RSS Class
Properties Methods Events Configuration Settings Errors
The RSS Class is used to retrieve, parse, edit, and write RSS syndicated content.
Syntax
class ipworks.RSS
Remarks
The RSS Class supports both plaintext and SSL/TLS connections. When connecting over SSL/TLS the on_ssl_server_authentication event allows you to check the server identity and other security attributes. The on_ssl_status event provides information about the SSL handshake. Additional SSL related settings are also supported via the config method.
The RSS Class implements a standard RSS newsreader with extended capabilities as specified at http://backend.userland.com/rss2.
The class contains a number of properties that map directly to RSS fields. To receive a feed call the get_feed method with the URL or file to retrieve specified in the URL parameter. The RSS class can also generate RSS feeds, which can be retrieved through the rss_data property or written through the write_file method.
The RSS Class supports all RSS feed properties that are standard in versions 0.91, 0.92 and 2.0 of the RSS protocol through a number of class properties. It also supports non-standard properties as specified in the RSS protocol through the namespaces properties and the get_property and set_property methods.
Property List
The following is the full list of the properties of the class with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.
| accept | A list of acceptable MIME types for the request. |
| authorization | The Authorization string to be sent to the server. |
| auth_scheme | The authentication scheme to use when server authorization is required. |
| channel_category | The value of this property is a forward-slash-separated string that identifies a hierarchic location in a particular hierarchy. |
| channel_category_domain | This property contains the URL indicating the definition of the current RSS channel's category. |
| channel_copyright | This property contains the copyright information for the current RSS channel (500 char max). |
| channel_description | This property contains a textual description of the current RSS feed (Required - 500 char max). |
| channel_docs | This should contain a URL for the documentation describing what format was used to create the current RSS channel. |
| channel_generator | This property contains the name of the program which created the RSS feed. |
| channel_image_description | This property is used to specify text that is included in the title attribute of the image's link formed in HTML rendering. |
| channel_image_height | This property contains the height of the image in pixels. |
| channel_image_link | This property contains the URL associated with the channel's associated image. |
| channel_image_title | This property contains the title of the channel's associated image. |
| channel_image_url | This property contains the URL location of the channel's associated image. |
| channel_image_width | This property contains the width of the image in pixels. |
| channel_language | This property is required for feeds that conform to version 0. |
| channel_last_build_date | This property contains the date of the current RSS channel's most recent content changes. |
| channel_link | This property contains the URL that corresponds to the website where the RSS channel is located (Required - 500 char max). |
| channel_managing_editor | This property contains the email address or contact information for the current RSS channel's editor. |
| channel_pub_date | This property contains the date of the current RSS channel's most recent publication. |
| channel_skip_days | This property contains a list of days in which aggregators may skip reading the channel. |
| channel_skip_hours | This property contains a list of hours in which aggregators may skip reading the channel. |
| channel_title | This property contains the title of the current RSS Feed (Required - 40 char max). |
| channel_ttl | This property contains a number of minutes that represents how long the channel may be cached before it needs to be refreshed from the source. |
| channel_web_master | This property contains the email address or contact information for the current RSS channel's webmaster. |
| connected | Shows whether the class is connected. |
| cookie_count | The number of records in the Cookie arrays. |
| cookie_domain | The domain of a received cookie. |
| cookie_expiration | This property contains an expiration time for the cookie (if provided by the server). |
| cookie_name | The name of the cookie. |
| cookie_path | This property contains a path name to limit the cookie to (if provided by the server). |
| cookie_secure | This property contains the security flag of the received cookie. |
| cookie_value | This property contains the value of the cookie. |
| firewall_auto_detect | This property tells the class whether or not to automatically detect and use firewall system settings, if available. |
| firewall_type | This property determines the type of firewall to connect through. |
| firewall_host | This property contains the name or IP address of firewall (optional). |
| firewall_password | This property contains a password if authentication is to be used when connecting through the firewall. |
| firewall_port | This property contains the TCP port for the firewall Host . |
| firewall_user | This property contains a user name if authentication is to be used connecting through a firewall. |
| follow_redirects | Determines what happens when the server issues a redirect. |
| idle | The current status of the class. |
| if_modified_since | A date determining the maximum age of the desired document. |
