Active Scripting

Active Scripting (formerly known as ActiveX Scripting) is the technology used in Windows to implement component-based scripting support. It is based on OLE Automation (part of COM) and allows installation of additional scripting engines in the form of COM modules.

Uses and history

The Active Scripting technologies were first released in 1996, with the release of the Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 (August 1996) and Internet Information Services 3.0 products (December 1996).

Usual applications of Active Scripting include Active Server Pages (ASP) server scripts, Internet Explorer, and Windows Script Host (WSH) scripts automating routine tasks, including use for login scripts, Registry manipulation, and the like. Other administrative uses include Windows Management Instrumentation and Active Directory Service Interfaces. Active Scripting can also be used for general-purpose scripting, such as database programming, text-processing, rapid prototyping, and application macro/scripting programming; some applications use Active Scripting as the main automation method, others do not have a macro facility but the components are available for use via the API; or one may opt to add a language and/or tool not available by default, like programming Microsoft Excel in Perl or REXX rather than Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) or transferring data from a terminal emulator to word processor by way of a spreadsheet when they have dissimilar macro tools or none at all.