.NET Reference Bot for MSN Messenger
I hate to rip people off, but Ben's brilliant idea to create an IM bot for the ColdFusion Live Docs got me to thinking; "Wouldn't this be great for the .NET Framework Class Libraries?" So, sitting here late on a Saturday night, I decided to have some fun ...
I created a Windows Service that utlizes the DotMSN library (which is easy to use, and overall badass) to respond to messages from MSN Messenger sent to dotnetreference@hotmail.com. The message content will be used to search a list of classes, interfaces, etc. in the .NET Framework Class Libraries. If a match is found, the name, brief description of the class and a link will be returned to the user.
I've got the service up and running on a machine in my home lab. Give it a go if you like - simply add dotnetreference@hotmail.com to your Contact List and fire away. Please note that I've only collected content for the System namespace.
Also, my home lab is not too sophisticated, so this service may drop at anytime. Enjoy!
UPDATE:
The bot will also respond to namespaces (although System is the only namespace currenlty cataloged.) Just send the name of the name space (e.g. System) for a truncated list of classes, etc. contained therein.