ASP in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference, Second Edition

by A. Keyton Weissinger

Paperback: 473 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly & Associates
ISBN: 1565928431; 2nd edition (July 2000)

The second edition of ASP in a Nutshell gives developers of Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP) a quick reference guide for looking up object usage on a dime. This guide is geared toward working ASP programmers who need to get their answers quickly, without wading through long examples.

The book is organized into three parts: an introduction to ASP, a language reference, and appendices. This edition has been updated for IIS 5.0 and ASP 3.0--respectively the latest flavors of Microsoft's flagship Web server and scripting engines. The ASP introduction is very brief, but it adequately explains the basic concepts behind ASP and server-side scripting.

The heart of the title is the language reference that covers the intrinsic ASP objects, plus ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) 2.6, Collaboration Data Objects, file access, and more. Each section is tagged with staggered page markers that usually make it unnecessary to resort to the book's index to find a topic.

While there are no full-blown code examples, the small code fragments that are included for most objects are valuable in illustrating usage. Throughout, the information is accurate and to the point, which is exactly what busy programmers really need in a desktop reference.

Topics in ASP in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference covered:
• ASP overview
• Application of ASP objects
• ASPError
• ObjectContext
• Request
• Response
• Server
• Session
• Global.ASA
• Installable components (ActiveX Data Objects 2.6)
• Ad Rotator
• Browser capabilities
• CDO for Windows NT
• Content linking
• Content Rotator
• Counters
• File access
• Logging utility
• MyInfo
• Page counter
• Permission checking
• Tools
• Converting CGI/WinCGI applications
• ASP on other platforms
• Configuring IIS

From Book News, Inc.: This reference guide for developers shows how particular object model features are used in a real application, and highlights little- known or undocumented aspects. The second edition is updated to cover ASP 3.0 and IIS 5.0.Book News, Inc.®, Portland, OR

Book Description: ASP in a Nutshell, 2nd edition, provides the high-quality reference documentation that web application developers really need to create effective Active Server Pages. It focuses on how features are used in a real application and highlights little-known or undocumented features.

This book also includes an overview of the interaction between the latest release of Internet Information Server (version 5) and ASP 3.0, with an introduction to the IIS object model and the objects it comprises. The examples given in this section and throughout the book are illustrated in VBScript.

The main components covered in this book are:
• Active Server Pages Introduction. Brief overview of the ASP application paradigm with examples in VBScript. Also included is an introduction to Microsoft's Internet Information Server 5.0, the IIS object model, and the objects that it comprises.

• Object Reference. Each object is discussed in the following manner: descriptions, properties, collections, methods, events, accessory files/required DLLs, and remarks, including real-world uses, tips and tricks, and author's experience (where applicable). The objects--Application, Response, Request, Server, Session, ObjectContext, and ASPError, as well as ASP Directives, Global.ASA, and Server-Side Includes--all follow this paradigm.

• Component Reference. This section follows the same paradigm found in Object Reference. The discussion covers all of the additional components included with IIS, such as ActiveX Data Objects, the Ad Rotator, the Browser capabilities component, the File System Object, and more.

• Appendixes. Gives examples in one or two objects and components using Perl, REXX, and Python in ASP.

Like other books in the In a Nutshell series this book offers the facts, including critical background information, in a no-nonsense manner that users will refer to again and again. It is a detailed reference that enables even experienced web developers to advance their ASP applications to new levels.

Ingram: This detailed reference contains all the information Web developers need to create effective Active Server Pages (ASP) applications. It focuses on how features are used in a real application and highlights little-known or undocumented aspects, enabling even experienced developers to advance their ASP applications to new levels.

About the Author: Keyton Weissinger is currently the director for enterprise solutions at a start-up company in Atlanta. Before that he worked as the manager of the Software Architecture Group for MarchFIRST (formerally known as USWeb/CKS and Whittman-Hart). He also spent time at Arthur Andersen, where he was a senior engineer for the worldwide knowledge management system, the KnowledgeSpace.

Customer Reviews
A very handy little book indeed!, September 28, 2000
Reviewer: Mark Micallef from Melbourne, Australia
As an ASP developer and back-end programmer, this is one book I keep within arms reach at all times! As can be expected, the book covers the ASP object model very well for a "pocket" reference and is logically presented in a way that makes it easy for me to look things up quickly. The book also covers some of the add-in components such as the ad-rotator and MAPI services, and devotes an entire section to data interaction with ADODB (very useful!).

I only give this book four stars because I would have liked a VBScript reference included - but then, O'Conell also sell a VBScript reference! All in all, an excellent purchase - it is easy to recommend this book if you are after an ASP reference.

Very concise reference, March 2, 2001
Reviewer: Sridhar Balasubramanian from Alameda, CA
I was first introduced to this book by a fellow employee at my work. I'm 15-years old and I had minimal knowledge of ASP about 2 months ago. After learning the basic syntax of ASP and the conditionals, function declarations, etc., I really needed a good reference for ASP development.

I use this book to look up built-in-functions and objects on the fly. It provides a very good tabbed layout which makes it easy for me to find the functions.

The only thing I'm disappointed with this book is the explanation of some of the functions. It has very good examples for some functions, but only single line definitions for others. Aside this fact, I think this is a great reference to use, especially when you don't want to search through the MSDN Library collection.

Good lightweight reference, January 1, 2002
Reviewer: A reader from Vancouver, B.C. Canada
This book is good for what it's suppose to be: a light reference for intermediate or better programmers. It covers every important topic like ADO and FileSystemObject. It doesn't go into detail on every property or method, but it tries to cover all the major ones clearly with good examples. Don't look to this book as a tutorial or a comprehensive reference; it's more like a quick lookup for topics you're at least partly familiar with.

This book is terrible! Don't waste your money!, December 14, 2001
Reviewer: Seth Islam from Redmond, WA
I am a longtime ASP developer, and I do this for a living. I've read any number of ASP books written by people who don't know what they're talking about, but this one is definitely the very worst. The book is poorly formatted, poorly written, riddled with technical errors, and is a total waste of your time if you a serious developer. I wouldn't waste my money on this turkey.

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