IGNOU Question Paper Downloader

A Python tool to download previous year question papers for IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) students, specifically designed for BCA/MCA courses.

🚀 Features

• Batch Download: Download multiple course question papers at once
• Year Range: Supports question papers from 2005 to 2018
• Session Support: Downloads both June and December session papers
• PDF Merging: Option to merge downloaded PDFs by course
• Progress Tracking: Real-time progress bar for downloads
• Error Handling: Robust error handling for network issues
• Cross-platform: Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux

📋 Prerequisites

• Python 3.7 or higher
• Internet connection
• IGNOU course codes

🛠️ Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/samirank/qp_downloader.git
   cd qp_downloader

2. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

   Alternative installation (install as a package):

   pip install -e .

📦 Dependencies

The following packages are required:

• urllib3 - HTTP client for downloading files
• beautifulsoup4 - HTML parsing
• PyPDF2 - PDF manipulation and merging (not py2pdf)
• pathlib - Path operations (included in Python 3.4+)

Note: This project uses PyPDF2, not py2pdf. Make sure to install the correct package.

🎯 Usage

Basic Usage

Run the main script:

python qp_downloader.py

Interactive Mode

1. Enter course codes when prompted (separate multiple codes with spaces)
2. Choose whether to merge PDFs for each course
3. The tool will automatically:
   • Fetch available sessions
   • Download question papers
   • Organize files by year and month
   • Merge PDFs if requested

Example Course Codes

Common IGNOU course codes:

• BCA-001 - Computer Basics and PC Software
• BCA-002 - Programming in C
• BCA-003 - Computer Organization
• BCA-004 - Mathematics for Computing
• BCA-005 - Business Communication

📁 Project Structure

qp_downloader/
├── README.md              # This file
├── requirements.txt       # Python dependencies
├── setup.py              # Package installation script
├── qp_downloader.py      # Main entry point
├── download.py           # Core download functionality
├── progress.py           # Progress bar utility
├── config.py             # Configuration settings
├── utils.py              # Utility functions
├── .gitignore           # Git ignore file
└── LICENSE              # MIT License

🔧 Configuration

You can customize the tool by modifying config.py:

• Year Range: Modify SUPPORTED_YEARS to change supported years
• Session Types: Update SUPPORTED_MONTHS to add/remove session types
• School Codes: Change DEFAULT_SCHOOL_CODE to use different school
• Download Path: Set DEFAULT_DOWNLOAD_PATH for custom download directory
• Timeout Settings: Adjust REQUEST_TIMEOUT for network timeouts

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Connection Errors: Check your internet connection
2. Permission Errors: Ensure write permissions in download directory
3. Missing Dependencies: Run pip install -r requirements.txt
4. PDF Merge Errors: Ensure PyPDF2 is properly installed
5. Dependency Confusion: This project uses PyPDF2, not py2pdf. Make sure to install the correct package.

Error Codes

• -1: Unable to connect to server
• -2: Connection timed out

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

👨‍💻 Author

Samiran Kakoty

• GitHub: @samirank
• Project: qp_downloader

🙏 Acknowledgments

• IGNOU for providing access to question papers
• The open-source community for various libraries used
• Contributors and users of this tool

📊 Supported Years and Sessions

• Years: 2005-2018
• Sessions: June, December
• School: SOCIS (School of Computer and Information Sciences)

⚠️ Disclaimer

This tool is for educational purposes only. Please respect IGNOU's terms of service and use the downloaded materials responsibly.

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⭐ If you find this tool helpful, please give it a star on GitHub!