<s>
Active	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
(	O
formerly	O
known	O
as	O
ActiveX	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
)	O
is	O
the	O
technology	O
used	O
in	O
Windows	B-Application
to	O
implement	O
component-based	O
scripting	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
OLE	B-Application
Automation	I-Application
(	O
part	O
of	O
COM	B-Application
)	O
and	O
allows	O
installation	O
of	O
additional	O
scripting	O
engines	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
COM	B-Application
modules	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Active	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
technologies	O
were	O
first	O
released	O
in	O
1996	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Protocol
Internet	I-Protocol
Explorer	I-Protocol
3.0	I-Protocol
(	O
August	O
1996	O
)	O
and	O
Internet	B-Application
Information	I-Application
Services	I-Application
3.0	O
products	O
(	O
December	O
1996	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Usual	O
applications	O
of	O
Active	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
include	O
Active	B-General_Concept
Server	I-General_Concept
Pages	I-General_Concept
(	O
ASP	O
)	O
server	B-Language
scripts	I-Language
,	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
,	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
Script	O
Host	O
(	O
WSH	O
)	O
scripts	O
automating	O
routine	O
tasks	O
,	O
including	O
use	O
for	O
login	O
scripts	O
,	O
Registry	B-Protocol
manipulation	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
like	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
administrative	O
uses	O
include	O
Windows	B-Library
Management	I-Library
Instrumentation	I-Library
and	O
Active	B-Protocol
Directory	I-Protocol
Service	I-Protocol
Interfaces	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Active	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
general-purpose	O
scripting	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
database	O
programming	O
,	O
text-processing	O
,	O
rapid	O
prototyping	O
,	O
and	O
application	O
macro/scripting	O
programming	O
;	O
some	O
applications	O
use	O
Active	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
as	O
the	O
main	O
automation	O
method	O
,	O
others	O
do	O
not	O
have	O
a	O
macro	O
facility	O
but	O
the	O
components	O
are	O
available	O
for	O
use	O
via	O
the	O
API	O
;	O
or	O
one	O
may	O
opt	O
to	O
add	O
a	O
language	O
and/or	O
tool	O
not	O
available	O
by	O
default	O
,	O
like	O
programming	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
in	O
Perl	B-Language
or	O
REXX	B-Language
rather	O
than	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
for	I-Language
Applications	I-Language
(	O
VBA	B-Language
)	O
or	O
transferring	O
data	O
from	O
a	O
terminal	B-Application
emulator	I-Application
to	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
by	O
way	O
of	O
a	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
when	O
they	O
have	O
dissimilar	O
macro	O
tools	O
or	O
none	O
at	O
all	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
above	O
uses	O
,	O
Active	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
is	O
an	O
addition	O
to	O
Windows	B-Application
that	O
is	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
functionality	O
of	O
Unix	O
shell	O
scripts	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
an	O
incremental	O
improvement	O
upon	O
batch	O
files	O
(	O
command.com	O
)	O
,	O
Windows	B-Application
NT	O
style	O
shell	O
scripts	O
(	O
cmd.exe	O
)	O
and	O
,	O
by	O
way	O
of	O
VBScript	B-Application
,	O
the	O
replacement	O
for	O
QBasic	B-Language
,	O
which	O
was	O
last	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
supplementary	O
disc	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
majority	O
of	O
the	O
languages	O
used	O
for	O
Active	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
mentioned	O
below	O
are	O
glue	O
languages	O
,	O
with	O
Perl	B-Language
being	O
the	O
most	O
commonly	O
used	O
third-party	O
script	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
interfaces	O
to	O
Active	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
engines	O
are	O
public	O
,	O
so	O
any	O
developer	O
can	O
create	O
applications	O
that	O
are	O
programmable	O
in	O
Active	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
languages	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
engines	O
for	O
additional	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Active	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
engines	O
are	O
available	O
for	O
several	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
for	I-Language
Applications	I-Language
(	O
VBA	B-Language
)	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
;	O
and	O
requires	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Office	I-Application
,	O
or	O
other	O
software	O
packages	O
that	O
are	O
VBA-programmable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Windows	B-Application
,	O
CScript.exe	O
at	O
the	O
command	O
line	O
and	O
WScript.exe	O
running	O
in	O
the	O
GUI	O
are	O
the	O
main	O
means	O
of	O
implementation	O
of	O
installed	O
Active	B-Application
Script	I-Application
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Windows	B-Application
Script	O
File	O
(	O
.wsf	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
XML	B-Protocol
file	O
that	O
can	O
contain	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
script	O
in	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
language	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
other	O
elements	O
,	O
and	O
are	O
executed	O
by	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
Script	O
Host	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
third-party	O
shell	O
Take	B-Application
Command	I-Application
can	O
,	O
as	O
of	O
version	O
10	O
,	O
be	O
configured	O
for	O
direct	O
interoperability	O
with	O
the	O
script	O
host	O
and	O
its	O
installed	O
engines	O
;	O
a	O
WSH	O
engine	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Take	B-Application
Command	I-Application
language	O
is	O
reportedly	O
now	O
in	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
software	O
such	O
as	O
SecureCRT	B-Protocol
use	O
the	O
WSH	O
functionality	O
to	O
allow	O
automation	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
any	O
installed	O
scripting	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
script	O
host	O
,	O
related	O
components	O
,	O
and	O
engines	O
are	O
able	O
to	O
be	O
integrated	O
into	O
and	O
called	O
from	O
Windows	B-Application
applications	I-Application
just	O
like	O
any	O
other	O
component	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Active	B-Application
scripting	I-Application
is	O
regarded	O
complete	O
,	O
and	O
no	O
longer	O
under	O
active	O
development	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
scripting	O
engines	O
will	O
continue	O
to	O
be	O
shipped	O
with	O
future	O
releases	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
and	O
IIS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
,	O
the	O
.NET	O
Framework	O
had	O
a	O
scripting	O
technology	O
of	O
its	O
own	O
and	O
a	O
separate	O
scripting	O
IDE	O
called	O
Visual	O
Studio	O
for	O
Applications	O
(	O
VSA	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
interfaces	O
to	O
the	O
technology	O
were	O
also	O
available	O
via	O
Active	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
,	O
allowing	O
even	O
.NET-unaware	O
applications	O
to	O
be	O
scripted	O
using	O
.NET	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VSA	O
was	O
also	O
meant	O
to	O
replace	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
for	I-Language
Applications	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
that	O
entire	O
technology	O
was	O
deprecated	O
in	O
version	O
2.0	O
of	O
the	O
.NET	O
Framework	O
,	O
leaving	O
no	O
clear	O
upgrade	O
path	O
for	O
applications	O
desiring	O
Active	B-Application
Scripting	I-Application
support	O
(	O
although	O
"	O
scripts	O
"	O
can	O
be	O
created	O
in	O
C#	B-Application
,	O
VBScript	B-Application
,	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
,	O
and	O
other	O
.NET	O
languages	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
compiled	B-Language
and	O
executed	O
at	O
run-time	O
via	O
libraries	B-Library
installed	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
standard	O
.NET	O
runtime	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
has	O
also	O
introduced	O
Windows	B-Application
PowerShell	I-Application
,	O
which	O
can	O
expose	O
applications	O
via	O
PowerShell	B-Application
cmdlets	O
or	O
PowerShell	B-Application
providers	O
.	O
</s>
