68 Working with the RSS Service
This chapter describes how to use the RSS service features. The RSS service provides the ability to publish content from Oracle WebCenter services as news feeds in RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 formats. News feeds deliver content update information to your favorite RSS or Atom reader. In addition, the RSS service enables you to view news feeds from external sources on your application pages in an RSS Viewer.
This chapter includes the following sections:
This chapter is intended for WebCenter Spaces users interested in publishing news feeds from WebCenter services and external sources on their application pages. Much of this information also applies to any WebCenter Portal application, though it is written with WebCenter Spaces users in mind. For information about WebCenter Portal applications, see "Integrating the RSS Service" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Developer's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.
The WebCenter Spaces administrator has the authority to expose or hide some Space features and services. Contact your WebCenter Spaces administrator if some tasks discussed in this chapter are not available to you.
68.1 What You Should Know About the RSS Service
The RSS service exposes its features in the following ways:
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The RSS icon on a service task flow - enables you to publish content from WebCenter services as a news feed.
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A dedicated RSS Manager page (WebCenter Spaces only) - displays a list of published feeds from all accessible Spaces for viewing in either RSS 2.0 or Atom 1.0 news readers.
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The RSS task flow - adds an RSS viewer to the page for displaying feeds from external sources and WebCenter services.
Note:
The RSS service does not support non-ASCII user names and passwords if the character encoding of the browser-based basic authentication is different from the character encoding of the system on which Oracle WebCenter is deployed. On a Linux system, the character encoding is generally different, and therefore the RSS service does not support non-ASCII credentials.If the character encoding is same, users can use corresponding non-ASCII credentials. For example, for the Oracle WebCenter instance installed on French Windows Server 2003, users can use a French user name on the French Windows to pass the basic authentication using Internet Explorer.
This section includes the following subsections:
68.1.1 RSS Icon
RSS news feeds deliver content update information on the Recent Activities, Discussions, Lists, and Announcements services. Figure 68-1 shows the RSS icon available on the Announcements task flow in a WebCenter Spaces page.
Figure 68-1 RSS Icon in the Announcements Task Flow
Description of "Figure 68-1 RSS Icon in the Announcements Task Flow"
68.1.2 RSS Manager
In a WebCenter Spaces application, you can obtain news feeds from individual task flow instances and also from the RSS Manager. Access the RSS Manager by clicking the RSS link at the bottom of the WebCenter Spaces application (Figure 68-2).
Figure 68-2 The RSS Link in WebCenter Spaces
Description of "Figure 68-2 The RSS Link in WebCenter Spaces"
The RSS Manager displays nodes for all the Spaces for which RSS feeds have been enabled (Figure 68-3).
Figure 68-3 Expanded Space Nodes in the RSS Manager
Description of "Figure 68-3 Expanded Space Nodes in the RSS Manager"
Expand a Space node to obtain both RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 news feeds from individual services.
A Space must be news feed-enabled before you can obtain feed URLs from it. For information, see Section 51.4.6, "Enabling or Disabling RSS News Feeds for a Space." Additionally, your reader of choice must support HTTP authentication.
When you access a news feed item in your reader of choice, the item links back into your WebCenter application. Because the application itself requires authentication before you can access much of its content, your reader must be equipped to pass your login credentials to securely deliver access.
The level of detail provided through a service news feed depends on the feed source. For example, when you pull a news feed for recently added or modified lists, your news reader provides the list titles and (if available) shows descriptions of the most recently added or modified lists (Figure 68-4).
The list titles in a feed are linked. Click a list title, and it takes you back into your WebCenter application with the selected list displayed (Figure 68-5).
Figure 68-5 A List Opened from an RSS Feed and Displayed in WebCenter Spaces
Description of "Figure 68-5 A List Opened from an RSS Feed and Displayed in WebCenter Spaces"
In contrast, when you pull a news feed from a particular list, it shows recently added or revised row details and provides links to individual rows. When you click such a link, it also takes you back into your WebCenter application, with the list content displayed.
The news feeds you obtain from a WebCenter Spaces application are context-aware, providing content only from the Space from which they originate. For example, if you provide a list feed from the Finance Space, your news reader displays list content that is unique to the Finance Space. If you add a list feed from the Languages Space, your news reader displays list content that is unique to the Languages Space.
