VSPX controls are SQL user defined type instances, or objects. The SQL object system is substantially similar to any other single inheritance object system, such as that of Java or C#. The XML source code of the VSPX page is processed to generate SQL for instantiating the VSPX control tree. The XML elements and classes may have similar names but are not one to one identical.

All controls, including pages, are instances of a subclass of vspx_control . To each VSPX source file corresponds a class named after the file, which inherits the common superclass vspx_page . Normally, all code, regardless of which specific control on the page it pertains to, runs inside a method of the page, thus the self (like 'this' in Java or C++) refers to the page instance. By convention, the variable control references the object representing the control which declares the particular code snippet. The variable e represents the event which is at the root of the code being invoked. The event is normally an event object representing a GET or POST HTTP request, but it can also be a user defined event sent to the page by other code on the page or elsewhere.

The page has a data member vc_children which contains an array of all top level VSPX controls on the page. Each control in turn has this same variable for referring to subordinate controls, if any.

Each processing pass allows the developer to specify arbitrary SQL code to run in the context of the pass. The code runs in the context of a method of the page object, where the local variable control references the control that declares the code in question.

Controls may be enabled or disabled, thus supporting conditional activation and rendering of page parts. Parts may be enabled in function of a page state, for example a search result control is only on after the search text has been posted. Another example is that some controls may only be enabled if a user is logged in.

Code inside a control may locate other controls on the page by name, either starting from the control itself or at the page. Note that when repeating control groups are involved, it is best to start at the leaf and work upwards in the tree, since there can be several identically named children of the page. All controls have a name which is unique in terms of the VSPX source file. Additionally, all controls, including members of repeating groups, have a name which is generated to be unique at run time. The latter is not however constant. The vc_parent data member references the parent. vc_name is the name as appears in the name attribute of the corresponding XML element. vc_instance_name is a page-wide unique name, generated to be different for each possible repetition of the control. The find_control method of vspx_control can be used to look for a child with a specific vc_name .