Feed: URI scheme
Encyclopedia
In computing
, the
designed to facilitate subscription to web feed
s; specifically, it was intended that a news aggregator be launched whenever a hyperlink
to a
.
The scheme was intended to flag a document in a syndication format such as Atom
or RSS
. The document would be typically served over HTTP
.
, FeedDemon
, Safari
, and Flock
. no effort seems to be underway to officially register the scheme at IANA
.
Critics hold that the purpose of the
The
; the author later contributed to the work on the atom standard
.
as follows:
::= "feed:" | "feed://"
Specifically, a
) by prepending
The
66. Here
feed:https://example.com/entries.atom
feed://example.com/entries.atom
Computing
Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...
, the
feed URI scheme (sometimes referred to, imprecisely, as the feed protocol) was a suggested URI schemeURI scheme
In the field of computer networking, a URI scheme is the top level of the Uniform Resource Identifier naming structure. All URIs and absolute URI references are formed with a scheme name, followed by a colon character , and the remainder of the URI called the scheme-specific part...
designed to facilitate subscription to web feed
Web feed
A web feed is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it. Making a collection of web feeds accessible in one spot is known as aggregation, which is performed by an aggregator...
s; specifically, it was intended that a news aggregator be launched whenever a hyperlink
Hyperlink
In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks...
to a
feed URI is clicked in a web browserWeb browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
.
The scheme was intended to flag a document in a syndication format such as Atom
Atom (standard)
The name Atom applies to a pair of related standards. The Atom Syndication Format is an XML language used for web feeds, while the Atom Publishing Protocol is a simple HTTP-based protocol for creating and updating web resources.Web feeds allow software programs to check for updates published on a...
or RSS
RSS
-Mathematics:* Root-sum-square, the square root of the sum of the squares of the elements of a data set* Residual sum of squares in statistics-Technology:* RSS , "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", a family of web feed formats...
. The document would be typically served over HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol is a networking protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web....
.
History
In 2006 thefeed URI scheme was supported by several popular desktop aggregators, including NetNewsWireNetNewsWire
NetNewsWire is a news aggregator for Mac OS X and iOS, and was one of the first desktop RSS readers on any platform.- History :NetNewsWire was developed by Brent and Sheila Simmons for their company Ranchero Software. It was introduced on July 12, 2002, with NetNewsWire Lite, a free version missing...
, FeedDemon
FeedDemon
FeedDemon is a free RSS Feed reader for Windows. It was created and developed by Nick Bradbury, author of tools HomeSite, an HTML editor, and TopStyle, a CSS editor. FeedDemon is developed in Delphi. FeedDemon was purchased by NewsGator Technologies in May 2005. It is able to synchronize with...
, Safari
Safari (web browser)
Safari is a web browser developed by Apple Inc. and included with the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems. First released as a public beta on January 7, 2003 on the company's Mac OS X operating system, it became Apple's default browser beginning with Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther". Safari is also the...
, and Flock
Flock (web browser)
Flock was a web browser that specialized in providing social networking and Web 2.0 facilities built into its user interface.Earlier versions of Flock used the Gecko HTML rendering engine by Mozilla....
. no effort seems to be underway to officially register the scheme at IANA
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is the entity that oversees global IP address allocation, autonomous system number allocation, root zone management in the Domain Name System , media types, and other Internet Protocol-related symbols and numbers...
.
Critics hold that the purpose of the
feed URI scheme is better served by MIME types, or that it is not a user-friendly solution for the problem of feed subscription, since a user who has not installed the appropriate software will receive an unhelpful browser error message on clicking a link to a feed URI.The
feed URI scheme was suggested in 2003 in draft-obasanjo-feed-URI-scheme-01 and 02. These expired drafts were not submitted as Internet draftsInternet Engineering Task Force
The Internet Engineering Task Force develops and promotes Internet standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite...
; the author later contributed to the work on the atom standard
Atom (standard)
The name Atom applies to a pair of related standards. The Atom Syndication Format is an XML language used for web feeds, while the Atom Publishing Protocol is a simple HTTP-based protocol for creating and updating web resources.Web feeds allow software programs to check for updates published on a...
.
Syntax
The syntax for afeed URI may be expressed in Backus–Naur formBackus–Naur form
In computer science, BNF is a notation technique for context-free grammars, often used to describe the syntax of languages used in computing, such as computer programming languages, document formats, instruction sets and communication protocols.It is applied wherever exact descriptions of...
as follows:
Specifically, a
feed URI may be formed from any absolute URI (such as an absolute URLUniform Resource Locator
In computing, a uniform resource locator or universal resource locator is a specific character string that constitutes a reference to an Internet resource....
) by prepending
feed, and as a special case, may be formed from any absolute http URI by replacing the initial http:// with feed://.The
Internet standard
In computer network engineering, an Internet Standard is a normative specification of a technology or methodology applicable to the Internet. Internet Standards are created and published by the Internet Engineering Task Force .-Overview:...
66. Here
http URI, and feed URIs: