Chapter 61: ASP Quick Reference

ASP Quick Reference — the very last page in the W3Schools Classic ASP tutorial.

Many students skip it or glance at it quickly, thinking “oh, just a list of objects and methods”. But your teacher is here to tell you: this is the page that separates beginners from people who can actually read & fix old Classic ASP code in production.

I will explain it like we’re sitting together at a small table near Charminar, looking at an old server log full of errors, and I’m showing you exactly how to use this reference page as your lifeline when maintaining 15–20-year-old ASP sites.

1. What is “ASP Quick Reference” really?

It is not a tutorial. It is not explanations with long text.

It is a dense, compact, alphabetical cheat-sheet of every built-in ASP object, collection, method, and property that Microsoft included in Classic ASP 3.0 (IIS 5 / Windows 2000–2003 era).

Think of it as the index card or pocket reference that serious developers kept printed or open in a second browser tab when working on Classic ASP.

2. Structure of the Quick Reference Page

The page is divided into sections — each one is a short table or list:

• ASP Response Object
• ASP Request Object
• ASP Application Object
• ASP Session Object
• ASP Server Object
• ASP Error Object
• ASP FileSystemObject (and its sub-objects: File, Folder, Drive, TextStream)
• ASP AdRotator
• ASP Content Linking (NextLink)
• ASP Content Rotator
• ASP Browser Capabilities (BrowserType)
• And a few others (very short)

Each section shows:

• Object name
• Main collections (e.g. Request.Form, Response.Cookies)
• Most important methods & properties (with short description)

No long explanations, no examples — just names + one-line purpose.

3. Why This Page is Gold When Maintaining Old Code

Imagine this real scenario (happened to many developers in India 2015–2025):

You inherit a 2005-era Classic ASP site. Page throws error: “Object required: ‘…’ on line 142”

You open the page → see something like:

You think: “Dictionary? What is that? Is it built-in? What methods does it have?”

You open the Quick Reference page → search for “Dictionary” → nothing.

Then you remember: it’s not an ASP built-in — it’s a COM object from Scripting Runtime.

You search “Scripting.Dictionary” on Google → find MSDN page → see .Add, .Exists, .Keys, .Items, .Remove, .Count, .CompareMode.

But the Quick Reference page reminds you:

• It is not in ASP core objects
• It belongs to FileSystemObject family (same library)
• You create it the same way as FSO: Server.CreateObject(“Scripting.Dictionary”)

That one glance at Quick Reference saves you hours of confusion.

4. Real Example – How You Use Quick Reference in Practice

Suppose you find this code in an old file (very common pattern):

You wonder: “Why does it redirect to a blank page sometimes?”

You open Quick Reference → Response object → see:

• Response.Buffer (read/write) — default True in ASP 3.0
• Response.Redirect — sends 302 header and ends response

Then you see the note (or remember from experience):

If Response.Buffer = True (default), Response.Redirect works fine. If someone set Response.Buffer = False earlier, Response.Redirect may fail or send partial content before the redirect header.

You search the codebase for Response.Buffer = False → find it in an include file → remove it → bug fixed.

Quick Reference reminded you to check buffering when using Redirect.

5. Practical Table – The Most Useful Entries in Quick Reference

Here is what you actually look up 90 % of the time:

6. Teacher Advice – How to Actually Use This Page in 2026

When maintaining old Classic ASP code:

1. Keep the Quick Reference tab always open
2. Ctrl+F search for the object name (Response, Request, Server, etc.)
3. Look for the method/property you are using or the error mentions
4. If the object is not listed (Dictionary, RegExp, ADODB) → remember it is a COM component created with Server.CreateObject(“…”)
5. Google the ProgID (e.g. “Scripting.Dictionary MSDN”) for full docs

Pro tip:

Print the Quick Reference page (or save as PDF) — many old developers kept a laminated copy near their monitor in 2005–2010.

7. Summary – ASP Quick Reference in One Paragraph

ASP Quick Reference is not a tutorial — it is a compact, alphabetical cheat-sheet of every built-in ASP object (Request, Response, Server, Session, Application, ASPError) + their most common collections, methods, and properties.

It does not explain how to use them — it just reminds you what exists and what it is for.

When debugging or reading old Classic ASP code, this page is your fastest way to remember:

• Does Response have .Redirect or .RedirectTo?
• Is it Request.Form or Request.Forms?
• How do I encode HTML safely? (Server.HTMLEncode)
• What is the ProgID for Dictionary / FileSystemObject?

Master this page and you can read & fix 15–20-year-old Classic ASP code much faster.

Next class?

• Want me to walk through a real error message and show how Quick Reference helps solve it?
• Or a mini-quiz — I give you a code snippet, you tell me which object/method to check in Quick Reference?
• Or shall we finally start building a small Classic ASP mini-project together (login + cart + file log + email)?
• Or move to modern ASP.NET Core Razor Pages?

Just tell me — I’m ready! 🚀🇮🇳 Happy coding, Webliance! 😊