Questions tagged [wsh]

Windows Script Host (sometimes abbreviated as WSH), in both Wscript.exe and Cscript.exe guises, can run VBScript (*.VBS, *.VBE) and JScript (*.JS, *.JSE), via Microsoft-provided script engines that are bundled with the OS and installed by default.

In addition to VBScript and JScript, there are third-party script engines for WSH that you can download to allow the use of Python, REXX, Perl, and other languages. (The script engines that add into WSH are distinct from standalone script interpreters that might exist for those languages, on Windows).

Multiple languages can be mixed in Windows Script Files (*.WSF). These types of scripts may also be used to link many other external scripts together using a src parameter on the <script> tag in a manner similar to HTML. A WSF makes reference to each script module in a very basic XML hierarchy and it's a package that can be organized in jobs.

Regardless of whether the UI is console-based or graphical, the same underlying script engine is used. In UI mode, the host is WScript.exe (used by default); in console mode, the host is CScript.exe.

The Windows Script Host has been part of every Microsoft Windows operating system's installation since Windows 98.

In 2006, Microsoft released v1.0 of Windows PowerShell, which could be conceived as a replacement for, or successor of, Windows Script Host. PowerShell is now included in every Windows OS. Even so, WSH is still included in every Windows OS, and many Wscript programs will continue to be in service, for many years.

References:

• Windows Script Host Basics

• WSH Reference

• Script Runtime reference

• Using Windows Script Files

Related tags:

• vbscript
• jscript