VBScript tips and tricks

I normally don’t do much VBScript stuff, but sometimes I have to, and these tips helped me big time:

• You can use Visual Studio 2005, 2008 SP1 or 2010 to edit VBS files (with syntax highlighting, etc)
• Debugging VBS files with cscript.exe and Visual Studio requires an extra step: you need to initiate this from the script side

–jeroen

This was the script in question (mimicked a bit after Prnmngr.vbs):

It uses AddPrinterConnection and RemovePrinterConnection of the Windows Scripting Host Network object to add/remove local LPT ports to network printers so that DOS applications can still print.

So it is equivalent to NET USE LPT1 \\servername\printershare

Option Explicit
On Error Resume Next

Dim objWshNetwork

Set objWshNetwork = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Network")

' This is the same as "NET USE LPT#: \\servername\printername" but with extra error checking

Sub ShowError (txtMessage, txtCaption)
  Call MsgBox (txtMessage, vbCritical, txtCaption)
End Sub

Sub MapPrinter(txtPort, txtNetworkPrinter, txtAlternatePort)
  On Error Resume Next
  Call MsgBox ("mapping " & txtPort & " to " & txtNetworkPrinter, 16, txtNetworkPrinter)
    objWshNetwork.removePrinterConnection txtPort, True
    '  If Err.Number <> 0 Then
    '    Call ShowError ("Unmapping " & txtPort & "; Error # " & CStr(Err.Number) & " " & Err.Description, txtNetworkPrinter)
    '    Err.Clear
    '  End If
    objWshNetwork.addPrinterConnection txtPort, txtNetworkPrinter
    If Err.Number <> 0 Then
      Call ShowError ("Redirecting " & txtPort & " to network printer " & txtNetworkPrinter & " failed," & _
        "Error # " & CStr(Err.Number) & ": " & Err.Description _
        , txtNetworkPrinter)
      Err.Clear
    End If
End Sub

Dim objPrinter
For Each objPrinter In GetObject("winmgmts:").ExecQuery("select * from Win32_Printer where default=true")
  Dim txtNetworkPrinter
  txtNetworkPrinter = objPrinter.ServerName & "\" & objPrinter.ShareName
  If txtNetworkPrinter = "\" Then
    Call ShowError ("You do not have a default printer that is a network printer, so there is nothing to redirect" _
        , txtNetworkPrinter)
  Else
    Call MapPrinter("LPT1:", txtNetworkPrinter)
    Call MapPrinter("LPT2:", txtNetworkPrinter)
  End If
Next