Are RSS feeds supposed to be dynamically generated?

[Mike Mella]

If I make an RSS feed of my site, am I expected to build and later
update the RSS (XML) data by hand as I would any other webpage, or is
there some process by which updates to a site are automatically
incorporated into the RSS feed once the site itself is updated?

Thanks.
--Mella

[A.M. Kuchling]

On 11 Dec 2003 09:25:30 -0800,
Mike Mella <we***************@hotmail.com> wrote:

If I make an RSS feed of my site, am I expected to build and later
update the RSS (XML) data by hand as I would any other webpage, or is
there some process by which updates to a site are automatically
incorporated into the RSS feed once the site itself is updated?

A client retrieving an RSS feed has no way of knowing whether it was a
static file or was dynamically generated, so what you do makes no difference
to clients. It will make a difference to *you*, of course; updating an RSS
feed by hand is tedious and likely to be a source of errors (forgetting to
update it, making a typo while hand-editing). Most sites generate
their RSS feeds automatically for this reason, but if you don't mind the
extra work, you can certainly maintain a feed by hand.

--amk

[Mike Mella]

Without getting into too much detail, how are RSS feeds dynamically
updated? I mean what programming language/tool is usually used?
--Mella
A.M. Kuchling wrote:

On 11 Dec 2003 09:25:30 -0800,
Mike Mella <we***************@hotmail.com> wrote:

If I make an RSS feed of my site, am I expected to build and later
update the RSS (XML) data by hand as I would any other webpage, or is
there some process by which updates to a site are automatically
incorporated into the RSS feed once the site itself is updated?

A client retrieving an RSS feed has no way of knowing whether it was a
static file or was dynamically generated, so what you do makes no difference
to clients. It will make a difference to *you*, of course; updating an RSS
feed by hand is tedious and likely to be a source of errors (forgetting to
update it, making a typo while hand-editing). Most sites generate
their RSS feeds automatically for this reason, but if you don't mind the
extra work, you can certainly maintain a feed by hand.

--amk

[Klaus Johannes Rusch]

Mike Mella wrote:

Without getting into too much detail, how are RSS feeds dynamically
updated? I mean what programming language/tool is usually used?

Since RSS feeds are XML files, you can use whatever tool you like, including
servlets, CGI scripts written in any programming language, server modules,
anything. XSLT would seem a natural choice if your input is available in XML.

--
Klaus Johannes Rusch
Kl********@atmedia.net
http://www.atmedia.net/KlausRusch/

[Richard]

Mike Mella <th*******@msn.com> wrote in message news:<W1********************@news20.bellglobal.com >...

Without getting into too much detail, how are RSS feeds dynamically
updated? I mean what programming language/tool is usually used?
--Mella

In one of my sites i use asp to generate the new feed every 24hours,
its pretty easy to do them dynamically.

For the more static feeds i use Broadcast Builder
(www.lionhardt.com/bb)

[Hook]

On 16 Dec 2003 10:52:22 -0800, ri*****@lionhardt.com (Richard) wrote:

Mike Mella <th*******@msn.com> wrote in message news:<W1********************@news20.bellglobal.com >...

Without getting into too much detail, how are RSS feeds dynamically
updated? I mean what programming language/tool is usually used?
--Mella

In one of my sites i use asp to generate the new feed every 24hours,
its pretty easy to do them dynamically.

For the more static feeds i use Broadcast Builder
(www.lionhardt.com/bb)

I generate new feeds whenever database content changes which happens
at least once per day, often more. I just use a hand written piece of
Perl, after all the structure is simple enough.
--
The Hooker
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it"
[ www.sfwrg.org ][ www.pubfun.com ]
hooker at pubfun dot com