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<% and %> tags
Our ASP script resides between the <% %> tags. Any script between the <% %> tags is
executed on the server while the rest of the HTML tags or script in an .asp page is not parsed and is sent to the client
browser as it is. There can be any number of <% %> tags as we want. After executing the code
between the <% %> tags, the output which is generated is sent to the client and never ever the ASP
code itself.
Understanding ASP Objects
As I stated earlier there are six built-in ASP Objects available to you as an ASP developer. But
what is an object ? Well an object is an instance of a Component which has methods and properties. I
am not going to indulge into what Components are except that they are a compiled piece of code built
in any programming language which offer you the ability to just create an instance of them ( create an
object ) and start using their methods. ASP is so much powerful that not
only it uses these six built-in Objects but can also call other applications or components like ADO to
access databases and CDO for messaging applications. You can even build your own custom COM components and
then call their methods from within ASP. This is ASP COM integration which gives ASP is so much power that no other
server side scripting language can match.
Six Built-in ASP Objects
Following are the six Objects which are available to you without needing to create an instance of
them and that's why they are called built-in Objects :
ASPError Object is new and is available only in Windows 2000. By clicking the above ASP Objects you can
see the collections, properties, events and methods which are made available by each of these.
Object.method() Syntax
To start using them following is the syntax you should use :
Object.method()
Object.property
For example, recall that how we used Response.Write to output Hello World! to the
client browser. In that case, Response was the name of the Object and Write was the
name of the method that generated the output to the client browser.
<% Response.Write "Hello World!" %>
So you can use the methods and properties of the Objects by writing the Object name and then a dot
and then appending the method or property name. Dot . is what separates the Object from the
method or property. You must be wondering where have the opening and closing brackets ( ) gone in the
Write method of Response Object, well in VBScript we don't type brackets in front of method
name except in some cases. So that is why we just used Response.Write, that's why I say that
VBScript is much more natural way of writing ASP pages and is the easiest of all languages.
 Summary
In this tutorial we learned that Active Server Pages are simple HTML pages which can contain
extra ASP script within the <% %> tags which is executed on the server and the output is
sent to the client. We also learned that ASP consists of six built-in Objects and saw how easy it is
to call an Object's methods and properties. We also came to know that ASP can call other COM
Components and use their methods. We can even build our own COM Components and use their methods inside
ASP. You can use the reference material available on this
site to see the methods, properties, collections and events available to you in the six built-in
ASP Objects.
Where to go from here ?
I would advise you to see the reference material ( see above ) and then test those methods and
properties on your own as that is how you will learn them. In this way you will also be able to
know that what is available to you in those six ASP Objects because those are the Objects you are
going to use mostly in your ASP career. <% and %> tags
Our ASP script resides between the <% %> tags. Any script between the <% %> tags is
executed on the server while the rest of the HTML tags or script in an .asp page is not parsed and is sent to the client
browser as it is. There can be any number of <% %> tags as we want. After executing the code
between the <% %> tags, the output which is generated is sent to the client and never ever the ASP
code itself.
Understanding ASP Objects
As I stated earlier there are six built-in ASP Objects available to you as an ASP developer. But
what is an object ? Well an object is an instance of a Component which has methods and properties. I
am not going to indulge into what Components are except that they are a compiled piece of code built
in any programming language which offer you the ability to just create an instance of them ( create an
object ) and start using their methods. ASP is so much powerful that not
only it uses these six built-in Objects but can also call other applications or components like ADO to
access databases and CDO for messaging applications. You can even build your own custom COM components and
then call their methods from within ASP. This is ASP COM integration which gives ASP is so much power that no other
server side scripting language can match.
Six Built-in ASP Objects
Following are the six Objects which are available to you without needing to create an instance of
them and that's why they are called built-in Objects :
ASPError Object is new and is available only in Windows 2000. By clicking the above ASP Objects you can
see the collections, properties, events and methods which are made available by each of these.
Object.method() Syntax
To start using them following is the syntax you should use :
Object.method()
Object.property
For example, recall that how we used Response.Write to output Hello World! to the
client browser. In that case, Response was the name of the Object and Write was the
name of the method that generated the output to the client browser.
<% Response.Write "Hello World!" %>
So you can use the methods and properties of the Objects by writing the Object name and then a dot
and then appending the method or property name. Dot . is what separates the Object from the
method or property. You must be wondering where have the opening and closing brackets ( ) gone in the
Write method of Response Object, well in VBScript we don't type brackets in front of method
name except in some cases. So that is why we just used Response.Write, that's why I say that
VBScript is much more natural way of writing ASP pages and is the easiest of all languages.
Summary
In this tutorial we learned that Active Server Pages are simple HTML pages which can contain
extra ASP script within the <% %> tags which is executed on the server and the output is
sent to the client. We also learned that ASP consists of six built-in Objects and saw how easy it is
to call an Object's methods and properties. We also came to know that ASP can call other COM
Components and use their methods. We can even build our own COM Components and use their methods inside
ASP. You can use the reference material available on this
site to see the methods, properties, collections and events available to you in the six built-in
ASP Objects.
Where to go from here ?
I would advise you to see the reference material ( see above ) and then test those methods and
properties on your own as that is how you will learn them. In this way you will also be able to
know that what is available to you in those six ASP Objects because those are the Objects you are
going to use mostly in your ASP career. | 
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ASP (16) 
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