RSSOwl
Encyclopedia
RSSOwl is a news aggregator for RSS
and Atom
News feeds. It is written in Java
, and is built on the Eclipse Rich Client Platform which uses SWT
as a widget toolkit
to allow it to fit in with the look and feel
of different operating systems while remaining cross-platform
. Released under the Eclipse Public License
, RSSOwl is free software
.
In addition to its full text searches, saved searches, notifications and filters, RSSOwl v2.1 synchronizes with Google Reader
.
and Atom
News feeds. The initial release also supported exporting feeds to PDF, RTF, and HTML. This release was available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Solaris.
RSSOwl 1.1 added support for toolbars and quicksearch in news feeds. Version 1.2 improved toolbar customization and added support for Atom 1.0 News feeds. Versions 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 added universal binary
support for mac as well as drag and drop for tabs and a built in feed validator. RSSOwl was the SourceForge Project of the Month for January 2005.
for database storage and Lucene
for text searching. Several milestone
versions were released before the final 2.0 version that added labeling of news feeds, pop-up notification of new feeds and storage of news articles in news bins. The final 2.0 version was released as milestone 9 and added support for secure password and credential storage, news filters, support for embedding Firefox 3.0 XULRunner
to render news feeds, and proxy support for windows.
RSS (file format)
RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format...
and 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...
News feeds. It is written in Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
, and is built on the Eclipse Rich Client Platform which uses SWT
Standard Widget Toolkit
The Standard Widget Toolkit is a graphical widget toolkit for use with the Java platform. It was originally developed by IBM and is now maintained by the Eclipse Foundation in tandem with the Eclipse IDE...
as a widget toolkit
Widget toolkit
In computing, a widget toolkit, widget library, or GUI toolkit is a set of widgets for use in designing applications with graphical user interfaces...
to allow it to fit in with the look and feel
Look and feel
In software design, look and feel is a term used in respect of a graphical user interface and comprises aspects of its design, including elements such as colors, shapes, layout, and typefaces , as well as the behavior of dynamic elements such as buttons, boxes, and menus...
of different operating systems while remaining cross-platform
Cross-platform
In computing, cross-platform, or multi-platform, is an attribute conferred to computer software or computing methods and concepts that are implemented and inter-operate on multiple computer platforms...
. Released under the Eclipse Public License
Eclipse Public License
The Eclipse Public License is an open source software license used by the Eclipse Foundation for its software. It replaces the Common Public License and removes certain terms relating to litigations related to patents....
, RSSOwl is free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
.
In addition to its full text searches, saved searches, notifications and filters, RSSOwl v2.1 synchronizes with Google Reader
Google Reader
Google Reader is a Web-based aggregator, capable of reading Atom and RSS feeds online or offline. It was released by Google on October 7, 2005 through Google Labs. Reader was graduated from beta status on September 17, 2007.-Interface:...
.
Version 1.0
RSSOwl 1.0 was released on December 19, 2004. It was released with support for RSSRSS (file format)
RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format...
and 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...
News feeds. The initial release also supported exporting feeds to PDF, RTF, and HTML. This release was available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Solaris.
RSSOwl 1.1 added support for toolbars and quicksearch in news feeds. Version 1.2 improved toolbar customization and added support for Atom 1.0 News feeds. Versions 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 added universal binary
Universal binary
A universal binary is, in Apple parlance, an executable file or application bundle that runs natively on either PowerPC or Intel-manufactured IA-32 or Intel 64-based Macintosh computers; it is an implementation of the concept more generally known as a fat binary.With the release of Mac OS X Snow...
support for mac as well as drag and drop for tabs and a built in feed validator. RSSOwl was the SourceForge Project of the Month for January 2005.
Version 2.0
RSSOwl 2.0 was announced on March 7, 2007 at EclipseCon 2007. Version 2.0 was rebuilt on the Eclipse Rich Client Platform and used db4oDb4o
db4o is an embeddable open source object database for Java and .NET developers. It is developed, commercially licensed and supported by Versant....
for database storage and Lucene
Lucene
Apache Lucene is a free/open source information retrieval software library, originally created in Java by Doug Cutting. It is supported by the Apache Software Foundation and is released under the Apache Software License....
for text searching. Several milestone
Milestone (Project management)
Within the framework of project management, a milestone is the end of a stage that marks the completion of a work package or phase, typically marked by a high level event such as completion, endorsement or signing of a deliverable, document or a high level review meeting.In addition to signaling...
versions were released before the final 2.0 version that added labeling of news feeds, pop-up notification of new feeds and storage of news articles in news bins. The final 2.0 version was released as milestone 9 and added support for secure password and credential storage, news filters, support for embedding Firefox 3.0 XULRunner
XULRunner
XULRunner is a runtime environment developed by the Mozilla Foundation to provide a common back-end for XUL-based applications. It replaced the Gecko Runtime Environment, a stalled project with a similar purpose....
to render news feeds, and proxy support for windows.
Version 2.1
RSSOwl 2.1 was released on July 15, 2011 and noteworthy new features include Google Reader synchronization support and new layouts.Format Support
- Full support for RSS & RDF versions 0.91, 0.92, 1.0, 2.0
- Support for Atom Syndication Format version 1.0
- Generate PDF / RTF / HTML documents from any news including aggregations
Organization
- Powerful Newsfeed search engine working with keywords
- Perform a fulltext-search with result-highlight on favorites and categories
- Aggregate news of an entire category to one newstab
- Save favorite newsfeeds in categories
- Store newsfeeds in Blogrolls and share them with other people
- Mail NewsTip to friends
Import / Export
- Import / Export favorite newsfeeds using OPMLOPMLOPML is an XML format for outlines...
(Outline Processor Markup Language) - Import / Export your settings in RSSOwl to use them on another computer.
Other
- Support for Google Reader synchronization
- Support for podcastPodcastA podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
downloading using news filters - Integrated Newsfeed validator
- Erroneous favorites are marked
- Read news either in the internal browser or a Rich Text window
- Blog news viewed in RSSOwl with your favorite blogging tool
- Huge list of sample Newsfeeds pre-saved
- Select an auto-update-interval for your favorites
- View properties of a selected favorite
Internationalization
RSSOwl is translated into many languages: Bengali, Bulgarian, Czech, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian (Cyrillic), Serbian (Latin), Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish and Ukrainian.See also
- Comparison of feed aggregatorsComparison of feed aggregatorsThe following is a comparison of notable RSS feed aggregators. Often e-mail programs and web browsers have the ability to display RSS feeds. They are listed here, too.Many BitTorrent clients support RSS feeds for broadcatching ....