Comments on Code-Tips.com - Web Development, Programming, SEO: Php RSS2Writer (v2.1) - Generate RSS 2.0 Feed - Us...

Hi, Version 3.0 (beta) has been released. This n...

2011-06-29T23:05:29.956+10:00

Hi,

Version 3.0 (beta) has been released. This now includes the ability to output Atom 1.0, RSS 2.0, RSS 1.0 (RDF), RSS 0.92 and RSS 0.91.

The main class file has also been renamed to FeedWriter as the solution is no longer limited to only RSS 2.0. The solution as a whole is now Php FeedWriter, which starts at version 3.0 (beta) and is the next major update to the RSS2Writer class.

For more details, please see my post: Php FeedWriter 3.0 Beta Release, or the Php FeedWriter Website. Version 3.0 (beta) is available from the website.

The website also includes documentation for each component of the FeedWriter and new FeedConstruct class.

Just a quick update.. The v3 update is close to c...

2011-04-24T12:52:00.514+10:00

Just a quick update..

The v3 update is close to completion, which has involved almost a complete work-over. A beta release will be first made available for others to try, which is likely to contain glitches. I am also working on documentation that will accompany the new version.

It currently outputs RSS 0.91, RSS 0.92, RSS 2.0 and a not quite valid Atom 1.0 format (currently working on). RSS 1.0 (RDF) output is also supported, but not yet functioning properly.

The construct of each feed format is configured in a new class, which allows each element, including validation constraints and attributes to be added. Functions provided by the class allow each feed construct to be traversed in a tree/hierarchical manner. This is used to both validate and output a feed in a particular format using generic code.

Looking forward to it's completion..

I was just thinking about searching for url's ...

2011-04-11T09:56:15.132+10:00

I was just thinking about searching for url's that were missing the domain name. E.g. images/mypicture.jpg. But, you're right, it could get difficult, and I'm not sure if it's really needed in most cases.

Ok, the class update is coming along now... So fa...

2011-04-09T20:06:16.045+10:00

Ok, the class update is coming along now...

So far, I have incorporated the following into the class:

- New class name
- Add functionality to include media files in an enclosure element.
- Fixed content type issues (@jjames)
- Added option stylesheet integration (@Jack)
- Included character encoding changes (@Muhammad)

I am part way through RSS 1.0, and Atom 1.0 compatible XML output formats, which I will completed once all other updates have been incorporated, to allow code re-use.

I hope to publish a beta version soon for others to try.

@Jack, I can't see an example or documentation anywhere for an RSS feed with JavaScript integrated. There are plenty of resources for rending RSS feeds using JavaScript, but not to include JS in a feed.

Do you (or anyone else), know if this is included in the RSS 2.0, or Atom schemas?

Thanks

Daniel

@jjames, do you mean absolute by including the dom...

2011-04-09T14:58:36.329+10:00

@jjames, do you mean absolute by including the domain name before urls without it, or to convert relative paths (eg. "../page1.php", "page2.php", ../../somefolder/page3.php ) to absolute.

The issue that I see is that it would be difficult to programmatically determine the path back to the root of the site, which would be required in order to build the absolute path. Additional contextual information would need to be provided at some point when populating the feed to allow the class to update paths to absolute.

On the other hand, changing only absolute paths that are missing the domain component to include the domain would be easier to implement, and should have more consistent results.

I would probably implement this by finding links in the feed description with a href attribute that begins with "/" and including the domain and protocol before the existing address.

What do you think?

I've noticed several of my descriptions, that ...

2011-04-08T23:00:08.786+10:00

I've noticed several of my descriptions, that are being pulled from a database, include relative href and src links. If possible, it would be pretty cool if the class could check for those links and change them to absolute.

Also, to expand on what Muhammad mentioned. It would be nice to not only check for trademarks, copyrights and registrations, but also smart quotes, elipsis, em and en dashes, one quarter, one half, three quarters and ampersands.

Due to the recent increase in use of the RSS2Write...

2011-04-08T18:57:54.550+10:00

Due to the recent increase in use of the RSS2Writer class, I am getting the next major update underway. I propose that the solution and supporting documentation also be moved to a new dedicated site, which will provide areas for the development community to discuss aspects of the class, suggest ideas for future development and any usage issues. The class will also remain available from this blog.