The RSS service delivers news feeds from the following services:
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Recent Activities
The recent activity news feed tracks updates to your WebCenter application that are normally reflected in a Recent Activity list and that have occurred within the last three days. For more information, see Section 68.2.1, "Obtaining the Recent Activities News Feed."
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Discussions
The discussion forums news feed tracks updates to all discussion forums in a particular Space. See Section 68.2.2, "Obtaining the Discussion Forums News Feed."
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Lists (WebCenter Spaces only)
There are two types of news feeds that can be delivered from the Lists service—all newly created or changed lists in a Space (from the Lists task flow) and revisions to the data of a particular list in a Space (from the List Viewer task flow on the Lists page). The news feed content depends on whether you get the news feed URL from the Lists task flow or the List Viewer task flow. For more information, see Section 68.2.3, "Obtaining List News Feeds."
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Announcements
The Announcements news feed tracks additions and revisions to announcements from a particular Space, from all Spaces, or application-wide, depending on the location of the feed source. For more information, see Section 68.2.4, "Obtaining the Announcements News Feed."
You can to obtain news feed URLs for all applicable services either from the RSS Manager or the required service's task flows.
68.1.3 RSS Task Flow
If you want to add a news feed from an external site to your WebCenter application, the RSS service provides an RSS task flow (Figure 68-6).
You can add the RSS task flow to a page and configure it to display content from any external RSS feed. Additionally, the RSS task flow supports login credential passing, by using an external application.
See Also:
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For information about adding the RSS task flow, see Section 68.3.1, "Adding an RSS Service Task Flow to a Page."
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For information about specifying a feed for the RSS task flow, see Section 68.3.4, "Editing the Feed Location of an RSS Task Flow."
The RSS task flow can render news feeds outside of a corporate firewall. However, to consume external news feeds outside of the firewall, your application administrator must have configured proxies for the RSS service. Contact your Spaces administrator if you cannot consume external feeds but want to do so. To contact the administrator, click the Administrator link at the bottom of the Spaces application.
Accessing External Applications
Every time you access a secure news feed item, you must log on to that secure application to view content. You can either supply login credentials each time you access an application, or let an external application store and manage your login credentials. After your credentials for a particular application are stored, you are logged in to that application automatically when you log in to your WebCenter Spaces application. You can provide this capability for all frequently used external applications.
If the secured application you want to access is not registered as an external application, perform the steps listed in Section 35.7, "Providing Login Information for External Applications."
68.2 Obtaining Service News Feeds
Each participating service provides news feeds from locations unique to that service.
This section steps you through obtaining those feeds. It includes the following subsections:
68.2.1 Obtaining the Recent Activities News Feed
Use news feeds from the Recent Activities service to keep track of the wide range of activity happening in one or more Spaces within the last three days. To consume a Space Recent Activities news feed, you must be a member of the selected Space and the Space must be enabled to provide news feeds.
WebCenter Spaces provides two locations for pulling a news feed from the Recent Activities service: the RSS Manager and the Recent Activity task flow.
Both the RSS Manager and the Recent Activity task flow provide the same news feed content: additions or revisions to Spaces and Space pages, documents, discussion forums, lists, and so on. For more information, see Chapter 69, "Working with the Recent Activities Service."
Assuming a default configuration, a news feed URL from a Recent Activity task flow in a Space provides information about the activity in that Space. A news feed URL from a Recent Activity task flow in your Home Space provides information about the activities in a particular Space.
Note:
A Recent Activity task flow can be configured to display the recent activity of a Space other than the one where it has been placed. In such a case, the news feed from that list provides information on the activities of the Space identified during configuration. For more information, see Section 69.3, "Setting Recent Activities Service Task Flow Properties."This section describes how to obtain a news feed for the Recent Activity task flow from both the locations, the RSS Manager and the Recent Activity task flow. It contains the following subsections:
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Section 68.2.1.1, "Obtaining a Recent Activity News Feed URL from the RSS Manager"
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Section 68.2.1.2, "Obtaining a News Feed URL from the Recent Activity Task Flow"
68.2.1.1 Obtaining a Recent Activity News Feed URL from the RSS Manager
The RSS Manager provides news feeds for both RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 news readers. It lists all RSS-enabled Spaces of which you are a member. Each listed Space can be expanded to display the services for which it offers news feeds (Figure 68-7).
