Scripting Windows 2000

Rating:
Summary: Good Coverage of Both Batch Files and WSH
Review: Although not as detailed as "Windows NT Shell Scripting" or "Windows Scripting Secrets" are--where each technology's abilities are concerned--it does goes into great detail in the area of command-line utilities included with Windows 2000 and the "Windows 2000 Resource Kit", showing you how to make use of them in scripts.

It also explains how to set up your system to run scripts directly from the command line without typing a path or file extension, so that your scripts execute exactly like internal shell commands.

It's a very useful reference for shell commands as well as scripting in general.

Rating:
Summary: This is a must have for every consultant or administrator
Review: Although not as detailed as "Windows NT Shell Scripting" or "Windows Scripting Secrets" are--where each technology's abilities are concerned--it does goes into great detail in the area of command-line utilities included with Windows 2000 and the "Windows 2000 Resource Kit", showing you how to make use of them in scripts.

It also explains how to set up your system to run scripts directly from the command line without typing a path or file extension, so that your scripts execute exactly like internal shell commands.

It's a very useful reference for shell commands as well as scripting in general.

Rating:
Summary: Good Coverage of Both Batch Files and WSH
Review: Although not as detailed as "Windows NT Shell Scripting" or "Windows Scripting Secrets" are--where each technology's abilities are concerned--it does goes into great detail in the area of command-line utilities included with Windows 2000 and the "Windows 2000 Resource Kit", showing you how to make use of them in scripts.

It also explains how to set up your system to run scripts directly from the command line without typing a path or file extension, so that your scripts execute exactly like internal shell commands.

It's a very useful reference for shell commands as well as scripting in general.

Rating:
Summary: "Where do I learn about scripting?"
Review: I wrote this book to answer a question I've heard from a number of systems professionals -- "Where can I learn about scripting?"

There are several books where you can learn VBScript, J/JavaScript, and shell programming for the Windows environment. To the best of my knowledge, "Scripting Windows 2000" is the only book currently available for Windows 2000 in which the main topic is scripting, not one particular scripting tool or technique. So I spend some time on why to script, when to script, and where to script -- because you need to make these decisions before you decide which tool and environment to use.

If there's a single message to the book (other than the subliminals cleverly embedded in the screenshots), it's that when it comes to scripting, use the right tool for the right job.

There's no all-encompassing "right tool". Batch scripts running at the command line aren't necessarily elegant, but they're still the most effective solution in some cases. I spend a couple of chapters going through batch basics and integration of Resource Kit utilities into batch files. Then I move on to the Windows Script Host, VBScript, and JScript basics. If you use another scripting language like Perl, you'll still get use out of the discussions of the WSH object model, and the various ways you can manipulate it with any language which can call automation objects. Use what works best for you.

After laying the foundation for WSH-based scripting, I move onto ADSI (Active Directory Service Interfaces), the key API for managing a Windows 2000 enterprise, and WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation), which forms the basis for the programmatic management of the systems in your enterprise. This is where a dedicated script geek can go wild. I spend two more chapters integrating scripting tools and techniques for administrators and troubleshooters, with specific scenarios you may come up against in your jobs. Scripting can be a very effective investigative technique if you're a support specialist or enterprise-wide firefighter.

I then spend a chapter going over what to do when a script-based solution doesn't cut it, with a discussion of VBA and VB, and a little bit about running administrative scripts from within a Web-based setting.

Finally -- call me a heretic, but I've tried to write a technical book which you'll enjoy reading. I do NOT write dry, Sparky, and if you don't buy the book, I'll just have to post those snapshots to alt.binaries.naughty.invertebrates, won't I?

Hope you find "Scripting Windows 2000" of value in your workplace and your ongoing (never-ending?) IT education.

Rating:
Summary: This is a must have for every consultant or administrator
Review: This book is great it will get you on your way to automate your work. Great Windows Script Host book as well! It explains programming in a way that system people will understand.

Rating:
Summary: Unreadable - Buy Another Book / Use the MSDN
Review: This book lacks depth and the writing style is intensely irritating when one attempts to read it - it's a shock that any editor would allow the book to go to press in the form that he or she did. Here are some of the *many* drippy comments he makes: "...scripting skills are an extra round for your Smith&Wesson, another slug of whisky after a steamy night on the bad sign of town..." "...An ActiveX control can be created in Visual Basic, C++, ElvisSpeak, Visual Hamburger..." With all the other related titles available, and the useful resources in the MSDN, I'd recommend potential buyers do *not* put this one in their shopping basket. The one out of five may seem a bit harsh, but I couldn't get enough useful information out of this book to justify it's purchase, so that's what it ends up with. It may be worth noting that the foreword of this book it written by the author - there is no critique performed by anyone else to be found. Probably for good sales reasons.