.NET Mass Downloader

.NET Mass Downloader is a tool that enables users to grab .Net Framework source code all at once. Granted, the tool can be considered obsolete as the Microsoft source codes are basically released in MSI files nowadays. Nevertheless, it can still come in handy for anyone who wants to download the express editions.

The idea behind the tool is to provide a method for batch downloading .NET Framework source code and support offline debugging for VS2010, VS2008, VS2005 and Codegear RAD Studio.

In the eventuality that the download is not possible due to an error, then the most likely cause is that there is no value set for the Visual Studio debugger system cache. To resolve the issue, users need to enable the Enable .NET Framework source stepping and specify the symbol cache folder. On a side note, the developer recommends not placing the folder too deep as this also can result in an error related to the length of path and file names (which go above the limit of 260 characters).

Some of the noteworthy features of the tool include the processing of DLL and EXE files in sub-directories recursively, cleanup of temporary compressed PD_files and using the original date-time of files from the server, if they are available.