Figure 68-7 The Recent Activity Service for a Space in the RSS Manager
Description of "Figure 68-7 The Recent Activity Service for a Space in the RSS Manager"
To obtain a Recent Activity list news feed URL from the RSS Manager:
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Click the RSS link at the bottom of the WebCenter Spaces application (Figure 68-8).
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If required, expand the node of the Space for which you want to monitor recent activities.
You can expand a Space node by clicking the Expand icon, as shown in Figure 68-9, or by right-clicking the Space name and selecting the Expand option from the resulting context menu.
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Under the relevant Space, right-click the RSS 2.0 or Atom 1.0 icon next to Recent Activity, and, from the resulting browser context menu, select the copy-link command.
The command you select depends on your current browser. For example, in the Firefox browser, the copy-link command is Copy Link Location. In the Internet Explorer browser, the copy-link command is Copy Shortcut.
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Go to your news reader and initiate an add-subscription action.
How you do this depends on the news reader you use.
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Paste the link you copied in step 3 into the relevant field in your news reader.
You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
68.2.1.2 Obtaining a News Feed URL from the Recent Activity Task Flow
The Recent Activity task flow has its own RSS icon. Using this icon, you can get the Recent Activity list news feed URL. Recent Activity RSS feeds provide the same information that you can find in a Recent Activity list. This includes such things as additions or revisions to pages, documents, discussion forums, lists, and so on. The news feed tracks activity occurring over the last three days.
For an RSS icon to be active in a Recent Activity task flow, you must be a member of the Space from which you want to obtain the news feed and news feeds must be enabled for the relevant Space.
To obtain a Recent Activity list news feed URL from the Recent Activity list:
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Go to your Home Space or the Space that contains the Recent Activity list from which you want to obtain an RSS feed.
For information about navigating to a Space, see Section 29.3.1, "Opening Spaces." A Space may be configured to display in full-screen mode. For more information, see Section 51.4.9, "Changing the Page Template for a Space."
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Right-click the RSS icon in the toolbar of the Recent Activity list, and from the resulting context menu, select the copy-link command.
The command you select depends on your current browser. For example, in the Firefox browser, the copy-link command is Copy Link Location. In the Internet Explorer browser, the copy-link command is Copy Shortcut.
Alternatively, drag the RSS icon onto your news reader of choice. This may allow you to skip the other steps in this procedure. If you use the drag-and-drop method, you may have to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
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Go to your RSS reader and initiate an add-subscription action.
How you do this depends on the RSS reader you use.
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Paste the link you copied in step 2 into the relevant field in your RSS reader.
Note:
The news feed URL in a Recent Activity task flow is for RSS 2.0 news readers only. If you prefer to use an Atom 1.0 news reader, do either of the following:-
Append
&format=ATOM1.0to the RSS news feed URL you pasted. -
Get the Atom 1.0 URL from the RSS Manager and use that URL here. For more information, see Section 68.2.1.1, "Obtaining a Recent Activity News Feed URL from the RSS Manager."
You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
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68.2.2 Obtaining the Discussion Forums News Feed
Use Discussion Forum news feeds to keep track of additions and revisions to a selected Space's discussions. There are three locations from which to obtain discussion forums news feed URLs: the RSS Manager, the Discussions page, and the Discussion Forums task flow. All discussion RSS and Atom URLs provide the same feed; that is, additions and revisions to all discussions in a selected Space.
This section contains the following subsections:
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Section 68.2.2.1, "Obtaining a Discussion Forum News Feed from the RSS Manager"
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Section 68.2.2.2, "Obtaining a News Feed from the Discussions Page"
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Section 68.2.2.3, "Obtaining a News Feed from a Discussion Forums Task Flow"
68.2.2.1 Obtaining a Discussion Forum News Feed from the RSS Manager
The RSS Manager provides Discussion Forum news feeds for both RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 news readers. Select a feed from any news-feed-enabled Space of which you are a member. Use discussion forum news feeds to track additions and revisions to a selected Space's discussion forums.
To obtain a discussion forum news feed URL from the RSS Manager:
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Click the RSS link at the bottom of the WebCenter Spaces application (Figure 68-10).
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In RSS Manager, if required, expand the node of the Space that contains the discussions you want to use as a news feed.
You can expand a Space node by clicking the Expand icon to the left of it or by right-clicking the Space name and selecting an expand option from the resulting context menu.
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Right-click the RSS 2.0 or Atom 1.0 icon next to Discussions (Figure 68-11), and, from the resulting context menu, select the copy-link command.
