What's wrong with VBScript and Split?

[dfair]

When I try to execute this very simple 3 line script I get Subscript out of range.
What's up?

' vbscript test of Split Function
dim a, b()
a = "this is a test"
b() = Split(a)


C:\>cscript test.vbs
Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.1 for Windows
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1996-1999. All rights reserved.

C:\test.vbs(4, 1) Microsoft VBScript runtime error:

[Cander]

remove the paranthesis from the b.

[dfair]

With the paranthesis removed from the b()...

' vbscript test of Split Function
dim a, b()
a = "this is a test"
b = Split(a)

Yeilds:

C:\>cscript.exe test.vbs
Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.1 for Windows
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1996-1999. All rights reserved.

C:\test.vbs(4, 1) Microsoft VBScript runtime error: Type mismatch

With the paranthesis in place I get:

' vbscript test of Split Function
dim a, b()
a = "this is a test"
b() = Split(a)

C:\>cscript.exe test.vbs
Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.1 for Windows
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1996-1999. All rights reserved.

C:\test.vbs(4, 1) Microsoft VBScript runtime error: Subscript out of range

I'm beginning to think that Microsoft simply broke this function in VBScript.
It works just fine for me in regular VB (with the paranthesis).

[CiberTHuG]

Remove them from the dim as well.

[dfair]

Thanks. Here's a VBS script that will modify ini files. It will change existing values, add new keys & values, or add new sections, keys and values. It can be run from the command line and requires four parameters: The ini file name, the section name, the key name and the key value.

' MODINI.vbs 4/10/01 D.Fair
Option Explicit
Dim INIfile, INIsect, INIkey, INIval
Dim fs, Sect, Key, a, b, c, x, i
Dim SectFound, KeyFound, Params, Stat
set fs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
set Params=Wscript.Arguments
If Params.Count <> 4 then
Msgbox "You must specify four arguements for this script."
else
INIfile=Params.Item(0)
INIsect=Params.Item(1)
INIkey=Params.Item(2)
INIval=Params.Item(3)
End If
Sect = "[" & Trim(INIsect) & "]"
SectFound = False
KeyFound = False
' Create the file if it does not exist and exit
If fs.FileExists(INIfile) = False Then
a = Sect & vbCrLf & INIkey & "=" & INIval & vbCrLf
x = WriteFile(INIfile, a)
Stop
End If
' File does exist - get data
a = ReadFile(INIfile)
b = Split(a, vbCrLf)

Do While i <= UBound(b)
' first check for the section of the ini file we're interested in.
If Lcase(Sect) = Lcase(Trim(b(i))) Then ' do case insensitive compare
SectFound = True ' rember we're in the section
Sect = Trim(b(i)) ' insure correct case
i = i + 1 ' advance to next aray element
End If
' check to see if this aray element is the key we're looking for
If mid(b(i),1,1) <> "]" AND SectFound = True Then
x = Instr(1, b(i), "=") ' find key/value delimiter
If x = 0 Then
Key = b(i) ' whole element is the key
Else
Key = Mid(b(i), 1, x-1) ' extract the key
End If
If Lcase(Key) = Lcase(INIkey) Then ' do case insensitive compare
KeyFound = True ' remember we've found the key
b(i) = Key & "=" & INIval ' rewrite aray element with new value
a = Join(b, vbCrLf) ' put aray back into string
Stat = WriteFile(INIfile, a) ' rewrite the ini file
KeyFound = True ' remember we've Created the key
i = UBound(b) ' set index to end of loop
End If
End If
' check to see if we've passed through the section without finding the key
If Mid(b(i),1,1) = "[" AND SectFound = True AND KeyFound = False Then
' skip back over any blank lines - no gaps in ini file
While Trim(b(i-1)) = ""
i = i - 1
Wend
Redim c(UBound(b)+1) ' create array with extra element
For x = 0 to i-1
c(x) = b(x) ' put previous elements into new array
Next
c(i) = INIkey & "=" & INIval ' rewrite aray element with new value
For x = i To UBound(b)
c(x+1) = b(x) ' write out the rest of the elements
Next
a = Join(c, vbCrLf) ' put aray back into string
Stat = WriteFile(INIfile, a) ' rewrite the ini file
KeyFound = True ' remember we've Created the key
i = UBound(b) ' set index to end of loop
End If
i = i + 1
Loop
If SectFound = False Then
' If we get here the section was not found
If Trim(b(Ubound(b))) = "" Then
Redim Preserve b(UBound(b) + 2) ' create array with 2 extra elements
Else
Redim Preserve b(UBound(b) + 3) ' create array with 3 extra elements
End If
b(UBound(b)-1) = Sect ' write out the new section
b(UBound(b)) = INIkey & "=" & INIval ' write out the new key & value
a = Join(b, vbCrLf) ' put aray back into string
Stat = WriteFile(INIfile, a) ' rewrite the ini file
End If

Function ReadFile(File2Read)
Dim f, fs, ForReading
ForReading = 1
set fs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
ReadFile = ""
If fs.FileExists(File2Read) = False then Exit Function
Set f = fs.OpenTextFile(File2Read, ForReading, True)
ReadFile = f.ReadAll
f.Close
End Function

Function WriteFile(File2write, FileData)
Dim f, fs, ForWriting
WriteFile = False
If File2Write = "" then Exit Function
ForWriting = 2
set fs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set f = fs.OpenTextFile(File2Write, ForWriting, True)
f.Write FileData
f.close
WriteFile = True
End Function

[CiberTHuG]

Cool, just in time to start phasing out the system's registry.