Binaryworld - GetHtmlPageSource - Download the HTML at a given URL ... [ VB.net -> Internet Programming ]

' Download the HTML source code at the specified URL
' You can optionally specify the username/password credentials,
' in case the page uses Basic Authentication
' Returns a null string if any error occurs

Function GetHtmlPageSource(ByVal url As String, Optional ByVal username As _
  String = Nothing, Optional ByVal password As String = Nothing) As String
  Dim st As System.IO.Stream
  Dim sr As System.IO.StreamReader

  Try
    ' make a Web request
    Dim req As System.Net.WebRequest = System.Net.WebRequest.Create(url)
    ' if the username/password are specified, use these credentials
    If Not username Is Nothing AndAlso Not password Is Nothing Then
      req.Credentials = New System.Net.NetworkCredential(username, _
        password)
    End If
    ' get the response and read from the result stream
    Dim resp As System.Net.WebResponse = req.GetResponse
    st = resp.GetResponseStream
    sr = New System.IO.StreamReader(st)
    ' read all the text in it
    Return sr.ReadToEnd
  Catch ex As Exception
    Return ""
  Finally
    ' always close readers and streams
    sr.Close()
    st.Close()
  End Try
End Function