For example, in the Firefox browser, the copy-link command is Copy Link Location. In the Internet Explorer browser, the copy-link command is Copy Shortcut.
Figure 68-11 RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 Icons Next to a Discussions Node in the RSS Manager
Description of "Figure 68-11 RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 Icons Next to a Discussions Node in the RSS Manager"
Alternatively, if you drag the RSS icon onto a news reader, you can skip most of the other steps. You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
-
Go to your news reader and initiate an add-subscription action.
How you do this depends on the news reader you use.
-
Paste the link you copied in step 3 into the relevant field in your preferred news reader.
You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
68.2.2.2 Obtaining a News Feed from the Discussions Page
The Discussions page provides a convenient location for grabbing a news feed URL while monitoring discussions.
To get an RSS URL for all discussions of a Space from the Discussions page:
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Go to the Space that contains the discussion forums you want to use as an RSS feed.
For information about navigating to a Space, see Section 29.3.1, "Opening Spaces." For information about showing hidden pages, see Section 29.3.4, "Showing Hidden Pages."
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Click Discussions on the navigation bar to open the Discussions page.
If the Discussions page is not available, open the Personalize Pages page and select Discussions. When the page appears on the navigation bar, click it to open it. For more information about locating and opening pages, see Section 29.3.2, "Opening Pages."
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Right-click the RSS icon on the Discussions page (Figure 68-12), and from the resulting context menu, select the copy-link command.
For example, in the Firefox browser, the copy-link command is Copy Link Location. In the Internet Explorer browser, the copy-link command is Copy Shortcut.
Figure 68-12 An RSS Icon on a Discussions Page
Description of "Figure 68-12 An RSS Icon on a Discussions Page"
Alternatively, if you drag the RSS icon onto your news reader, you can skip most of the other steps. You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
-
Go to your RSS reader and initiate an add-subscription action.
How you do this depends on the RSS reader you use.
-
Paste the link you copied in step 3 into the relevant field in your preferred RSS reader.
You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. To learn more, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
Note:
The news feed URL on the Discussions page is for RSS 2.0 news readers only. If you prefer to use an Atom 1.0 news reader, then do either of the following:-
Append
&format=ATOM1.0to the RSS news feed URL you pasted. -
Get the Atom 1.0 URL from the RSS Manager and use that URL here. For more information, see Section 68.2.2.1, "Obtaining a Discussion Forum News Feed from the RSS Manager."
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68.2.2.3 Obtaining a News Feed from a Discussion Forums Task Flow
The Discussion Forums task flow provides another location from where you can obtain a discussions news feed for a selected Space. The placement of this task flow within a Space is at the discretion of the Space's designers, so we cannot pinpoint where you may find this task flow. But, wherever you find it, an RSS icon is available to provide you with an RSS news feed URL. This section describes how to use it.
To obtain a news feed URL from a Discussion Forums task flow:
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Go to the page in the required Space that contains a Discussion Forums task flow.
For information about navigating to a Space, see Section 29.3.1, "Opening Spaces."
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Right-click the RSS icon on the task flow (Figure 68-13), and, from the resulting context menu, select the copy-link command.
For example, in the Firefox browser, the copy-link command is Copy Link Location. In the Internet Explorer browser, the copy-link command is Copy Shortcut.
Figure 68-13 An RSS Icon in a Discussion Forums Task Flow
Description of "Figure 68-13 An RSS Icon in a Discussion Forums Task Flow"
Alternatively, if you drag the RSS icon onto your news reader, you can skip most of the other steps. You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
-
Go to your RSS reader and initiate an add-subscription action.
How you do this depends on the RSS reader you use.
-
Paste the link you copied in step 2 into the relevant field in your preferred RSS reader.
Note:
The news feed URL in the Discussions task flow is for RSS 2.0 news readers only. If you prefer to use an Atom 1.0 news reader, do either of the following:-
Append
&format=ATOM1.0to the RSS news feed URL you pasted. -
Get the Atom 1.0 URL from the RSS Manager and use that URL here. For more information, see Section 68.2.2.1, "Obtaining a Discussion Forum News Feed from the RSS Manager."
You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
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68.2.3 Obtaining List News Feeds
Lists provide a vital form of tracking just about everything within an organization. For example, a group might want a membership list that outlines assigned roles and contact information. A project lead might set up a list that tracks issue resolution.
It follows that it would be useful to track creation of and revisions to such lists from one convenient location: your favorite news reader.
