applications, or HTAs, do not actually have windows and forms. In fact, they only run inside of a window and their forms consist of html pages; but with the proper design time the end-user experience is nearly identical.
All right, all right! Enough with the explanations already. You’re ready to see one of these in action and I have to admit that you won’t fully understand the concept until you do, so let’s get started.
Next: Creating your first HTA >>
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