Before officially starting to learn the built-in objects and components of ASP, let us first understand some basic concepts, which will be of great help to your future learning. Please see the table below:
Active Server
A collection of server-side technologies delivered with Windows NT. These technologies provide consistent server-side components, scripting models and an integrated system service for component application management, database access, transactions, and messages.
Active Server Pages (ASP)
Server-side scripting environment running ActiveX scripts and ActiveX components on the server. Developers can combine scripts and components together to create web-based applications.
ActiveX
A rich Microsoft technical term that allows developers to create interactive components for the World Wide Web. A set of language-independent interoperability technologies that allow software components written in different languages to work together in a network environment. The key elements of ActiveX are the Component Object Model (COM) and the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM). These technologies have been licensed by open organizations and have been ported to many platforms.
ADO
Active data object. A set of object-based data access interfaces optimized for Internet-based data-centric applications. ADO is based on published specifications and comes with Microsoft Internet Information Server and Microsoft Visual InterDev.
DSN
Data source name. An open database interface (ODBC) is used to refer to the logical name of the driver or other information required to access data. The name of the Internet Information Server that is used to connect to an ODBC data source, such as a SQL Server database.
event: event
Any action that a program is responded to by a user or ActiveX control. General events include pressing the keyboard key, clicking the selection button by using the mouse, and other mouse operations. Programmers write code that responds to these operations.
object: object
In object-oriented programming, variables consist of operations and data that are used as complete entities. Objects are based on a specific model in which clients use the object's services to access the object's data through an interface of a set of methods or related functions. The client can then call these methods to perform some operation.
ODBC
Open database interface. Application programming interface that allows applications to access data from existing data sources standard specifications for various cross-platform data access.
SQL
Structured Query Language. International standards for defining and accessing relational databases.
What is an object?
It does not refer to the male or female companion you are in love. In object-oriented programming, an object refers to a variable composed of operations and data that are regarded as complete entities. Objects are based on a specific model in which the client uses the object's service to access the object's data through an interface of a set of methods or related functions, and the client can then call these methods to perform some operation.
ActiveX components are key to building web applications, and components provide objects that perform tasks in scripts. An ActiveX component is a file that contains code that executes a certain item or set of tasks. Since the component can perform common tasks, programmers do not have to create code that performs these tasks themselves. Components can be leveraged as basic building blocks for scripts and web-based applications. As long as you know how to access objects provided by a component, even a newbie in scripting can write scripts without understanding how components work.