The Lists service provides two options for keeping track of changes through a news reader:
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Keep track of all recently added or modified lists in a given Space.
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Keep track of recently added or modified data rows in a given list.
You can obtain the news feed URL for lists from three locations: the RSS Manager, the Lists page, and any Lists task flow on a given page. The RSS Manager and the Lists page provide access to both types of Lists feeds. Individual List task flows provide feeds for data changes to the rows of the displayed list.
This section describes how to obtain a news feed for recently added or modified list rows or lists from a selected Space. It includes the following subsections:
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Section 68.2.3.1, "Obtaining a List News Feed from the RSS Manager"
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Section 68.2.3.2, "Obtaining a News Feed from the Lists Page"
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Section 68.2.3.3, "Obtaining a News Feed from a Lists Task Flow"
68.2.3.1 Obtaining a List News Feed from the RSS Manager
The RSS Manager provides two types of list news feeds: a feed of recently added or revised lists in a Space and a feed of recent data changes to the rows of one particular list. Additionally, the RSS Manager provides feeds for an RSS 2.0 reader and an Atom 1.0 reader. The main requirement for any news reader you use is that it supports HTTP authentication (for more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service").
To obtain a list news feed from the RSS Manager:
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Click the RSS button at the bottom of the WebCenter Spaces application (Figure 68-14).
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In the RSS Manager, expand the node for the Space that contains the lists from which to obtain an RSS feed.
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Right-click the RSS 2.0 or Atom 1.0 icon next to List Service to get RSS feeds for all lists in the Space (Figure 68-15). Then, from the resulting context menu, select the copy-link command.
For example, in the Firefox browser, the copy-link command is Copy Link Location. In the Internet Explorer browser, the copy-link command is Copy Shortcut.
Figure 68-15 The Lists Service Node on the RSS Manager Page
Description of "Figure 68-15 The Lists Service Node on the RSS Manager Page"
Alternatively, if you drag the news feed icon onto your reader you can skip most of the other steps. You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
-
Go to your RSS reader and initiate an add-subscription action.
How you do this depends on the RSS reader you use.
-
Paste the link you copied in step 3 into the relevant field in your preferred RSS reader.
You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
68.2.3.2 Obtaining a News Feed from the Lists Page
Each Space has its own Lists page from where you can access all the lists available in your Space. As you navigate through Space pages in your WebCenter Spaces application, you may come across a list you find particularly informative, for example, a list of project issues. It may be useful to you to track recent additions and revisions to such a list. Each list comes with its own RSS news feed, making it easy to subscribe to the list on-the-spot.
This section describes how to obtain news feed URLs from the Lists page. Note that the Lists page provides news feeds for RSS 2.0 readers only. If you want to obtain a feed for an Atom 1.0 news reader, use the RSS Manager.
To obtain a news feed from the Lists page:
-
Go to the Space that contains the list you want to track.
For information about navigating to a Space, see Section 29.3.1, "Opening Spaces."
-
Navigate to the Lists page and open the required list.
If the Lists page is not available, open the Personalize Pages page and select the Lists page for display. For more information, see Section 29.3, "Hiding, Opening, and Rearranging Pages."
-
Right-click the RSS icon (Figure 68-16), and from the resulting context menu, select the copy-link command.
For example, in the Firefox browser, the copy-link command is Copy Link Location. In the Internet Explorer browser, the copy-link command is Copy Shortcut.
Alternatively, if you drag the news feed icon onto your reader you can skip most of the other steps. You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
-
Go to your RSS reader and initiate an add-subscription action.
How you do this depends on the RSS reader you use.
-
Paste the link you copied in step 3 into the relevant field in your preferred RSS reader.
Note:
The news feed URL on the Lists page is for RSS 2.0 news readers only. If you prefer to use an Atom 1.0 news reader, do either of the following:-
Append
&format=ATOM1.0to the RSS news feed URL you pasted. -
Get the Atom 1.0 URL from the RSS Manager and use that URL here. For more information, see Section 68.2.3.1, "Obtaining a List News Feed from the RSS Manager."
You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
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68.2.3.3 Obtaining a News Feed from a Lists Task Flow
Each Lists task flow provides RSS news feeds for recent additions and revisions to all of the lists it contains and also for recent data changes to the rows of an individual list.
To obtain a news feed from a Lists task flow:
-
Go to the Space that contains the list you want to track.
