Three different types of report

The ASP Documentation Tool™ creates three types of report about an ASP web application:

1. The standard HTML report can be viewed in any web browser that supports frames [sample].
2. The Microsoft HTML Help format is the format used by most Windows applications for their help files [sample].
3. The plain text report can be viewed in any text editor or word processing application [sample].

How to determine which ActiveX objects are used on a site

ASP web applications commonly make use of ActiveX objects to perform tasks such as connecting to databases or sending email. When moving websites between web servers, it is critical to know which objects are used on the site, as it may be necessary to install these objects on the new web server or to rewrite the code. For example, ASP code that sends email can use any one of a number of third party objects.

The ASP Documentation Tool™ looks for the instantiation of ActiveX objects through the use of the CreateObject and Server.CreateObject functions. The report produced by the ASP Documentation Tool™ contains a list of the objects used, and shows where each object is used in the web application:

Figure 1. The ASP Documentation Tool shows which ActiveX objects are used in a web application

The ASP Documentation Tool™ is able to show the source code of public Functions and Properties of any custom ActiveX objects written in Visual Basic 6.0. This is shown in Figure 1 above (the custom ActiveX object is called Samplewebcomobject).

Modifying ASP function or subroutine parameters

A common task in development is modifying the parameters associated with a particular function or subroutine. Typically this would be to add additional parameters to the function and subroutine. This involves two processes:

1. Modifying the function or subroutine's parameters.
2. Changing all the calls to the function or subroutine to reflect the changes made to the parameters.

The ASP Documentation Tool™ contains a list of all the VBScript functions and subroutines, and JScript functions. Clicking on a function or subroutine name will show where the function or subroutine is to be found within the site. There is a also a list of where in the site the function or subroutine is used. This makes it a straightforward task to change the function or subroutine's parameters, as well as all of the calls made to the function or subroutine.

Figure 2. The ASP Documentation Tool shows where functions and subroutines are found, and where they are used

Tidying up the code of a web application

The ASP Documentation Tool™ can be useful when tidying up the ASP code of a web application and assisting with code reviews. For example, it is able to assist with the following:

• Rationalisation of duplicate functions and subroutines. The ASP Documentation Tool™ lists all of the VBScript functions and subroutines and JScript functions used in the web application. It is, therefore, straightforward to remove duplicate instances of these functions and subroutines. Duplicated functions and subroutines could probably be moved to a global include file.
• Removal of email addresses used for testing purposes.  The ASP Documentation Tool™ displays where email addresses are used on a site, so it can be useful for ensuring that functionality that sends email will send the messages to the correct recipients.

Determining where a particular stored procedure is used

The ASP Documentation Tool™ is also able to document SQL Server 7 and SQL Server 2000/2005/2008 databases. MySQL is also supported. The resulting documentation for the database is fully integrated with the documentation of the ASP files within the web application. The documentation includes a list of stored procedures within the databases documented. Clicking on the name of a stored procedure will show the details of that procedure. It will also show where in the ASP code that stored procedure is called from.

Figure 3. The ASP Documentation Tool™ will document SQL Server 7.0 and SQL Server 2000/2005/2008 databases associated with a web application

Alternatively, it is possible to use the integrated search facility within the HTML Help report to search for the name of the stored procedure. A list of all the occurrences of the search query will be displayed. HTML Help report produced by the ASP Documentation Tool™ allows all of the source code of the web application to be searched. Because HTML Help files are compiled, searching them is much faster than using the search facility within a development package such as Visual InterDev.

Our SQL Documentation Tool can be used to generate even more detailed database developer documentation for SQL Server databases - generous discounts are available if you purchase the SQL Documentation Tool at the same time as the ASP Documentation Tool.

My line manager/project manager/client wants technical documentation in Word format

The ASP Documentation Tool™ is able to create a text report of the ASP web application and associated SQL Server 7.0, SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server Express 2005 or Microsoft Access databases. This text report can, therefore, be used as the basis for the technical documentation of a project. The ASP Documentation Tool™'s text report contains lists of:

• ASP Pages
• ASP VBScript functions
• ASP VBScript functions (with arguments)
• ASP VBScript subroutines
• ASP VBScript subroutines (with arguments)
• ASP JScript functions
• ASP JScript functions (with arguments)
• Client-side JavaScript functions
• Client-side JavaScript functions (with arguments)
• ActiveX Objects used
• Functions within custom Visual Basic 6.0 ActiveX objects
• Functions within custom Visual Basic 6.0 ActiveX objects (with arguments)
• Application variables used
• Session variables used
• Request.QueryString variables used
• Request.Form variables used
• Request.ServerVariables variables used
• VBScript Constants
• HTML Forms
• Email Addresses
• SQL Server 7.0, SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server 2005/2005/2008 Express Edition databases:
  • Tables
  • Table Columns
  • Views
  • Stored Procedures
  • Triggers
  • Table Relationships
• MySQL databases (MySQL 5.0 or greater recommended):
  • Tables
  • Table Columns
  • Views
  • Stored Procedures
  • Triggers
• Microsoft Access databases:
  • Tables
  • Table Columns
  • Views
  • Stored Procedures

An ASP Documentation Tool sample text report is available.

Migrating a site from Classic ASP 2.0 or 3.0 to ASP.NET

The ASP Documentation Tool™ can also assist in the migration of web applications from ASP to ASP.NET. This is a topic that has been covered on the Microsoft website (see Migrating to ASP.NET: Key Considerations). The ASP Documentation Tool™ can assist the migration process by:

• Listing the ASP pages associated with the web application.
• Showing a list of VBScript functions and subroutines that will need to be converted to a language such as VB.NET
• Showing a list of JScript functions.
• Showing which pages make use of the ADO objects - these pages could be candidates for conversion to ADO.NET.
• Shows Application and Session variable usage.

A .NET Documentation Tool is also available, should you wish to document your .NET applications and ASP.NET web applications.