RSS Tools from Altova

Producing RSS Feeds

Most RSS (and Atom) feeds are generated by an automated mechanism as the Web content they announce is updated. The feeds available from the Web site of a large multi-national corporation, for example, or a daily newspaper, the online auctions at eBay, a television network, or even a classified ad site like Hemmings Motor News are updated much too often to be created by hand. However for smaller Web sites and other applications where feeds are updated infrequently, feed files can be created manually.

Since both RSS and Atom feeds are XML documents, the rich tool set of the Altova® MissionKit® 2010 is well-suited to RSS development projects of all types. The marketing team at Altova used the Altova MissionKit to create an RSS editing tool ideal for small Web site publishers. This project is now a freely available solution that demonstrates how Altova tools can solve business issues while working with industry-specific XML standards and specifications.

The Altova Authentic RSS Editing Solution is a lightweight application created with the Altova MissionKit that gives non-technical users the ability to create and edit RSS feeds directly within Authentic, Altova’s WYSIWYG e-Form editor, without being exposed to the underlying XML code.

For a complete description of the Altova Authentic RSS Editing Solution, visit the case study in the Altova Library, or go directly to the Free Components download page.

Additional Resources for RSS and Atom Feeds

Many useful resources are available on the Web to assist developers working with RSS and Atom technologies. This list is by no means comprehensive, but contains a few resources to serve as starting points.

W3C RSS and Atom Feed Validator: http://validator.w3.org/feed/ (You can test your completed feed here to make sure it’s valid and will be accepted by Web browsers and feed readers.)

RSS 2.0 specification: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html (In case you would like to read more about the definitions of elements in an RSS 2.0 feed.

A comprehensive XML Schema for RSS 2.0: http://www.thearchitect.co.uk/weblog/archives/2003/03/000118.html (Even though the RSS 2.0 standard does not specify one, an XML Schema is useful for many kinds of XML processing.)

A user-friendly presentation of the Atom specification: http://atomenabled.org/developers/syndication/atom-format-spec.php

A distribution service for blogs, feeds, and podcasts: http://www.feedburner.com/ (Feedburner is owned by Google and also offers extensive developer features.)

Examining RSS Documents

Altova XMLSpy allows users to open RSS feeds for examination via the File / Open URL . . . menu option.

In general, RSS 2.0 format feeds have a simple structure, use few elements, and may contain plain text or escaped HTML. The Atom standard arose in response to dissatisfaction with RSS 2.0 and includes a number of enhancements. For instance, Atom contains an explicit mechanism to unambiguously label a variety of content such as plain text, escaped HTML, XHTML, XML, or Base64-encoded binary. Atom was also designed to support better internationalization and rich content such as audio and video streams.