| item_count | The number of records in the Item arrays. |
| item_author | This property contains the email address or contact information for the current item's author. |
| item_category | This property contains the location of the current item within a hierarchy. |
| item_category_domain | This property contains the URL indicating the definition of the current item's category. |
| item_comments | If present, this property should point to a URL location of a page for comments related to the current item. |
| item_description | This property contains the description of the content of the current item. |
| item_enclosure_length | This property indicates how large the enclosure is in bytes. |
| item_enclosure_type | This property specifies the type of enclosure. |
| item_enclosure_url | This property contains the URL where the enclosure is located. |
| item_guid | This property contains the globally unique identifier for the current item. |
| item_guid_is_perma_link | When this property is set to true, the reader may assume that the guid is a permalink to the item. |
| item_xml | This property contains the full XML contents of the item. |
| item_link | For headline or abstract items, this property should be the location of the full text of the item. |
| item_pub_date | This property contains the date of the current item's most recent publication. |
| item_source | This property contains the name of the RSS feed in which the item was originally published, derived from the feed's title. |
| item_source_url | This property contains the URL location of the XML-version of the current item's source. |
| item_title | This property contains the title or headline of the current item. |
| local_file | The path to a local file for downloading. If the file exists, it is overwritten. |
| local_host | The name of the local host or user-assigned IP interface through which connections are initiated or accepted. |
| namespace_count | The number of records in the Namespace arrays. |
| namespace_prefix | The Prefix for the Namespace . |
| namespace_uri | Namespace URI associated with the corresponding Prefix . |
| other_headers | Other headers as determined by the user (optional). |
| parsed_header_count | The number of records in the ParsedHeader arrays. |
| parsed_header_field | This property contains the name of the HTTP header (same case as it is delivered). |
| parsed_header_value | This property contains the header contents. |
| password | A password if authentication is to be used. |
| proxy_auth_scheme | This property is used to tell the class which type of authorization to perform when connecting to the proxy. |
| proxy_auto_detect | This property tells the class whether or not to automatically detect and use proxy system settings, if available. |
| proxy_password | This property contains a password if authentication is to be used for the proxy. |
| proxy_port | This property contains the TCP port for the proxy Server (default 80). |
| proxy_server | If a proxy Server is given, then the HTTP request is sent to the proxy instead of the server otherwise specified. |
| proxy_ssl | This property determines when to use SSL for the connection to the proxy. |
| proxy_user | This property contains a user name, if authentication is to be used for the proxy. |
| referer | Referer URL/document (optional). |
| rss_data | The complete text of the RSS XML file. |
| rss_version | The RSS protocol version of the current RSS feed. |
| ssl_accept_server_cert_encoded | The certificate (PEM/base64 encoded). |
| ssl_cert_encoded | The certificate (PEM/base64 encoded). |
| ssl_cert_store | The name of the certificate store for the client certificate. |
| ssl_cert_store_password | If the certificate store is of a type that requires a password, this property is used to specify that password in order to open the certificate store. |
| ssl_cert_store_type | The type of certificate store for this certificate. |
| ssl_cert_subject | The subject of the certificate used for client authentication. |
| ssl_server_cert_encoded | The certificate (PEM/base64 encoded). |
| timeout | A timeout for the class. |
| transferred_data | The contents of the last response from the server. |
| transferred_data_limit | The maximum of bytes of data to be transferred. |
| transferred_headers | The full set of headers as received from the server. |
| user | A user name if authentication is to be used. |
Method List
The following is the full list of the methods of the class with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.
| add_cookie | Adds a cookie and the corresponding value to the outgoing request headers. |
| add_item | Inserts a new item into the beginning of an RSS feed. |
| add_namespace | Adds a namespace to the Namespaces properties. |
| config | Sets or retrieves a configuration setting. |
| do_events | Processes events from the internal message queue. |
| get_feed | Fetches an RSS feed. |
| get_property | Gets the value of a specific RSS feed item element or attribute. |
| get_url | Fetches an RSS feed. |
| interrupt | Interrupt the current method. |
| opml_attr | Returns the value of the attribute specified in the parameter. |
| put | Sends data to the HTTP server using the HTTP PUT method. |
| read_file | Loads an RSS file into the class. |
| read_opml | Reads and parses an OPML file. |
| reset | Resets all properties of the class. |
| set_property | Sets the value of a specific RSS feed property. |
| write_file | Writes an RSS feed from the class. |
Event List
The following is the full list of the events fired by the class with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.
