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Application Automation Solutions

WinWrap® Basic is an embedded macro language component available for .NET and COM 32/64 bit Windows applications. The WinWrap® Basic Component is an alternative to Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), ActiveX (e.g. VBScript, JScript, PerlScript, Rexx-based WSH engines and others), and VSTA for this purpose. The WinWrap® Basic Component is compatible with VBA, Sax Basic, VB.NET and Visual Basic 6.0 style scripts.

WinWrap® Basic Scripting has improved and extensive support for automating deployed applications. You can build a stock application, then you or your customer can customize and automate the application using WinWrap® Basic scripts. The WinWrap® Basic Embedded Scripting Engine provides both end-users and developers with a complete environment for creating Application Automation Solutions.

WinWrap® Basic's Scripting Component Provides the Solution for Customizing and Automating your Application:

  • Create custom solutions based on proven processes and workflow
  • Automate time-consuming, labor-intensive, repetitive tasks
  • Create custom scripts that require minimal user input
  • Maximize application value with WinWrap® Basic enabled extensibility
  • Capture user input with WinWrap® Basic commands
  • Provide users with a complete scripting development environment

Create Custom Solutions Based on Proven Processes and Workflow

  • Automate business rules and processes
  • Enable in-house experts to build sophisticated automated scripts
  • Insure that critical data is accurately captured
  • Customize run-time application control

Jan Hartmann, et al. "customization describes the extent to which the user can adapt the system to his or her needs; this can encourage users to take ownership over a system, and has been found to influence perceived usability and aesthetics". ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), Volume 15, Issue 4, Towards a theory of user judgment of aesthetics and user interface quality.

You can improve the usability and perceived quality of your application by including a scripting capability for end-users.

Automate Time-Consuming, Labor-Intensive, Repetitive Tasks

  • Automate repetitive functions and movements
  • Create scripts with custom dialog boxes
  • Insure all desired data is accurately captured
  • Print standard repeatable reports

Create Custom Scripts that Require Minimal User Input

  • Automated login scripts
  • Capture user input with interactive, paced user prompts
  • Create customized reports
  • Automated data backup

Chittibabu Govindarajulu's research shows that over half of users engage in some form of application customization. Communications of the ACM, Volume 46, Issue 9 (September 2003), End Users: Who are They?

In short, it's a good business decision for application owners to enhance the value of their applications by including scripting capability in their applications.

Maximize Application Value with WinWrap® Enabled Extensibility

  • Add custom features and functions to your application
  • Automate tasks performed with menus and dialog boxes
  • Create more powerful scripts by calling API-only commands
  • Incorporate functionality from external applications via their .NET assemblies
  • Share information with other Active-X compliant applications
  • Access thousands of .NET Framework classes

Basic has long been considered the best language for user scripting and user application extensions. Basic has a reputation as being the easiest language for non-developer users to understand and use.

Caitlin Kelleher and Randy Pausch "Basic was designed to teach Dartmouth's non-science students about computing through programming. The Basic (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) language was designed to support a small set of instructions and remove unnecessary syntax." from ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), Volume 37, Issue 2, Lowering the barriers to programming: A taxonomy of programming environments and languages for novice programmers.

Basic is the right choice for an application's embedded scripting language. And WinWrap® Basic is the right component to supply the embedded scripting capability for your application.

Capture User Input with WinWrap® Basic Commands

Solve your application's automation requirements using WinWrap's rich set of methods to capture user input and load and execute scripts.

The WinWrap® Basic Control gives you all the commands required to create custom user input scripts.

Provide Users with a Complete Scripting Development Environment

Applications including the WinWrap® Basic BasicIdeCtl ship with a fully featured development environment including an editor and a debugger.

  • Full WinWrap® Basic script editing
  • Powerful autocompletion capability
  • Built-in documentation
  • Complete debugging capability

The WinWrap® Basic software package is used in conjunction with Microsoft development tools including Visual Studio, Visual Studio.NET, Visual Studio Express, and ActiveX scripting engines.

Conclusions

The WinWrap® Basic Scripting Component provides both end-users and developers with a complete application automation and customization solution.

With WinWrap® you can create sophisticated scripts that require minimal user input, automate business rules and processes, and add custom features and functions to your application.

Research shows that users who can customize and automate their application get more value from the application, they perceive the application to have a higher quality, and those users are more loyal to their application and vendor. Enabling application automation and customization with the WinWrap® Scripting Control is a sound strategy decision for any company.

References

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