Large RSS List XML Format (not OCS)...

[Morbus Iff <morbus@disobey.com>]

I'm not a fan of OCS for a few reasons:

  - it looks ugly as hell.
  - it looks complicated as hell (ie., bad "code shui").
  - it duplicates a lot of data, bloating the lists.

I'm not fond of Headline Viewer's format either, because it adds
application specific elements in the output, being useless to other
applications. To be honest, the format I've found most entertaining is Dave
Winer's format, shown roughly below:

   <service>
      <url>http://www.flutterby.com/main.rdf</url>
      <id>17</id>
      <timeLastChange>Mon, 26 Feb 2001 02:01:48 GMT</timeLastChange>
      <format>RSS</format>
      <title>Flutterby!</title>
      <description>Last updated 2001-02-25 17:34:44-08</description>
      <htmlUrl>http://www.flutterby.com/</htmlUrl>
      <approved>Sun, 21 Mar 1999 15:35:29 GMT</approved>
   </service>

My main gripes with his format:

  - "url" is to ambiguous. if this is just a "service",
    then how do we know that "url" should point to an
    rss feed?
  - "timelastchange" is too wordy.
  - "format" can change at any time, which can be
    pretty annoying. and what is "RSS" anyways? perhaps
    today it means "defaults to 1.0", but tomorrow it
    may be "0.92".

I also find Microsoft's CDF format appealing because of it's scheduling
tags, which instruct clients when the channel should be updated.

So, long story short, this is what I propose. I'd like a lot of comments as
soon as possible, because I'm in the process of making a large list, and
would rather "get it as close to right as possible" before having to redo
it ;) ...

  <service>
    <description>The best little example description around!</description>
    <htmlurl>http://www.superlugnuts.com/example.html</htmlurl>
    <imageurl>http://www.superlugnuts.com/image.jpg</imageurl>
    <xmlurl>http://www.superlugnuts.com/example.xml</xmlurl>
    <lastmodified>Thu, 08 Jun 2000 13:40:05 GMT</lastmodified>
    <language>en</language>
    <title>Super LugNuts and Happy Examples</title>
    <schedule>
       <!-- the cdf crap from microsoft. -->
    </schedule>
  </service>

Primary differences:

 - "xmlurl" replaces "url". there is no longer any explicit "url".
 - no more "format". clients should figure it out based off the
   content of the channel - this provides the most flexibility
   since the format could change at any moment.
 - "lastmodified" as opposed to "timelastchange".
 - "language" added. (perhaps filter by language?)
 - there's no "id" just yet, cos i'm still up in the air.

I've also removed the "approved" element. Theory: Moreover and Headline
Viewer do subjects. But they don't do any sort of hierarchy. Perhaps add a
<subject> separated by colons, that demonstrate the hiearchy?

Perhaps "Geography: US: New Hampshire" - and no limit on number of <subject>'s?

-- 
Morbus Iff

  OXFORDMORBUS DICKTIONARY:  Ug - pronounced uh-g (hard 'g' sound)

  Verb, New Hampshire slang, meaning: 1) when one shouldn't have to thank
  another for additional services or favors rendered as part of a larger
  service arrangement but does, the proprietor responds with "Ug". Which
  is to "ug" it out, as in a comment tag in HTML code or a REM comment
  in DOS.

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