ASP Best Practices

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Variable Names

To make the intended use of a variable clear to others reading your script, use three-character prefixes in lowercase to indicate data type. Even though explicit data typing is not supported in either VBScript or JScript, the use of such prefixes is recommended.

For consistency in naming variables, use initial capital letters in variable names. Do not capitalize prefixes. For example, to denote the data type of the variable named “SwitchOn” as Boolean, use the prefix “bln,” as found in Table A.2, to name the variable “blnSwitchOn”.

Table A.2   Suggested Prefixes for Indicating the Data Type of a Variable

Data Type Prefix
ADO command cmd
ADO connection cnn
ADO field fld
ADO parameter prm
ADO recordset rst
Boolean bln
Byte byt
Collection object col
Currency cur
Date-time dtm
Double dbl
Error err
Integer int
Long lng
Object obj
Single sng
String str
User-defined type udt
Variant vnt

To keep variable name lengths reasonable, use standardized abbreviations. For clarity, keep abbreviations consistent throughout an application or group of related applications.

Instead of:

strSocialSecurityNumber

use:

StrSSN

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