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Mon, Mar 17, 2008 |
RSSConnect
RSS (or Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is fast becoming a popular technology that facilitates knowledge sharing; and a mechanism to publish news, content, and other information in XML format.
Many Web sites provide RSS Feed that you can consume using a news aggregator application such as RSSConnect. Almost all the bloggers make available their posts (and comments) using RSS. You can use RSS feeds aggregators/viewers such as RSSConnect to subscribe to selected RSS feeds and keep yourself up-to-date with the latest news and information. Click here to learn more about RSS.
RSSConnect by perfectxml.com is a C# .NET application that allows you to read RSS feeds.
RSSConnect requires MSXML 3.0 and .NET Framework 1.0 or 1.1.
Downloads (Version 1.0.0.1):
Important Notes: RSSConnect should be used for personal, non-commercial purposes. RSSConnect by perfectxml.com is provided as is in the form of a sample with no warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied for any purpose.
For any comments on RSSConnect, contact us at .
Main features include:
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Consume RSS Feeds
You can use RSSConnect to organize and subscribe to selected RSS feeds and view feeds as HTML.
The RSS Feeds tree on the left side is fully customizable via an XML file (feeds.xml file in the same folder as RSSConnect.exe). It can include feed nodes, folder nodes, or OPML nodes. The OPML nodes are dynamically expanded at run time. You can add, rename, and delete nodes by right clicking on the tree and selecting appropriate menu items. The built-in caching mechanism caches the feed XML locally. You can right click on the node and select Refresh to get the latest version of the feed. The Tools | Options | On Exit tab allows you to control the caching behavior. You can do drag-and-drop to move nodes, and drop a RSS Feed URL from the Internet Explorer address bar into RSSConnect feed tree to add subscribe to that feed. Press F11 to hide/show the Feeds tree. Press F12 to show/hide the status bar.
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Skins
RSSConnect includes three views in which you can read RSS Feeds. Just create an XSLT stylesheet file and drop it in the style folder – your new RSS Feed reader skin should be available in RSSConnect View menu.
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Database Export and Search
RSSConnect allows exporting selected RSS feed into any OLEDB or SQL Server or MSDE 2000 database. Select File | Export or right click on the feed and select Export to save current feed entries into the RSSConnect database. Once the data is exported, you can index it using Tools | Options | Database | Indexing tab and then search this database using Tools | Search menu item. You can set the option so that database records are indexed after each feed export. This will result in up-to-date results when search is performed – however, it will slow down the export process. You can anytime update the index by clicking the button on Indexing page on Options dialog box. The search results are shown in the same format as current feed skin.
RSSConnect includes a Microsoft Access database that you can use to export and search. To connect to SQL Server or MSDE, create a new database and run the script in the SQL Scripts folder. This script will create two tables: [tblFeeds] and [tblIndex].
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Check for New Feeds
Click on "Tools | Check for New Feeds" menu item to see if any new feeds are available. By default, RSSConnect checks this using "new feeds XML file" on perfectxml.com – but you can customize it to check it somewhere else.
- Favorites
When viewing a RSS Feed, press Ctrl+D or select Favorites | Add to Favorites or select similar menu item from right click menu on the feed node, to add the selected feed to your favorites. Favorites are saved in fav.xml in the same folder. You can remove entries from Favorites menu using Tools | Options | Environment | Favorite panel.
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Options
RSSConnect provides many options that you can use to customize this application. All these options are saved into options.xml file in the same folder. For example, you can specify if RSSConnect should minimize to tray icon, or close to tray icon, if it should prompt before deleting tree nodes, default home page, and so on.
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Use RSSConnect to View Your Internet Explorer Favorites
The second tab on left frame in RSSConnect is "Web Sites", which shows your Internet Explorer favorites, enabling you to browse your favorite Web sites inside RSSConnect.
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Navigation and Web Search
Press Ctrl+0 (or select View | Browser Navigation Bar) to view the panel that allows you to type a Web address and do browsing; or do searches on various sites.
- OPML Import and Export
RSSConnect allows importing feeds from a local OPML file; and exporting the selected feed listings as an OPML file.
To check the current RSSConnect assembly version, click on Help | About RSSConnect...: 
Downloads (Version 1.0.0.1):
Known Issues (Version 1.0.0.1):
- On some machines, if RSSConnect is running, you'll not be able to Shut Down the machine. Exit RSSConnect and try again.
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