For information about navigating to a Space, see Section 29.3.1, "Opening Spaces." For information about showing hidden pages, see Section 29.3.4, "Showing Hidden Pages."
-
To obtain a news feed of recently added and revised lists in a Space, right-click the RSS icon in the Lists pane on the left side of the Lists task flow (Figure 68-16), and select the copy-link command from the resulting context menu.
To obtain a news feed of data changes to the rows of an individual list, display the list in the right pane by selecting the list name from the left pane (Figure 68-16). Right-click the RSS icon in the right pane, and select the copy-link command from the resulting context menu.
For example, in the Firefox browser, the copy-link command is Copy Link Location. In the Internet Explorer browser, the copy-link command is Copy Shortcut.
Alternatively, if you drag the RSS icon onto your news reader you can skip most of the other steps. You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
-
Go to your RSS reader and initiate an add-subscription action.
How you do this depends on the RSS reader you use.
-
Paste the link you copied in step 2 into the relevant field in your preferred RSS reader.
Note:
The news feed URL in the List task flow is for RSS 2.0 news readers only. If you prefer to use an Atom 1.0 news reader, do either of the following:-
Append
&format=ATOM1.0to the RSS news feed URL you pasted. -
Get the Atom 1.0 URL from the RSS Manager and use that URL here. For more information, see Section 68.2.3.1, "Obtaining a List News Feed from the RSS Manager."
You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
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68.2.4 Obtaining the Announcements News Feed
Announcements are excellent candidates for news feeds. Usually they are short, concise, and full of timely and valuable information. If you are a member of multiple Spaces, it would be convenient to be able to access all announcements from one location: your favorite news reader.
You can obtain an announcement news feed from three locations: the RSS Manager, the Announcements page, and an Announcements task flow.
This section contains the following subsections:
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Section 68.2.4.1, "Obtaining an Announcements News Feed from the RSS Manager"
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Section 68.2.4.2, "Obtaining a News Feed from the Announcements Page"
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Section 68.2.4.3, "Obtaining a News Feed from the Announcements Task Flow"
68.2.4.1 Obtaining an Announcements News Feed from the RSS Manager
The RSS Manager provides two types of feeds for the Announcements service: RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0. Use either of these to keep track of all new and revised announcements in a particular Space.
To obtain an Announcements news feed from the RSS Manager:
-
Click the RSS link at the bottom of the WebCenter Spaces application (Figure 68-18).
-
In the RSS Manager, expand the node for the Space that contains the announcements you want to track through a news reader.
-
Right-click the RSS 2.0 or Atom 1.0 icon next to Announcements (Figure 68-15), and, from the resulting context menu, select the copy-link command.
For example, in the Firefox browser, the copy-link command is Copy Link Location. In the Internet Explorer browser, the copy-link command is Copy Shortcut.
Figure 68-19 Announcements Node on the RSS Page
Description of "Figure 68-19 Announcements Node on the RSS Page"
Alternatively, if you drag the news feed icon onto your reader, you can skip most of the other steps. You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
-
Go to your RSS reader and initiate an add-subscription action.
How you do this depends on the RSS reader you use.
-
Paste the link you copied in step 3 into the relevant field in your preferred RSS reader.
You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
68.2.4.2 Obtaining a News Feed from the Announcements Page
The Announcements service provides the Announcement Manager, which is exposed from the main Announcements page in the WebCenter Spaces application. You can use it to create and revise announcements and to obtain an announcements news feed URL.
Unlike the RSS Manager, the Announcement Manager provides a news feed only for RSS 2.0 news readers. If you prefer an Atom 1.0 feed, use the RSS Manager to obtain the feed URL. For more information, see Section 68.2.4.1, "Obtaining an Announcements News Feed from the RSS Manager."
To obtain a news feed from the Announcements page:
-
Open the Announcements page. For more information, see Section 29.3, "Hiding, Opening, and Rearranging Pages."
The Announcements page is available in every Space provided the Space is configured to display announcements. For information about enabling services in a Space, see Section 51.10.1, "Enabling and Disabling Services Available to a Space."
Note:
You can also access the Announcement Manager by clicking the Open Announcement Manager icon in the Announcements task flow. This icon is not displayed in the Announcements task flow if you do not have the required privileges. -
Right-click the RSS icon on the right on the Announcements page (Figure 68-20), and select the copy-link command from the resulting context menu.
