WSH, Part 3: Windows Script Components

A Windows Script Component (WSC), formerly known as a server scriptlet, is a COM component (also known as an ActiveX object or an OLE automation object) implemented in a script language. A WSC file is an XML-format text file that uses the .wsc file extension. One of the main advantages of WSCs is code reuse: The object implemented by the WSC is available for use in any Windows Script Host (WSH) script. Let's look at the elements of WSC files and a real-life example of how to use them.

Understanding COM Components
To understand the WSC file format, it helps to have a basic understanding of COM components. COM is one of the core technologies that make WSH so useful. A WSH script can use a host of COM components to access functionality that the script language itself doesn't provide. For example, VBScript doesn't by itself provide any way to access the file system, but you can use the Scripting.FileSystemObject COM component in a VBScript script to open files. To get real administrative work done, WSH scripts rely heavily on COM components. . . .