A two-dimensional VBScript array with one assignment per cell.
Who uses it
Classic ASP applications.
Writing ASP
Dimensioned to the exact size of the table, then filled cell by cell.
What is ASP?
What it can hold
ASP is source code. Classic ASP arrays are indexed by number, so column names have to be carried separately. A machine can read it back, but only by following the conventions rather than a rule the format enforces.
It cannot express
- Nesting. Cells are flat, so structured values have to be flattened into extra columns or written into one cell as text.
- A line break inside a cell. One would end the row, so it has to be replaced before writing.
- Any formatting. Bold, colour, column widths and merged cells have nowhere to go.
- A partial read. The document has to be complete to mean anything, so a truncated file yields nothing and a large one has to be held in memory whole.
- A header row. Column names are repeated on every record instead, which is why a file in this format is larger than the table it holds.
What it looks like
Dim staff(3, 4) staff(0, 0) = "id" staff(0, 1) = "name" staff(0, 2) = "role" staff(0, 3) = "started" staff(0, 4) = "hours" staff(1, 0) = "007" staff(1, 1) = "Halima Yusuf" staff(1, 2) = "Analyst, data" staff(1, 3) = "2024-03-15" staff(1, 4) = "38.5" staff(2, 0) = "012" staff(2, 1) = "Jonah \"Jo\" Pryce" staff(2, 2) = "Engineer" staff(2, 3) = "2025-11-02" staff(2, 4) = "" staff(3, 0) = "104" staff(3, 1) = "Wei Chen" staff(3, 2) = "Manager" staff(3, 3) = "2023-06-30" staff(3, 4) = "40"
Questions
How do I open ASP files?
ASP is written by Tablizer rather than read by it. Open the file in whichever tool the format belongs to.
Is ASP a good format for sharing data?
It depends who is receiving it. Classic ASP applications. If the recipient is outside that group, a plain CSV travels further than anything else.