For example, in the Firefox browser, the copy-link command is Copy Link Location. In the Internet Explorer browser, the copy-link command is Copy Shortcut.
Figure 68-20 The RSS Icon on the Announcements Page
Description of "Figure 68-20 The RSS Icon on the Announcements Page"
Alternatively, if you drag the news feed icon onto your reader you can skip most of the other steps. You may need to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
-
Go to your RSS reader and initiate an add-subscription action.
How you do this depends on the RSS reader you use.
-
Paste the link you copied in step 2 into the relevant field in your preferred RSS reader.
Note:
The news feed URL on the Announcements page is for RSS 2.0 news readers only. If you prefer to use an Atom 1.0 news reader, do either of the following:-
Append
&format=ATOM1.0to the RSS news feed URL you pasted. -
Get the Atom 1.0 URL from the RSS Manager and use that URL here. For more information, see Section 68.2.4.1, "Obtaining an Announcements News Feed from the RSS Manager."
You may require to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
-
68.2.4.3 Obtaining a News Feed from the Announcements Task Flow
The Announcements task flow also provides access to a news feed URL. Like the Announcements page, the task flow provides feeds only for RSS 2.0 news readers. If you prefer an Atom 1.0 feed, use the RSS Manager to obtain the feed URL. For more information, see Section 68.2.4.1, "Obtaining an Announcements News Feed from the RSS Manager."
To obtain a news feed from the Announcements task flow:
-
Go to the page that contains the Announcements task flow you want to view.
-
Right-click the RSS icon on the Announcements task flow (Figure 68-21), and select the copy-link command from the resulting context menu.
For example, in the Firefox browser, the copy-link command is Copy Link Location. In the Internet Explorer browser, the copy-link command is Copy Shortcut.
Figure 68-21 RSS Icon in the Announcements Task Flow
Description of "Figure 68-21 RSS Icon in the Announcements Task Flow"
Alternatively, if you drag the news feed icon onto your reader you can skip most of the other steps. You may require to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
-
Go to your RSS reader and initiate an add-subscription action.
How you do this depends on the RSS reader you use.
-
Paste the link you copied in step 2 into the relevant field in your preferred RSS reader.
Note:
The news feed URL in the Announcements task flow is for RSS 2.0 news readers only. If you prefer to use an Atom 1.0 news reader, do either of the following:-
Append
&format=ATOM1.0to the RSS news feed URL you pasted. -
Get the Atom 1.0 URL from the RSS Manager and use that URL here. For more information, see Section 68.2.4.1, "Obtaining an Announcements News Feed from the RSS Manager."
You may require to enter your WebCenter Spaces credentials. For more information, see Section 68.1, "What You Should Know About the RSS Service."
-
68.3 Working with the RSS Task Flow
The RSS task flow enables you to include an RSS viewer, which you can use to view content from external news feeds within your application page.
This section contains the following subsections:
68.3.1 Adding an RSS Service Task Flow to a Page
You can incorporate news feeds from external sources into your application pages by using the RSS task flow. You can add the RSS task flow from the Resource Catalog in Oracle Composer.
Each instance of the RSS viewer displays news feeds from one source. If you plan to display multiple external news feeds on a particular page, you can place multiple RSS task flows on that page.
To display content from an external RSS feed, proxies must be configured in your application. Contact your Spaces administrator if you have problems accessing external RSS feeds in your task flow.
WebCenter Spaces provide the ability to store and manage your login credentials by using external applications. After your credentials for a particular application are stored, you are logged in to that application automatically when you log on to your WebCenter application. So, if an external RSS news feed or WebCenter services feed requires your login credentials, when you get to the step where you specify the feed URL, you may have to also specify the name of the external application that is configured to store your login credentials for reading a secure RSS feed.
To add the RSS service task flow, you need to select the RSS service task flow from the Alerts and Updates folder in the Resource Catalog (Figure 68-22). The procedure to add the RSS task flow to a page is same as adding any other task flow. For information about the generic procedure, see Section 51.16.1, "Adding a Space Task Flow to a Page."
After adding the RSS task flow, you need to edit the task flow to specify the RSS feed location. For information, see Section 68.3.4, "Editing the Feed Location of an RSS Task Flow."
