What is RSS, and what does RSS stand for?
The RSS Parser
Outputting the Feed
Specific implementations

RSS is the name given to several related forms of XML that forms a framework for sharing news headlines and also news stories. It can also be used for just about any set of information that you wish to share. A good intoduction to RSS is available at XML.com. There are a few definitions of what RSS stands for - one is Really Simple Syndication, and two others are Rich Site Summary and RDF Site Summary. Also, if you are interested in how to create a basic RSS feed, then there is an article right here on the CWM website.

RSS versions 0.91-0.94 and 2.0 have the same basic structure. RSS 1.0 is slightly different (and slightly more complicated) - it is based on RDF (another XML format). The RSS parser described in this article is designed to be simple and flexible in the way it reads the feed, and seems to be compatible with most of the RSS formats. It does not, as yet, handle the attributes of the RDF format.

An example of an RSS feed is available from Good News Publishers. Note that this particular feed is RSS 2.0. An RSS feed may contain a number of tags, or elements, however there are several fundamental tags common to most feeds:

TITLE
DESCRIPTION
LINK

and one or more Items that have the following structure:

ITEM
-> TITLE
-> DESCRIPTION
-> LINK

Other common tags are IMAGE, CHANNEL and RSS. The RSS parser in this article ignores the RSS and CHANNEL tags since these generally offer no benefit and just add extra levels to the resulting tree-structure.

Paul Davey
Paul Davey is an administrator here at CWM and is the webmaster of Whitford Church in Western Australia.