Question

improve VBScript

Asked by: resolver1

Help with the script.  Im looking at ways to improve the script, make it more readable, it works. Its the first time ive coded in 3 years and want to improve my practices. The aim of the script is to change permissions of files within website file locations so only certain users can access files.  

Heres what the script does:

The script gets the User Accounts (which is the folder name) and stores in an array

The array is then cycled (while loop) and the sub folders (which is the website) are stored in an array which stores the user account (the root sub folder) and the full path of the website

The 3rd loop cycles through the previous array and runs CACLS to assign permissions for the user account for that particular path.  

'Ive created the script which will get the folder (user account) and the sub folder (website) 
Dim UserID 'stores user accounts (folder names) 
Dim nestedFolders 'stores the sub folder names (web sites) 
Dim strFullPath(100,1) ' stores the path of files and account numbers (which is also folder names)
dim IFullPath 'stores 
 
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") ' sets the file system object
objStartFolder = "C:\test" ' stores the starting folder
iCount = 0 'sets the count to 0
userID=ShowSubfolders(objFSO.GetFolder(objStartFolder)) ' stores the userID of each of the startFolders
IFullPath = 0 ' Searches sub folders 
 
' Searches sub folders
do until userID(icount) = ""
    Dim AppendCount ' counter for loop
    NestedFolders= ShowSubfolders (objFSO.GetFolder(objStartFolder & "\" & userID(icount))) ' displays nest subfolders
	AppendCount = 0 ' sets count to 0 
    do until NestedFolders(AppendCount) = ""
		strFullPath(iFullPath,0)= objStartFolder & "\" & userID(icount) & "\" & NestedFolders(AppendCount) ' concatanates folders 
		strFullPath(iFullPath,1)= userID(icount)
        AppendCount = AppendCount + 1 ' moves counter on one
		ifullPath=iFullPath + 1 ' Moves the counter on one
	LOOP
    icount = icount + 1 ' moves counter on one
loop
 
'loop through each of the folders and accounts stored in strFullPath 
Dim intCount ' counter for loop
intCount =0 ' sets counter to 0
do until strFullPath(intCount,0) = ""
	msgbox strFullPath(intcount,0) 
	msgbox strFullPath(intcount,1)
	msgbox "cacls " & strFullPath(intCount,0) & "\*.* /T /E /G staff\" & strFullPath(intcount,1) & ":F"
	run "cacls " & strFullPath(intCount,0) & "\*.* /T /E /G staff\" & strFullPath(intcount,1) & ":F"
	intCount=intCount +1 
 Loop
 
'searches location passed and returns array of sub folders
function ShowSubFolders(Folder)
    dim strFolders(100)
    Dim icount
    icount = 0
    For Each Subfolder in Folder.SubFolders
        'Wscript.Echo Subfolder.name
        strFolders(icount) = Subfolder.name
        icount =icount  + 1
    Next
    showSubfolders = strFolders
End function
 
'routine to run a program 
Sub Run(ByVal sFile)
	Dim shell
    Set shell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
    shell.Run sFile, 1, true
    Set shell = Nothing
End Sub

                                  
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
22:
23:
24:
25:
26:
27:
28:
29:
30:
31:
32:
33:
34:
35:
36:
37:
38:
39:
40:
41:
42:
43:
44:
45:
46:
47:
48:
49:
50:
51:
52:
53:
54:
55:
56:
57:

Select allOpen in new window

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2009-10-07 at 00:05:33ID24791471
Topics

VB Script

,

Scripting Languages

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
3

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Using the command Cacls in BATCH
    I have a variable and this variable stands for a "main" directory sometimes under the main directory are subdirectories I use the command CALCS to see the rights of this main directory The command CALCS also has a switch to show the rights of his subs What i want...
  2. CACLS - VBS Script Change Persmision
    I have this script running.. It does what need it needs to.. however.. I wanted when the profile is created to inherit the parent folder structure.. and it doesn't do that. This is what i have.. what .. any suggestions? WshShell.Run ("Cmd /C echo y| cacls " + Pr...
  3. VBScript Execution Cycle
    I have a script which collects information from a web form and writes the inputs into a .txt file and then forwards the .txt file as the body of an email. I am concerned as to whether multiple users filling in the form may be able to hit the submit button at the exact same t...
  4. using cacls in vbscript
    I've looked through the posts here and have tailored the scripts to create a set of folders. This part works fine. My problem is that the CACLS part does not. Can someone look at this script and possibly find out why? Dim objFSO : Set objFSO=CreateObject("Scripting.F...
  5. Shell command in Visual Basic 2008 (Running cacls co…
    I'm trying to use the SHELL command in Visual Basic to set folder security on a remote drive. I'm using.. Shell("cacls ""\\ukpreflr1\preston1$\" & PNumber.Text & "\01 Quotations"" /E /P Domain\Proj-" & PNumber & ":...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: purplepomegranitePosted on 2009-10-07 at 03:57:44ID: 25513928

On the whole the code was easy to follow.  The only notes I would make are:

- Always use Option Explicit.  This forces you to declare all variable you use, and can prevent issues with typos (and some other issues).

