Summary

In this chapter, we have considered how we can go about storing the data collected by the computer, both from the user and from its own calculations. We looked at what a variable is and how VBScript treats each of the different subtypes of data as just one type, the variant. We looked at how you would go about declaring variables, and how the Option Explicit commands can be used to lessen the chance of making a typing mistake in the variable name. We then looked at various functions that VBScript provides to manipulate variables.

We looked at why certain variables are only effective within certain scopes. We also considered why some variables keep their value throughout the whole script, while others keep their values only within the procedures that created them.

Finally, we looked at how you could store a series of related data items with an array, and referring to the elements of the array using an index. We looked at how you can size and populate arrays, and we finished off by looking briefly, at how you could make them multi-dimensional.

In the next chapter, we'll expand on a number of very useful programming tools, the control structures