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Is there a way to see MSDN pages in an non-frames and non-panel way such that the full width of the screen is used for the actual content? (At large font sizes this is especially important.)

In the Classic view, "Printer Friendly Version" does what is required, but only if JavaScript is blocked from microsoft.com (otherwise it will open a printer dialog). Is there a universal way to achieve it, without the need to block JavaScript (or conversely, without the need to require JavaScript)?

An example of the printer view is AppDomain Class.

Update. Illustration of Mike's answer:

alt text http://drmortensen.eu/SE20/MSDNfullWidth_16c.png

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2 Answers 2

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Similar to how the printer view is achieved, you can use the PDA view by putting (pda) at the end of the main url:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.appdomain(pda).aspx

I don't think there is a way of setting this as a default so that it opens any MSDN pages this way though. Your best bet would be to use the lightweight view and collapse the tree.

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  • Thanks. No problem with the default. I think this mostly works for the intended purpose. However if JavaScript is allowed from microsoft.com NoScript (1.9.9.11) complains: "NoScript filtered a potential cross-site scripting (XSS) attempt from [chrome:]. Technical details have been logged to the Console.". (The "chrome:" part is if pasting in the URL in a new tab. It is "webapps.stackexchange.com" if opening it from you answer.). It could be the parentheses [ "(" and ")" ] that NoScript chokes on.
    – Peter Mortensen
    Jul 26, 2010 at 7:27
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Isn’t the ‘Lightweight’ view, with the left-hand menu panel hidden by clicking the Minimize button, close to what you are looking for?

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  • Yes, this is close. There are 4 states when clicking on this. Fortunately it is remembered when another MSDN page is opened in another tab. I also observed that for it to work it does require JavaScript to be allowed from microsoft.com.
    – Peter Mortensen
    Jul 22, 2010 at 11:19
  • @Peter Mortensen: I’m happy for you to add the screenshot. It is not immediately obvious that the Expand button eventually becomes a Minimize button. A red free-hand circle, to highlight it, would therefore be useful. It is probably also worth noting that, in ‘Lightweight’ view, the Syntax and Examples sections still appear as tabbed panels for each language. In theory, you can click the tabs to view the syntax for each available language. For me, that feature seems to be broken and I can only see one language (C#), even though I’ve opted for a Language Filter of ‘All’ in ‘Classic’ view.
    – Mike Green
    Jul 22, 2010 at 12:38

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