• Easily create RSS Feeds from any data source.
• Automate and connect data  sources to streamline processes and enhance productivity.

For an overview of how RSSBus can help you and your business read the RSSBus Server product page.

Why would I want to Create Feeds?

Feeds enable you to subscribe to and "watch" information and data sources.  When most people think of RSS & Atom feeds they tend to think of syndicated news from a blog or news site, but why stop there? RSSBus allows you to easily created dynamic feeds from any source. 

• Create Feeds from CRM Systems (Salesforce, Microsoft CRM, SugarCRM etc.) to monitor new leads.
• Create Feeds from EBay, Amazon, Yahoo, or other online sales accounts for new order information.
• Create Feeds from Active Directory to watch for new user accounts.
• Create Feeds from Credit Card and Bank accounts to monitor for fraudulent activity.
• Create Feeds from Accounting packages like Quickbooks or Peachtree.
• Create Feeds from the file system Network Share to keep track of file changes.
• Create Feeds from Database queries (SQL, Oracle, TSV, Excel, etc.)
• ... and much more!

You mention Integration and Web Services, why not use SOAP?

If you can create a SOAP service easily, write an application that consumes SOAP services in a matter of minutes, and modify an existing SOAP service in a short time, etc. we don't have much to say to you.

Although RSSBus is not just about web services (please read through our architecture and whitepaper).  We will not deny that it's similar to much simpler XML-RPC like web services, that it uses and extends Really Simple Syndication (RSS) as its data exchange format, or that it has a simple scripting meta-language. Simple is essentially what it is.

That said, RSSBus does also have the ability to produce and consume SOAP Web Services (i.e. you are

What are RSS feeds?

For RSSBus purposes, an RSS feed is an XML stream that conforms to the RSS 2.0 specification; it is simply a list of items. In our context we have extended the term feed to not only describe the content but also to name the source. Thus, we refer to all of the following as feeds:

• A URI that points to an RSS 2.0 feed that can be accessed using http, e.g. http:/www.news.google.com?output=rss.
• A URI that points to a file that contains RSS 2.0 conformant data, e.g. file:///rss.xml.
• A URI having the protocol scheme rsbcache, that points to an RSS 2.0 feed held in cache, e.g. rsbcache://listOperations.
• An operation in code that generates a feed.

Why RSS 2.0? What about ATOM, RSS 1.0 or other formats?

RSS 2.0 is a simple, extensible format that is widely used.  Not only it is supported by almost all syndication clients, but it is also the format of choice for many other web service API's such as Yahoo! RSS feeds and Amazon A9 web search to name a few.

Our objective with RSSBus is to easily connect a wide variety of systems and data sources, and harnessing RSS offers an accelerated path to that goal. If in future we see the need or popularity of other formats, we will consider them.  Having said that, it must be noted that fragmentation is seldom without costs.

How do I connect or combine feeds?

RSSBus includes an embedded easy to use scripting language referred to as RSBScript which is used for piping, ordering, filtering, combining, and configuring feeds.  RSBScript can be found in both Script (.rsb) and Template (.rst) files, which act as entrypoints for dynamic Feeds.

What is RSBScript?

RSBScript is a type of workflow language that is used to call operations and produce feeds as output.

RSBScript is a simple XML-based scripting language that can be used to manipulate feeds.  RSBScript allows you to pass items between operations and use high-level programming constructs such as if/else statements and case statements.  With RSBScript, you are effectively computing with items and feeds.  At any time in an RSBScript you can create new RSS items, modify existing items, pass items as input to other scripts or RSSBus operations, or iterate through items that result from other scripts or RSSBus operations or other external RSS feeds.  RSBScript gives you the power to mesh, pipeline, and otherwise manipulate RSS items and feeds.

Don't worry though, you don't need to learn RSBScript in order to create feeds. The RSSBus Admin console includes a feed creation wizard that walks users through the process of creating feeds and generates all of the RSBScript required to secure and expose a feed.

Where can I learn more about working with RSBScript?

The RSSBus Server User's Guide provides detailed information for working with RSBScript.

Is it possible to extend RSBScript with new keywords etc.?

Absolutely.  The RSBScript language is fully extensible and allows for easy creation of new Formatters and Connectors.  For more information read the RSSBus Server User's Guide.

What about security?

Because RSSBus is capable of producing feeds of real business data, rather than simply news or blog content, security has been a top priority.  As a fully-managed ASP.NET application, RSSBus Server makes uses of the advances security features of IIS and ASP.NET to offer full SSL Secuity.