| on_connected | Fired immediately after a connection completes (or fails). |
| on_connection_status | Fired to indicate changes in connection state. |
| on_disconnected | Fired when a connection is closed. |
| on_end_transfer | Fired when a document finishes transferring. |
| on_error | Information about errors during data delivery. |
| on_header | Fired every time a header line comes in. |
| on_log | Fires once for each log message. |
| on_opml_header | Fired for each value in the Header section of the current OPML document. |
| on_opml_outline | Fired for each outline in the current OPML document. |
| on_redirect | Fired when a redirection is received from the server. |
| on_set_cookie | Fired for every cookie set by the server. |
| on_ssl_server_authentication | Fired after the server presents its certificate to the client. |
| on_ssl_status | Shows the progress of the secure connection. |
| on_start_transfer | Fired when a document starts transferring (after the headers). |
| on_status | Fired when the HTTP status line is received from the server. |
| on_transfer | Fired while a document transfers (delivers document). |
Configuration Settings
The following is a list of configuration settings for the class with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.
| ItemAdditionalData[i] | Additional data to be added to an RSS Feed item. |
| ValueFormat | Format of data returned or set. |
| AcceptEncoding | Used to tell the server which types of content encodings the client supports. |
| AllowHTTPCompression | This property enables HTTP compression for receiving data. |
| AllowHTTPFallback | Whether HTTP/2 connections are permitted to fallback to HTTP/1.1. |
| Append | Whether to append data to LocalFile. |
| Authorization | The Authorization string to be sent to the server. |
| BytesTransferred | Contains the number of bytes transferred in the response data. |
| ChunkSize | Specifies the chunk size in bytes when using chunked encoding. |
| CompressHTTPRequest | Set to true to compress the body of a PUT or POST request. |
| EncodeURL | If set to true the URL will be encoded by the class. |
| FollowRedirects | Determines what happens when the server issues a redirect. |
| GetOn302Redirect | If set to true the class will perform a GET on the new location. |
| HTTP2HeadersWithoutIndexing | HTTP2 headers that should not update the dynamic header table with incremental indexing. |
| HTTPVersion | The version of HTTP used by the class. |
| IfModifiedSince | A date determining the maximum age of the desired document. |
| KeepAlive | Determines whether the HTTP connection is closed after completion of the request. |
| KerberosSPN | The Service Principal Name for the Kerberos Domain Controller. |
| LogLevel | The level of detail that is logged. |
| MaxRedirectAttempts | Limits the number of redirects that are followed in a request. |
| NegotiatedHTTPVersion | The negotiated HTTP version. |
| OtherHeaders | Other headers as determined by the user (optional). |
| ProxyAuthorization | The authorization string to be sent to the proxy server. |
| ProxyAuthScheme | The authorization scheme to be used for the proxy. |
| ProxyPassword | A password if authentication is to be used for the proxy. |
| ProxyPort | Port for the proxy server (default 80). |
| ProxyServer | Name or IP address of a proxy server (optional). |
| ProxyUser | A user name if authentication is to be used for the proxy. |
| SentHeaders | The full set of headers as sent by the client. |
| StatusLine | The first line of the last response from the server. |
| TransferredData | The contents of the last response from the server. |
| TransferredDataLimit | The maximum number of incoming bytes to be stored by the class. |
| TransferredHeaders | The full set of headers as received from the server. |
| TransferredRequest | The full request as sent by the client. |
| UseChunkedEncoding | Enables or Disables HTTP chunked encoding for transfers. |
| UseIDNs | Whether to encode hostnames to internationalized domain names. |
| UsePlatformHTTPClient | Whether or not to use the platform HTTP client. |
| UserAgent | Information about the user agent (browser). |
| ConnectionTimeout | Sets a separate timeout value for establishing a connection. |
| FirewallAutoDetect | Tells the class whether or not to automatically detect and use firewall system settings, if available. |
| FirewallHost | Name or IP address of firewall (optional). |
| FirewallPassword | Password to be used if authentication is to be used when connecting through the firewall. |
| FirewallPort | The TCP port for the FirewallHost;. |
| FirewallType | Determines the type of firewall to connect through. |
| FirewallUser | A user name if authentication is to be used connecting through a firewall. |
| KeepAliveInterval | The retry interval, in milliseconds, to be used when a TCP keep-alive packet is sent and no response is received. |
| KeepAliveTime | The inactivity time in milliseconds before a TCP keep-alive packet is sent. |
| Linger | When set to True, connections are terminated gracefully. |
| LingerTime | Time in seconds to have the connection linger. |
| LocalHost | The name of the local host through which connections are initiated or accepted. |
| LocalPort | The port in the local host where the class binds. |
| MaxLineLength | The maximum amount of data to accumulate when no EOL is found. |
| MaxTransferRate | The transfer rate limit in bytes per second. |
| ProxyExceptionsList | A semicolon separated list of hosts and IPs to bypass when using a proxy. |
| TCPKeepAlive | Determines whether or not the keep alive socket option is enabled. |
| TcpNoDelay | Whether or not to delay when sending packets. |
| UseIPv6 | Whether to use IPv6. |
| LogSSLPackets | Controls whether SSL packets are logged when using the internal security API. |
| OpenSSLCADir | The path to a directory containing CA certificates. |
| OpenSSLCAFile | Name of the file containing the list of CA's trusted by your application. |
| OpenSSLCipherList | A string that controls the ciphers to be used by SSL. |
| OpenSSLPrngSeedData | The data to seed the pseudo random number generator (PRNG). |
| ReuseSSLSession | Determines if the SSL session is reused. |
| SSLCACertFilePaths | The paths to CA certificate files on Unix/Linux. |
| SSLCACerts | A newline separated list of CA certificate to use during SSL client authentication. |
| SSLCheckCRL | Whether to check the Certificate Revocation List for the server certificate. |
| SSLCipherStrength | The minimum cipher strength used for bulk encryption. |
| SSLEnabledCipherSuites | The cipher suite to be used in an SSL negotiation. |
| SSLEnabledProtocols | Used to enable/disable the supported security protocols. |
| SSLEnableRenegotiation | Whether the renegotiation_info SSL extension is supported. |
| SSLIncludeCertChain | Whether the entire certificate chain is included in the SSLServerAuthentication event. |
| SSLNegotiatedCipher | Returns the negotiated ciphersuite. |
| SSLNegotiatedCipherStrength | Returns the negotiated ciphersuite strength. |
| SSLNegotiatedCipherSuite | Returns the negotiated ciphersuite. |
| SSLNegotiatedKeyExchange | Returns the negotiated key exchange algorithm. |
| SSLNegotiatedKeyExchangeStrength | Returns the negotiated key exchange algorithm strength. |
| SSLNegotiatedVersion | Returns the negotiated protocol version. |
| SSLProvider | The name of the security provider to use. |
| SSLSecurityFlags | Flags that control certificate verification. |
| SSLServerCACerts | A newline separated list of CA certificate to use during SSL server certificate validation. |
| TLS12SignatureAlgorithms | Defines the allowed TLS 1.2 signature algorithms when UseInternalSecurityAPI is True. |
| TLS12SupportedGroups | The supported groups for ECC. |
| TLS13KeyShareGroups | The groups for which to pregenerate key shares. |
| TLS13SignatureAlgorithms | The allowed certificate signature algorithms. |
| TLS13SupportedGroups | The supported groups for (EC)DHE key exchange. |
| AbsoluteTimeout | Determines whether timeouts are inactivity timeouts or absolute timeouts. |
| FirewallData | Used to send extra data to the firewall. |
| InBufferSize | The size in bytes of the incoming queue of the socket. |
| OutBufferSize | The size in bytes of the outgoing queue of the socket. |
| BuildInfo | Information about the product's build. |
| CodePage | The system code page used for Unicode to Multibyte translations. |
| LicenseInfo | Information about the current license. |
| ProcessIdleEvents | Whether the class uses its internal event loop to process events when the main thread is idle. |
| SelectWaitMillis | The length of time in milliseconds the class will wait when DoEvents is called if there are no events to process. |
| UseInternalSecurityAPI | Tells the class whether or not to use the system security libraries or an internal implementation. |