I intend for the class (including future versions) to remain a free resource for Php web developers, as long as I continue to receive support from the community. A reasonable amount of my time has already been spent developing and supporting the class, which I hope to continue as a community effort. The time I have spent on this class (and my blogs) is my own time (out of work hours). Any help from others to speed up the process of improving the class would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for those who have contributed so far.

I will consolidate the suggestions for improvement made on this post for inclusion in the update, and will attempt to include suggestions posted in the near future as well. I will include comments in the code with the name of someone who has provided input where possible, unless specifically asked not to be included.

One of the enhancements that I personally intend to include is the ability to output the feed data in more than just an RSS 2.0 compatible format. This will also result in the newer version of the class having a more general name such as FeedWriter, or similar. Previous versions of the class will remain available.

In the new version the getXML() function will probably remain, but it’s functionality will be moved to 3 additional functions such as getRSS1(), getRSS2() and getAtom(). Each method will output the feed data in the corresponding format. I will attempt to make functionality in the new version backwards compatible (same function names and core functionality), apart from the new class name.

Please let me know (soon) if you have any suggestions or concerns.

Hi Daniel, First of all congrats on writing a good...

2011-04-07T17:44:34.059+10:00

Hi Daniel,
First of all congrats on writing a good class of RSS.

I would like to suggest an addition to the class, please add it in your future versions if helpful.

ok, recently i was developing a website for my client and i used your class for generating dynamic RSS feeds. The feed data is based on recent posts by users, so their is less control over the feed data. i.e.

ISO 8859-1 Symbols, ISO 8859-1 Characters are directly pasted by users and not encoded. characters like copyright or registered trademark symbols etc

the getXML function generates the feed but it ends up in error as feed readers generate a parse error.

i have updated 2 lines in get XML, previously updated by abasit83.

line 310: $writer->writeCData($item['title']);
to $writer->writeCData(htmlentities($item['title']));

line 349" $writer->writeCData($item['description']);
to $writer->writeCData(htmlentities($item['description']));

This will encode the characters to entity name.

Thanks
Muhammad Khalid.
PHP Software Engineer.

In order to get channelImage() to work, I had to c...

2011-04-07T01:51:24.989+10:00

In order to get channelImage() to work, I had to change $rss2_writer, in the example to $rss. It doesn't seem like the width and height work though.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to associate a image with each item. It sounds like it requires the enclosure tag.

Also, feed validator keeps telling me "Feeds should not be served with the "text/html" media type".

ok I have resolved for the moment inserting image ...

2011-04-03T15:15:38.683+10:00

ok I have resolved for the moment inserting image in the description/body of the feed item as html.
However when you have time for complete your feed generator can you build a function to insert css:

http://www.petefreitag.com/item/208.cfm
and i don't know also if is possible add also javascript code in xml feed?
thanks bye

@Jack, I will have a look at the class in the next...

2011-03-29T21:01:18.738+11:00

@Jack, I will have a look at the class in the next week or so. I have been struggling to find time lately due to my current workload.

Just to clarify, you would like to have the ability to associate an image with an item in the feed instead of the channel, and with the three optional elements for the url, title and description.

I had a quick look at the RSS 2.0 Specification on W3C, and also a thread here, which talks about including images in feed items.

The image element is a sub-element of the channel element only. It looks like an image needs to be included using the <enclosure> element. The feed viewers that I use all list attached media at the bottom of each item, which are included using the enclosure element.

Alternatively, the image can be included in the description/body of the feed item as html. Using this approach, functionality could be added to the class to insert image html into the feed item description, which can displayed in the top left, but it would be under the title.

Would you find this useful as an alternative to the enclosure, or would you prefer to use the enclosure method (which should be incorporated into the class regardless)?

Are you aware of other methods of associating an image with a feed item?

Thanks

Hey DanielS, I got the code working. Actually the...

2011-03-25T07:49:05.615+11:00

Hey DanielS,

I got the code working. Actually there was no issue with code. Every browser requires Rss reader program. I installed it in chrome and then script was working fine. About IE8 i don't remember exactly but i changed some settings in IE8 and script is is showing correct output.

Thanks very much for the script.

Hi i have found that is possible add an image inse...

