How to Save a Web Page with Subpages to Create a .chm File Using Python

Are you looking to create a comprehensive .chm file from a web page and its subpages? If so, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the process of saving a web page with its subpages using Python. We’ll cover the necessary tools, the code to execute, and the final steps to generate the .chm file. Let’s dive in!

Understanding .chm Files

.chm files, also known as compiled HTML help files, are a popular format for creating help files and documentation. They offer a convenient way to organize and present information in a structured format. By converting a web page into a .chm file, you can easily distribute it across different platforms without worrying about compatibility issues.

Required Tools

Before we proceed, ensure you have the following tools installed:

Step 1: Set Up Your Python Environment

Make sure you have Python installed on your system. You can download it from the official Python website (https://www.python.org/). Once installed, open your command prompt or terminal and run the following command to check if Python is installed:

python --version

Step 2: Install Required Libraries

Install BeautifulSoup and PyInstaller using pip, Python’s package manager. Open your command prompt or terminal and run the following commands:

pip install beautifulsoup4

pip install pyinstaller

Step 3: Write the Python Script

Now, let’s write a Python script that will save a web page and its subpages to a .chm file. Create a new Python file, for example, save_webpage.py, and add the following code:

import requestsfrom bs4 import BeautifulSoupimport osimport shutildef save_webpage(url, output_folder):    response = requests.get(url)    soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')    title = soup.title.string    output_folder = os.path.join(output_folder, title)    os.makedirs(output_folder, exist_ok=True)     Save the main page    with open(os.path.join(output_folder, 'index.html'), 'w') as file:        file.write(str(soup))     Save subpages    for link in soup.find_all('a', href=True):        subpage_url = link['href']        if subpage_url.startswith('/'):            subpage_url = url + subpage_url        if subpage_url not in [url]:            save_webpage(subpage_url, output_folder)if __name__ == '__main__':    url = 'https://example.com'    output_folder = 'output'    save_webpage(url, output_folder)    

Step 4: Run the Script

Open your command prompt or terminal, navigate to the directory where you saved the script, and run the following command:

python save_webpage.py

Step 5: Generate the .chm File

Once the script has finished executing, navigate to the output folder. You should see a new folder with the title of the main page. Inside this folder, you’ll find the HTML files for the main page and its subpages. Now, open a command prompt or terminal,