RSS and XML

1. RSS and XML Seoul Computer Club 10 December 2005 Stephen D. Carroll SDCarroll@gmail.com

2. Terms • XML – extensible markup language • RSS – really simple syndication • Syndication – making part of a website available via RSS • Aggregator – a program that collects (and displays) syndicated RSS feeds.

3. XML • Markup language, like HTML • Structured format • Data describes itself HTML <b> <u>Hello</u> <i>World</i> <blink>Annoying!</blink> </b> XML <item> <name>Widget</name> <quantity>200</quantity> <price>1.99</price> </item>

4. FYI RSS • A defined XML Standard for sharing news. • RSS file is stored or created on server. • File Header contains static information about the source of the information. • File Body contains dynamic information, all surrounded by matching start and end tags. Versions: • Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91) • RDF Site Summary (RSS 0.9 and 1.0) • Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)

5. RSS Header Body

6. Syndication • Your favorite newspaper contains: • AP/Reuters news • Comics • Sports news • Weather forecast • Horoscope • You already get most of your news from a variety of sources, compiled (aggregated) into one product (by the newspaper editor).

7. Personal Syndication, I • I want: • Sports News (Yankees, Giants) • Local News (Northern NJ, NYC) • National News (Defense, politics, economy) • International News (SE/NE Asia) • Weather Forecast (Seoul) • Microsoft News (Windows/Exchange) • Financial News (NASDAQ quotes, SEC info) • Misc. stuff (my interests and hobbies) • Who will publish “my” newspaper?

8. Personal Syndication, II • I used to visit more than 25 sites to see “what’s new” – some are updated daily. • New products • New press releases • New tech manuals • New patches • New news • It takes hours to visit all these sites – subscribing to 100 RSS feeds delivers all the updated content to my desktop.

9. RSS Aggregator • A program that collects (and displays) RSS feeds. • Three major types: • Web based • Plugins • Browser-based • Outlook • Standalone programs

10. Aggregator: Web based • RSS feeds are collected and displayed when you browse to their website: • BlogLines (demonstration) • Google Reader (demonstration) • NewsGator Online • My Yahoo!

11. Aggregator: Plugins • You install a program on your computer that collects RSS feeds and displays them in your browser: • Pluck (IE/FF) • Onfolio (IE/FF) • Optimal Access (IE) • FireFox (screenshot) • Opera (screenshot) • Safari (screenshot) Natively support RSS

12. Aggregator: Plugins • You install a program on your computer that collects RSS feeds – and displays them in Outlook: • NewsGator • IntraVnews

13. Aggregators: Standalone • You install a program on your computer that collects and displays RSS feeds: • RSS Bandit • Feed Demon • Sharp Reader • Radio Userland • NetNewsWire (Mac)

14. How does it work? • Content is created… • Weather report, stock quote, news item, other • Content is syndicated… • …by the content provider. • Syndicated content is compiled… • …by your aggregator. • You read the content.

15. What kind of content? • Somewhere, somehow, some data has been created, changed, or republished. • Tuesday’s forecast is for snow. • Tuesday’s forecast is for rain. • One share of Google costs $456.78 • President Bush did (this) today. • Microsoft published a Knowledge Base article. • My company filed quarterly earnings report with the SEC.

16. Where do I find RSS feeds? • Visit your favorite websites • See any of these logos? • Websites displaying these logos have an RSS feed available. • Clicking on them will subscribe you to their content. • FireFox Live Bookmark • Raw XML/RSS file links

17. Demonstration, Bloglines.com • Free. Setting up account is simple. • Adding a subscription is painless.

18. Demonstration, Bloglines, II • Once subscribed, articles are available: • …to add subscriptions.

19. Demonstration, Google reader.google.com • Free, but accounts are limited.

20. Firefox Live Bookmarks • Built into FF browser older ver.1.5+ • Click the icon to subscribe. A new Bookmarks folder is created to display the feed.

21. Opera • Opera reads RSS feeds natively: To subscribe to newsfeeds, go to a page which offers newsfeeds and click the "RSS" button inside the URL field on Opera's address bar. Once you have subscribed to a feed, a "Feeds" menu will appear in the menu bar. You can also right-click in the mail panel to subscribe to feeds if you have created a mail account.

22. Safari (Mac) • Safari also reads RSS feeds: • Click the RSS icon and Safari automatically displays the feed. • Bookmark the RSS feed so you can return to it later. • Safari lets you aggregate feeds easily. Create a folder of your frequently viewed RSS feeds from a single window, then browse everything in one cleanly formatted page.

23. OPML • Outline Processor Markup Language • Lists of RSS feeds. • Uses: • Exchanging RSS lists between aggregators. • Backing up your RSS subscription list. • Sharing your RSS subscription list. Example: http://www.rokus.net/my.opml

24. OPML contents • XML file (self-describing data): • Title: Site’s name • Description: Created by author • xmlUrl: RSS Feed address • htmlUrl: Site’s web address

25. Summary • XML is a file format: self-describing data. • RSS is a specific (defined) type of XML. • Used most commonly for news syndication. • Syndication is publishing RSS feeds. • Aggregation is receiving RSS feeds. • 3 types of aggregators display RSS feeds. • How you read your news is up to you. • OPML files contain lists of RSS feeds.

26. Your Homework • Set up an account at bloglines.com • Add the following feeds (copy/paste): • http://xml.weather.yahoo.com/forecastrss?p=KSXX0037&u=f • http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/usatoday-NewsTopStories • http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/index.rdf • http://www.rokus.net/backend.php (Much easier once this brief is posted to SeoulCC.org) • Visit http://www.engadget.com • Scroll down and click here • Go to bloglines.com and start reading!

27. RSS and XML QUESTIONS? SDCarroll@gmail.com http://www.rokus.net