Question

I have this script saved in “test.vbs”:

Set FSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set File = FSO.OpenTextFile(workFolder &"\test.txt", 2, True)
File.Write "testing"
File.Close
Set File = Nothing
Set FSO = Nothing
Set workFolder = Nothing

When I run the script I want to pass the value of the “workFolder” variable.

How can I do this? Can I do it? Something like “cscript test.vbs workFolder:’C:\temp\'” perhaps?

Bonus question: Is it neccessary to clean up the passed variable with “Set workFolder = Nothing” or does VBSCript do that automatically when it terminates? Maybe “Set File = Nothing” and “Set FSO = Nothing” is unneccessary also? Please let me know if you know the answer to both these questions.

Answer 1

You can use WScript.Arguments to access the arguments passed to your script.

Calling the script:

cscript.exe test.vbs "C:\temp\"

Inside your script:

Set File = FSO.OpenTextFile(WScript.Arguments(0) &"\test.txt", 2, True)

Don’t forget to check if there actually has been an argument passed to your script. You can do so by checking the Count property:

if WScript.Arguments.Count = 0 then
    WScript.Echo "Missing parameters"
end if

If your script is over after you close the file then there is no need to set the variables to Nothing. The resources will be cleaned up automatically when the cscript.exe process terminates. Setting a variable to Nothing usually is only necessary if you explicitly want to free resources during the execution of your script. In that case, you would set variables which contain a reference to a COM object to Nothing, which would release the COM object before your script terminates. This is just a short answer to your bonus question, you will find more information in these related questions:

Is there a need to set Objects to Nothing inside VBA Functions

When must I set a variable to “Nothing” in VB6?