The Script Encoder encodes only scripting code, with all other file content left untouched to appear as plain text. To use the Script Encoder, develop and debug your script in the usual manner, then use this utility to encode your final script. The Script Encoder uses markers within your source code to identify where encoding should begin.

For Visual Basic® Scripting Edition (VBScript), the following example illustrates how the encoding marker is used to expose a plain-text copyright message:

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="VBScript">
'Copyright© 1998. XYZ Productions. All rights reserved.
'**Start Encode**
' Your code goes here.
</SCRIPT>

In JScript®, the encoding marker looks like this:

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JScript">
//Copyright© 1998. ZYX Productions. All rights reserved.
//**Start Encode**
// Your code goes here.
</SCRIPT>

When the Script Encoder is invoked, anything in the script block before the start marker is left unencoded, while everything else in the script block is encoded. Therefore, if the start marker is omitted, the entire scripting block is encoded, but if the start marker is at the end of the scripting block, nothing is encoded.

After the encoding takes place, you should be aware that the language designator in the <SCRIPT> tag has changed. For VBScript, the new designator looks like this:

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="VBScript.Encode">

For JScript (or JavaScript), the new designator looks like this:

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JScript.Encode">

The Script Encoder is invoked on the MS-DOS command line or in the Run dialog box as follows:

SRCENC [switches] inputfile outputfile

The syntax for this utility is explained in Script Encoder Syntax.