This article describes some of the practical uses of the ASP
Documentation Tool. The ASP Documentation Tool is a utility for creating
technical documentation for web applications written in ASP 2.0 and 3.0 using either the
VBScript or JScript scripting languages.Three different types of report
The ASP Documentation Tool creates three types of report about an ASP web
application:
- The standard HTML report can be viewed in any web browser that supports
frames [sample].
- The Microsoft HTML Help format is the format used by most Windows
applications for their help files [sample].
- 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:
- Modifying the function or subroutine's parameters.
- 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. |