Universal Command-Line Wrapper Tool for WSH

Windows Script Host (WSH) has made its mark by leveraging outside components. Noteworthy WSH scripts often use external tools, such as Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI), and other COM-enabled libraries and applications. One particularly large and useful family of specialty tools is the traditional command-line tools. Command-line tools are ready-made for administrators and are often useful when tools such as WMI aren't available.

However, leveraging command-line tools in WSH scripts is difficult. Although WSH's WshShell object lets you access command-line tools through its Run method, using this method has two significant problems. The first problem is that many of the command-line tools have console-dependent behavior and can perform erratically if they execute in the wrong command processor. The second problem is more significant: The Run method doesn't provide a way to capture output. Although the new WshShell Exec method in WSH 5.6 returns command-line data, this method has limitations. It's complex to use because you must monitor streams. If you use WScript, the Exec method requires a visible console window, and a window pops up every time the method executes a command. Another limitation is that not everyone has WSH 5.6 installed. . . .