2011-03-22T17:50:08.722+11:00

Hi i have found that is possible add an image inserting in description item
However i wait your answer
Also i want ask you if is possible insert following schemas in items:

image title
url
description

with image inserted at left of title
thanks

hello thanks for the script i want ask it's po...

2011-03-22T17:07:00.777+11:00

hello thanks for the script i want ask it's possible add also an image in Item instead of channel
thanks

@Boris, Once you have the feed data from the dat...

2011-03-19T13:34:35.524+11:00

@Boris,

Once you have the feed data from the database, you loop through the result set and call the addItem() function to add a feed item for each row in the database query result. Use the data from the current row (loop iteration) in the result set to populate the feed item.

@drewread, associating an image to the feed was in...

2011-03-19T13:22:50.392+11:00

@drewread, associating an image to the feed was intended to be incorporated using the channelImage() function. Although included, it was wasn't a core feature of the original implementation, and has no online documentation as a result.

I will do some tests around image association myself and include any changes in the next version. I will also include some documentation around the function once tested and implemented properly.

Have you had any success since posting your comment?

Thanks

Hi Ketav, I haven't tested the solution using...

2011-03-19T13:11:13.609+11:00

Hi Ketav,

I haven't tested the solution using Chrome, but haven't had the issues you describe with IE(7).

Try enabling CDATA (final parameter when instantiating the RSS2Writer object), and if you are adding your own content to the feed ensure that it is encoded properly.

Please let me know how you go, and if it doesn't help, I will try to replicate the issue myself and resolve in the next update. The class was written a while ago now, and needs a bit of love.

Hey DanielS, I am new to RSS. I am creating rss f...

2011-03-18T07:32:10.856+11:00

Hey DanielS,

I am new to RSS. I am creating rss for books. I simply copied both your files and put it in my development server. Code works fine for Firefox. But it doesn't work for IE and chrome. (IE simply doesnt show up anything and chrome shows only text data not formatted.)

I tried to put header("Content-type: text/xml"); but it still doesn't work on either one of the browser. Am i doing something wrong?

Thanks

Hello, I am attempting to use the enclosure eleme...

2011-03-02T02:45:49.259+11:00

Hello,

I am attempting to use the enclosure element to add an image to my feed. This does not seem to be working or have any real documentation. Has this been implemented?

Thank you.

Hi Ladislav, you can include html formatting using...

2011-01-28T21:25:49.716+11:00

Hi Ladislav, you can include html formatting using html encoded characters.

For example:
<img src="http://image_url/">

would need to be be included as:
<img src="http://image_url/">

When viewing the feed, the html will be rendered as a web page would. To include html markup as text in the feed item, CDATA should be enabled as well as encoding special characters.

Thanks

How to add html element (as b,i,img,etc.) to the i...

2011-01-28T07:41:59.011+11:00

How to add html element (as b,i,img,etc.) to the item?

Hi Asce, I'm not familiar myself with CMS Mad...

2010-12-14T21:12:47.846+11:00

Hi Asce,

I'm not familiar myself with CMS Made Simple or Coppermine Photo Gallery, but it sounds like the templates would be for the layout of the interface only.

You would probably need to include create a new page that serves RSS Feed data that uses the methods/functions of the application you are using to obtain the data to be added to the feed. You may be able to incorporate into an existing page, but you would need to allow the page to render only the RSS XML containing the content instead of the html layout. This would probably be done using query string parameters, but creating a new script/page for the RSS feed would take a similar amount of time and effort and has less risk of impacting on the working application.

If you examine the scripts called by the application to display content, you should be able to render the same content as an RSS feed using the PhpRSS2Writer class.

Please let me know if you need further explanation.

Thanx Daniel for the positive comments.. :-)

2010-11-11T21:33:38.000+11:00

Thanx Daniel for the positive comments..

:-)

Hi My name is Boris, I want to use this RSS2Writt...

2010-10-29T01:21:29.133+11:00

Hi

My name is Boris, I want to use this RSS2Writter class, but I have to use values from a database, so Can u help me how to do that?
Thanks again

Regards

Hi Daniel. I use CMS Made Simple and Coppermine Ph...

2010-10-16T09:31:46.773+11:00

Hi Daniel. I use CMS Made Simple and Coppermine Photo Gallery. Shall I put the code from sampleController.php into for example my templates and call RSS2Writer.php from there?