You have already seen (and used) the Domino blog, but did you know about the RSS feed generator template that lets you make any Lotus Domino data accessible to RSS readers and aggregators?  Introduced in 7.0.2, the template enables you to create databases that serve up RSS feeds created from data in Notes database views. The RSS feed generator is targeted at the installed base of Domino users, and is designed to extend the reach of Lotus Domino content through RSS 2.0 feeds. It provides centralized configuration for easy administration of your feeds.

Essentially, the template converts Notes view data to XML format for consumption by RSS readers and aggregators, by mapping XML tags to column, field or custom keyword. You use one Feed Definition document to RSS-enable one Lotus Notes view or folder. Within the document, you specify such attributes as: feed title, language and optional description. You can further refine the RSS feed description with a set of optional tags, such as specifying additional tag libraries, or whether the feed should be published as an ordered list. You can also podcast by using the tag to advertise an audio or video file. The database also has an internal function to create iCalendar or vCard objects when the tag is associated with an RSS item.  

You can also configure the look and behavior of the feed by specifying the number of view rows to be emitted on the feed, or whether the feed should appear as an ordered list. Global optons allow you to specify what protocol (http:// or https://), available feeds header content, and the RSS element prefix to (notes:// or http://).

There is also the option of using the External Web Documents view to collect and advertise Web-enabled documents as RSS items. This view provides links to static URLs for resources that may not be part of a Domino view. For example, you might use this to aggregate important company documents like Human Resources PDF forms and corporate policies.

When an authenticated user launches the RSS Generator database in a browser, it displays a list of the available RSS feeds that can be subscribed to using any RSS feed reader. It is also possible to create and cache iCalendar and vCard objects from RSS items.

You can create RSS feeds from any Domino database, including  e-mail, calendar, and contact entries from a user’s mail database. No modifications are required. You can even use Derived Mail option in the Feed Definition document to RSS-enable all mail files on the server. The security of the feed is controlled by the ACL of database specified in the Feed Definition document. The template itself is a server-based template. You can only access and generate feeds for databases co-located on the same server.

Occasionally, it may be necessary to override single sign-on (SSO) for RSS feed readers, as the readers cannot use session authentication forms. Do this by creating a new Web site rule and, on the Basics tab:

  • Set the Type of Rule to “Override Session Authentication with basic authentication.” (new in 7.0.2 ).
  • Specify the incoming URL pattern for the RSS Generator database.
  • (Optional) On the Lotus Domino Web Engine  tab of the current Web site document, select Yes or No for ‘When overriding session authentication, generate session cookie.’

There are a variety of ways in which the RSS Generator database can be used. Here at the Lotus Information Development team (the team that creates the documentation for Lotus products), we are planning to use it to deliver documentation feedback information from our customer feedback database to individual writers. Writers will be able to subscribe to the RSS feed for the feedback view for their specific information deliverable.

Other possible uses include delivering marketing department headlines or podcasts, help desk IT-related announcements, press release information from media relation firms, or government alerts and new resources/policy information.