- Some of your variables weren't declared.

- I tend to use a while..wend loop in the place of your do until.  Having said this, this is a personal preference as I think it makes code more readable (and distinguishes from a do...loop construct which I always use for code that has to run at least once).

- You can use dynamic arrays with redim if you don't know the amount of data you'll be getting.  Have modifed code below to demonstrate - you could also apply this method to strFullPath

'Ive created the script which will get the folder (user account) and the sub folder (website) 
 
option explicit ' Force variable declaration - this can save issues with typos among other things
 
Dim UserID 'stores user accounts (folder names) 
Dim nestedFolders 'stores the sub folder names (web sites) 
Dim strFullPath(100,1) ' stores the path of files and account numbers (which is also folder names)
dim IFullPath 'stores 
dim strStartFolder
dim objFSO
 
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") ' sets the file system object
strStartFolder = "C:\test" ' stores the starting folder
iCount = 0 'sets the count to 0
userID=ShowSubfolders(objFSO.GetFolder(strStartFolder)) ' stores the userID of each of the startFolders
IFullPath = 0 ' Searches sub folders 
 
' Searches sub folders
while userID(icount) <>""
	Dim AppendCount ' counter for loop
	NestedFolders= ShowSubfolders (objFSO.GetFolder(strStartFolder & "\" & userID(icount))) ' displays nest subfolders
	AppendCount = 0 ' sets count to 0 
	while NestedFolders(AppendCount) <> ""
		strFullPath(iFullPath,0)= strStartFolder & "\" & userID(icount) & "\" & NestedFolders(AppendCount) ' concatanates folders 
		strFullPath(iFullPath,1)= userID(icount)
		AppendCount = AppendCount + 1 ' moves counter on one
		ifullPath=iFullPath + 1 ' Moves the counter on one
	wend
	icount = icount + 1 ' moves counter on one
wend
 
'loop through each of the folders and accounts stored in strFullPath 
Dim intCount ' counter for loop
intCount =0 ' sets counter to 0
while strFullPath(intCount,0) <> ""
	msgbox strFullPath(intcount,0) 
	msgbox strFullPath(intcount,1)
	msgbox "cacls " & strFullPath(intCount,0) & "\*.* /T /E /G staff\" & strFullPath(intcount,1) & ":F"
	run "cacls " & strFullPath(intCount,0) & "\*.* /T /E /G staff\" & strFullPath(intcount,1) & ":F"
	intCount=intCount +1 
wend
 
'searches location passed and returns array of sub folders
function ShowSubFolders(Folder)
	dim strFolders() ' Dynamic array
	Dim icount
	dim Subfolder
 
	icount = 0
	redim strFolders(Folder.SubFolders.Count) ' Redimension the array to the correct size
	For Each Subfolder in Folder.SubFolders
		'Wscript.Echo Subfolder.name
		strFolders(icount) = Subfolder.name
		icount =icount  + 1
	Next
	showSubfolders = strFolders
End function
 
'routine to run a program 
Sub Run(ByVal sFile)
	Dim shell
	Set shell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
	shell.Run sFile, 1, true
	Set shell = Nothing
End Sub

                                              
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
22:
23:
24:
25:
26:
27:
28:
29:
30:
31:
32:
33:
34:
35:
36:
37:
38:
39:
40:
41:
42:
43:
44:
45:
46:
47:
48:
49:
50:
51:
52:
53:
54:
55:
56:
57:
58:
59:
60:
61:
62:
63:
64:
65:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: resolver1Posted on 2009-10-07 at 23:07:28ID: 25522618

Thanks for the reminder on the option explicit.  i tried to use dynamic arrays but some reason it error'd.  I used the "redim reserve" parameter in there and for some reason it didnt work, cant remember what the error was.  Cheers for your pointers

 

by: resolver1Posted on 2009-10-07 at 23:08:07ID: 31638073

cheers

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...