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Reading the online MSDN docs is a great way to learn more about .NET and other MS technologies. However sometimes I need to read it in an offline mode, like when using an eReader.

Is there a tool, software or some code which can be used to download a section of the MSDN library and convert it to a pdf, by starting from a url in the msdn docs?

Say i want to download the whole section about WCF and the tool would, intelligently, download that part of the MSDN and convert it to pdf? The hyperlinks in the docs need not be followed. They usually point to other subsections in the main section and they will get downloaded during the process.

Update:
App and code is available at http://soofflinereader.codeplex.com/

Abdu
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4 Answers4

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the solution to convert html to pdf book was simple enough: https://sitereader.codeplex.com/

Usage:
Download the release build and execute as shown below:
Fluid.SiteReader.Console msdn ms731190

Will convert all documentation underneath the path http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms731190.aspx and create a pdf based on the title of the page stated.

Note:
Will use a sub-folder called 'temp' as a working folder, inspect config file for more details.

driven4ward
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  • While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. – Mike Mar 01 '13 at 15:14
  • i'll take my chances that codeplex will always be available. – driven4ward Mar 01 '13 at 15:24
  • How are you using it for MSDN? Sitereader has no docs and it seems it was released just today. – Tony_Henrich Mar 01 '13 at 19:25
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I paid someone to create one for me.

Abdu
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  • How is a tool that downloads something from **Stackoverflow** a solution to the problem for **downloading documentation from MSDN**, as per question asked? – MrCC May 31 '15 at 19:19
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See the answers on this forum. May be of help to you.

G S
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  • thanks. iam looking for a site grabber but which can work on msdn and suck in sections as needed by figuring out its context based on their location in the treeview in the left pane. iam hoping someone thought of this already and created a custom solution. – Abdu Apr 21 '09 at 00:12
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For single entries you can:

Install PDFCreator from http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/

It will then give you a virtual printer driver, that will appear like a normal printer.

From your print option in your browser print your document to a pdf file (or actually any of the other formats on offer).

Don't know any easy way to grab larger subsections.

If you printed multiple sections this way you could then merge them together into a single pdf by using http://www.accesspdf.com/pdftk/.

morechilli
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  • i already thought of this but it is too time consuming. that is why i asked for something more intelligent to do it in a single operation. probably needs custom programming. thanks. – Abdu Apr 21 '09 at 00:00