how can I get F# language reference from VS 2008?

Question

I have installed the May 2009 CTP. And I would like to read F# language reference offline, instead of having to visit msdn.microsoft.com. How can I do that?

(Also, I noticed in early releases of F# you could right click a keyword and then select from menu 'Go to Definition' and VS would show some source code. I cannot do that anymore, why?)

UPDATE THe following is a reply I got in a F# forum from the Technical Writer for F#

View the complete topic at: http://cs.hubfs.net/forums/thread/11238.aspx

*Posted By: gordonh in General Discussions on F# Subject: Re: VS 2008 and F# and MSDN Library: how can I locally install F# language reference?

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That's expected, since those docs only reflect what's in the packaged release of VS 2008 which did not include F#. For now you have only the online option in the Dev10 Beta1 docs (and the F# Library docs on the MSR site), but there is no local option for docs. This will change as we get Dev10 finished up and released. Dev10 will have local and online F# docs for the language and the core library. Gordon Hogenson, Technical Writer for F#*

Answer 1

Not sure about how to view the reference offline, but the go to definition issue is a bug with the latest release. see here

Answer 2

Why not just visit once and download it to your local machine? It's available it single page form at the following location and can just be saved locally

• http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/cambridge/projects/fsharp/manual/spec.html

I believe there are PDF versions available as well but I can't seem to find them right now.

Answer 3

I don't think you can access the documentation offline. Documentation for the F# language on the MSDN website and even that is preliminary and will possibly change. I know you are referring specifically to VS2008, but you may wish to note that all documentation/help will be hosted online with VS2010. In other words, there will be no offline option for any of the .NET languages.