Figure 68-22 RSS Service Task Flow in the Resource Catalog
Description of "Figure 68-22 RSS Service Task Flow in the Resource Catalog"
68.3.2 Refreshing an RSS Task Flow
The RSS task flow, along with other page components, gets refreshed with every server request. However, as the content from news feeds may be dynamic, you have the option of refreshing the RSS task flow yourself by using the Refresh icon (Figure 68-23), when required.
Figure 68-23 The Refresh Icon on an RSS Task Flow
Description of "Figure 68-23 The Refresh Icon on an RSS Task Flow"
The task flow updates and displays latest data from the external source.
68.3.3 Deleting an RSS Task Flow From the Page
If you have the required privileges, you have the option to delete the RSS task flow from a page by using the Remove icon on the task flow (Figure 68-24) in Edit mode of the page.
Figure 68-24 Remove Icon on an RSS Task Flow
Description of "Figure 68-24 Remove Icon on an RSS Task Flow"
When you click the Remove icon, the Delete Component dialog displays. Click Delete in this dialog to delete the task flow from the page.
68.3.4 Editing the Feed Location of an RSS Task Flow
You can change the feed URL or the external application ID specified for an RSS task flow at any point of time.
To change the feed location of an RSS task flow:
-
Go to the web site that provides the RSS feed you want to view through the RSS viewer, and copy its RSS URL.
-
Log on to your WebCenter Spaces application, and go the page that contains the RSS task flow you want to modify.
-
Switch to the page's Edit mode.
-
Click the Edit icon on the header of the RSS task flow.
-
In the Component Properties dialog, click the Parameters tab, if not open already. (Figure 68-25).
Figure 68-25 Specifying the Feed Location in the RSS Task Flow
Description of "Figure 68-25 Specifying the Feed Location in the RSS Task Flow"
-
In the RSS Feed URL field, paste the URL that you copied in step 1.
For information about the RSS task flow parameters, see Section 68.4, "Setting RSS Service Task Flow Properties."
-
If the feed you want to publish requires authentication, in the External Application ID field, specify the name of the external application configured to store your login credentials for accessing that feed.
For information about external applications, see "Accessing External Applications".
-
Click Apply to save your changes and continue editing, or click OK to save your changes and close the dialog.
Content from the external feed you specified is displayed within the RSS task flow.
-
Click Save at the top-right corner of Oracle Composer to save your changes and remain in Oracle Composer.
-
Optionally, click Close to exit Oracle Composer.
68.4 Setting RSS Service Task Flow Properties
The RSS service task flow has associated properties, which users with sufficient privileges can access through the Component Properties dialog in Oracle Composer (Figure 68-26).
Figure 68-26 RSS Task Flow Component Properties
Description of "Figure 68-26 RSS Task Flow Component Properties"
For information about accessing the Component Properties dialog, see Section 17.5.2.3, "Setting Component Properties."
The following sections provide information about properties of the RSS service task flow and describe the properties on the Parameters tab:
68.4.1 What You Should Know About the RSS Service Task Flow Properties
The properties on the Parameters tab of the Component Properties dialog control the default task flow content. For descriptions of the parameters on this tab, see Section 68.4.2, "RSS Service Task Flow Parameters." For some task flows, parameters on this tab facilitate the wiring of the task flow to page parameters and page definition variables. For more information, see Chapter 19, "Wiring Pages, Task Flows, Portlets, and UI Components."
Changes to the properties on the Display Options, Style, and Content Style tabs affect the appearance and behavior of the task flow for all users. These properties are common to all task flows. For more information, see Section 17.5.2, "Setting Properties on Page Components."
The contents of the Events tab depend on the events supported by the task flow. For more information, see Section 17.5.2.8, "Working with Component Contextual Events."
All properties on the Parameters and Display Options tabs provide access to an Expression Language (EL) editor, which you can use to select or specify a variable value instead of a constant value. Click the Edit icon next to a property field to open the editor. For more information about using the editor and for descriptions of common EL expressions, see Appendix B, "Expression Language Expressions."
68.4.2 RSS Service Task Flow Parameters
Table 68-1 describes the parameters that are unique to the RSS task flow.
Table 68-1 RSS Service Task Flow Parameters
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
|
The name of the external application that is configured to store a user's login credentials for reading a secure RSS feed. If you are not sure whether there is an external application configured to store your credentials, contact your Spaces administrator. To contact the administrator, click the Administrator link at the bottom of the WebCenter Spaces application. |
|
|
The URL to access the RSS feed. For example, to use the Oracle Press Releases RSS feed, enter:
|