Appendix B Variable Naming Convention

Variables are used to hold values. With that goal in mind, it makes sense to choose names for them that describe their purpose or what they contain. The bigger the project you are working on is, the more important it is to be able to keep track of its variables. Here, we offer some things to keep in mind, including standards.

First, you'll want to keep your naming consistent. So, for example if you use Cnt as a variable in one part of the script and Count in another when you are in fact dealing with the same data, you're very likely to introduce runtime errors by confusing the variables.

Second, it is useful to include the scope of a variable by prefixing with g for global, or l for local (to a subprocedure), for example, gstrCompanyName and lstrDepartmentName .

Finally, one of the best ways to organize variable names is to prefix all variable names you use with a shorthand representation of the data type that the variable will hold. The standard prefixes used to accomplish this are called Hungarian notation.

Here is a listing of data types and their associated Hungarian prefixes, complete with examples of use.

Data Type Hungarian Prefix Example VarType()

Boolean

bln (or bool )

BlnValid

11

Byte

Byt

bytColor

17

Currency

Cur

CurTotal

6

Date or Time

Dtm

dtmMember

7

Double

Dbl

DblTotal

5

Error

Err

errInvalidEmailAddress

10

Integer

Int

intCount

2

Long

Lng

lngHeight

3

Object

Obj

ObjWS

9 or 13

Single

Sng

sngWidth

4

String

Str

strName

8

Variant

Var

varNumber

12

Here is a listing of control types and their associated Hungarian prefixes, complete with examples of use.

Control Type Hungarian Prefix Example

Animated button

Ani

AniButton

Check box

Chk

ChkNo

Combo list box

Cbo

CboOS

Command button

Cmd

CmdSend

Common dialog

Dlg

DlgOpen

Frame

Fra

FraOptions

Horizontal scroll bar

Hsb

HsbContrast

Image control

Img

ImgHeading

Label

Lbl

LblText

Line

Lin

LinDivide

List box

Lst

LstDueBy

3D panel

Pnl

PnlMain

Pop-up menu

Mnu

MnuContextSelect

Radio/Option button

Opt

OptIncludeFreeGift

Slider

Sld

SldSetVolume

Spin button

Spn

SpnCounter

Tab strip

Tab

TabOptions

Text box

Txt

TxtComment

Vertical scroll bar

Vsb

VsbSetVolume




VBScript Programmer's Reference
VBScript Programmers Reference
ISBN: 0470168080
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 242

Flylib.com © 2008-2020.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net