The Start to Finish Guide to Scripting With KiXtart ebook

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The ultimate guide to KiXtart - tech-edited by the creator of KiXtart himself, Ruud van Velsen! As the first book available on the subject, this book is intended to satisfy the needs of both the advanced and novice KiXtart user. Though it is a scripting language used particularly by administrators, those with a development background will be impressed with the capabilities of KiXtart as well. While the book starts off quite basic, the examples and descriptions of the functions and commands of KiXtart should prove a valuable reference for even the more experienced KiXtart user. Where possible, the examples in this book are designed for "cut and paste" use in solving real-world problems, while still providing insight as to the use of the various commands and features of KiXtart.

This incredible book is very in-depth with 11 Chapters and 5 Appendixes.

Chapter Breakout

The only documentation available to date has been the alphabetical command and function reference that was provided with KiXtart. This documentation has been reproduced in several formats, but typically in this same fashion (actually the exact same text). To take a different approach, this book breaks up the functions and commands into functional groups by chapter.

Chapter 1: Introduction to KiXtart

This first chapter provides a little history on KiXtart and reasons why you might want to choose KiXtart as your scripting language. It tells you where to download the latest version of KiXtart and the available KiXtart editors, and it discusses installing and upgrading KiXtart. This chapter closes with some methods for executing your scripts and steps to take for configuring logon scripts for Windows NT, 2000, and 2003 Server with user profiles or Group Policy.

Chapter 2: KiXtart Scripting Basics

This second chapter focuses on the basics of scripting with KiXtart. It discusses script structure, basic syntax, and the SetOption function, as well as the many supported variable types. Operators, arrays, variable declaration, environment variables, and program flow round out this chapter.

Chapter 3: Macro Variables

Chapter Three provides information and real-world examples of all KiXtart macro variables. The macros in this chapter have been broken up into the following categories: user, system, path variables, date/time, and others.

Chapter 4: String and Value Control

This chapter covers the various functions provided for the conversion and manipulation of numbers and strings within KiXtart. Typically, when reading data from a file or even the registry, you often end up with extraneous, unneeded characters or spaces. The functions discussed here provide the ability to get the data you want.

Chapter 5: DOS Commands

Chapter Five discusses many KiXtart commands that are familiar to those who have spent time working with DOS batch files. When discussing commands such as Copy, RD, and Use, we also cover alternate means of performing these tasks-above and beyond the native capabilities of KiXtart.

Chapter 6: Scripts In, Script Out

This chapter documents methods for specifying console display properties as well as commands that let you display and position output in the console display. Here, we discuss functions provided for collecting input and presenting output to users. The use of external text and .INI files is also discussed in detail.

Chapter 7: System Management

In Chapter Seven, we discuss printer management with KiXtart functions and through other command line methods. We also cover program group management and shortcut creation, including built-in KiXtart functions and other available options. Functions for working with the Windows Event Log are explained with real-world examples. Finally, we discuss KiXtart functions and other methods for logging off, locking, shutting down, and placing systems in standby for all 32-bit Windows environments.

Chapter 8: Registry Functions

This chapter starts with an overview of the Windows registry and then covers KiXtart's functions for reading and modifying the registry. Here, we look at each of the registry commands, with helpful examples. Several other command line tools available for working with the registry are also discussed. Finally, this chapter provides information and tools relating to registry security.

Chapter 9: COM Automation

Chapter Nine covers KiXtart COM automation support, as well as several common objects used in scripts. The CreateObject and GetObject functions and their uses are explained along with several examples. This chapter also discusses Windows Management Interface (WMI), Active Directory Services Interface (ADSI), ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), Internet Explorer, the File System Object, and other objects, with real-world examples and links to additional resources.

Chapter 10: Other Functions

In this chapter, we cover the functions that did not fit into the categories that organized the earlier chapters. These remaining functions include file checking, user identification, and system checks. The InGroup function is discussed in this chapter, including an explanation of the group token cache.

Chapter 11: Troubleshooting

This last chapter covers error handling, creating your own log file, and using KiXtart's log file. It explains KiXtart's debugging capabilities and identifies other tools for debugging KiXtart scripts. This chapter lists common problems with suggestions for avoiding them. It discusses the limitations imposed by Windows security, along with third party tools available to help deal with security issues you may encounter. Finally, it identifies a handful of documented problems.

Appendix A: KiXtart Quick Reference

This appendix provides a more traditional list of macros, commands, and functions in alphabetical order. A quick description and syntax are provided for each, as well as where to find more information throughout this book.

Appendix B: KiXtart Language Codes

The @SYSLANG and @USERLANG macro variables identify the currently selected language by its local ID (LCID) and English name. This appendix provides a reference for the many values that may be returned by KiXtart for these macros.

Appendix C: KiXtart Version Reference

This appendix provides a chart illustrating the macros, commands, and functions provided by KiXtart and indicates with which versions of KiXtart they are available.

Appendix D: ASCII and Hex Value Reference

An ASCII and Hexadecimal chart, as displayed by included KiXtart scripts, are provided for reference in this appendix.

Appendix E: Environment Variable Reference

This appendix provides a list of the default Windows environment variables with a short description of each. It also provides a chart to show where each environment variable exists across all versions of Windows.

Appendix F: Error Code Reference

When a non-KiXtart error code is returned, it does so in the form of a standard Win32 error code. A Win32 Error code reference is provided along with the script used to generate this appendix.

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