RSS Feeds

Having some problems with adding on-line RSS feeds, while I can download cached versions of the XML of both BlogLoc and Twitter, they are not dynamic files therefore need to be downloaded to get the latest version - and while I can locate an RSS feed for Twitter online it is a .rss file, and the PHP RSS reader I am using seems to require the file extension to be .XML

Although I have been able to parse an RSS feed of my Twitter through the PHP Reader, which is a step in the right direction:

This has got around the problem of the Javascript RSS reader, as the PHP function does all the work on the server-side, rather than in the browser, which means the RSS reader will work in all browsers

Also I still need to find another service for Flickr Still, and need to find a way to link to dynamic XML files online for Twitter and BlogLoc.

Setting up Local Server

We have managed to set up a local server on my computer in order to be able to start setting up my web-server, this will enable me to run a RSS PHP reader and I will be able to test it on my local-host - this will get around the security issue that I had with the Javascript version where the the function took place on the browser, rather now all the grabbing of the data will take place on the local server, and on a web-host when I have a online server.

Next task is to find a PHP RSS Reader similar to the Javascript.

Getting familiar with RSS

Trying to get familiar with RSS the code is generally laid out with a <title> a <link> and a <description>, the later versions of RSS also include a date and time (which will be key for my project in terms of grabbing data):


'<rss version="0.91">
  <channel>
    <title>XML.com</title>
    <link>http://www.xml.com/</link>
    <description>XML.com features a rich mix of information and services for the XML community.</description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <item>
      <title>Normalizing XML, Part 2</title>
      <link>http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/04/normalizing.html</link>
      <description>In this second and final look at applying relational normalization techniques to W3C XML Schema data modeling, Will Provost discusses when not to normalize, the scope of uniqueness and the fourth and fifth normal forms.</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The .NET Schema Object Model</title>
      <link>http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/04/som.html</link>
      <description>Priya Lakshminarayanan describes in detail the use of the .NET Schema Object Model for programmatic manipulation of W3C XML Schemas.</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>SVG's Past and Promising Future</title>
      <link>http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/04/svg.html</link>
      <description>In this month's SVG column, Antoine Quint looks back at SVG's journey through 2002 and looks forward to 2003.</description>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>'

Also I have found the RSS feed for my Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/64679821.rss, however the Javascript RSS reader requires the file to be read as a .xml file, and the only way I can convert it to an XML file is by saving it, in which case it is not longer a dynamic piece of data as it only takes the RSS feed from the data that I copied it into a local .xml - this will have to be resolved. 


Also due to the limitations of Flickr in terms of grabbing the RSS feed I will need a photo uploading service that allows more control, as Flickr only let you use external Plug-ins to grab their data, whereas I just need the 'raw' RSS feed, with the image links for full control.


Also something which was mentioned Is that for the final project It will need to be set up on server side using PHP (so that the RSS Reader function grabs the data on the external server rather than on the browser), as both Firefox and Chrome for security reasons will not allow client-side/browser to load that function. 

Quick Update

Just a quick update outlining what exactly I will be aiming to do this term in terms of advancing the project:

1) Research into Jquery and PHP
2) Find out the RSS Feeds (XML) files for all the websites I want to grab data from
3) Locate a RSS reader
4) Display this through a HTML/CSS File
5) Learn how to display multiple RSS feeds
6) Learn to format all these different elements using Div Tags on the final output page

(This will be generally followed throughout the term)

Update - Twitter - Wikileaks

Interesting to see how the US  have issued a suponea for data relating to Twitter regarding data leaked by Wikileaks. This kind of data has become increasingly valued as a source of data in terms of people's activities in every-day life, especially in high profile cases such as the on-going case against the Wikileaks creator Julian Assange:

'According to the court order issued on 14 December by the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the US Attorney's Office has provided evidence to show that the information held by Twitter is "relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation".'


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12141530