RSS Feed Reader Template for Ignition

I recently developed an RSS reader called "News Reader" for Ignition. If you would like to display news or information from a website or blog in an Ignition project, this is for you.

The News Reader is a template that can be added to Ignition windows to display Internet feeds.

The News Reader is pretty capable. It uses the Universal Feed Parser Python module to parse feeds. It can handle 11 different feed formats.

A News Reader template instance has the following properties for configuring what feed to display and how to display it:

1. FeedURL - This property contains the URL that will be used to fetch a feed. Change the value of this parameter to the URL of the feed you want to display.
   
2. PollRate - This property specifies (in minutes) how frequently the feed should be fetched. By default the PollRate is 60, which means that the feed will be retrieved every 60 minutes.
   
3. MaxItems - This property specifies how many items to display from the feed. By default this value is -1, which means all feed items will be displayed.
4. MaxSummaryLength - This property specifies how long in characters the display of each item summary should be. If a summary is longer then the MaxSummaryLength then it will be cut off. By default this value is -1 which means the full summary of each item is displayed.
5. ShowAuthors - If this property is set to true then the names of the authors of the feed items will be displayed if the information exists in the feed.
6. ShowPublishedDates - If this property is set to true then the dates that the items were published will be displayed if the information exists in the feed.
7. StripHTML - If this property is set to true then any HTML in item summaries will be stripped out.
8. DefaultFontSize - This property specifies the default font size to use for displaying feed items. HTML in feed item summaries may change the default font size if HTML is not stripped.
9. StripImages - If this property is set to true then any images in feed item summaries will be stripped out.

Here's a screenshot of two News Reader template instances on an Ignition window. Both template instances are displaying the feed for the Computing Without Boundries blog, but they are configured to display the feed differently. The template instance on the left has StripHTML set to false and MaxSummaryLength set to -1. The template instance on the right has StripHTML set to true and MaxSummaryLength set to 150.

Caching

The News Reader template has caching functionality to prevent fetching feeds unnecessarily. A News Reader template instance will fetch and cache a feed the first time the window it is in is opened. When the window is closed and then reopened later the cached version of the feed will be used unless the pollRate time has been exceeded.

Changing a value of one of the template instance properties (except pollRate) will invalidate the cache and cause a feed to be re-fetched.

License

You are free to use and modify the News Reader template. All I ask is that you sign up for my email mailing list if you haven't already. The News Reader template is licensed under the BSD 2-Clause License.

Requirements, Download & Installation

The News Reader template requires Ignition 7.7. It won't work in earlier versions of Ignition.

Client computers that run News Reader template instances need access to the Internet or local servers that host the feeds that are retrieved.

The News Reader template can be downloaded by clicking this link.

The News Reader template also exists in Inductive Automation's public template cloud repository in the Misc category.

Installation is simple. Import the template into a project using the import functionality in the Ignition designer. Once imported, drag the template into any window you want it in. The News Reader template is a template like any other template. Once an instance of the template is on a window it can be configured by changing the values of the Template Properties.

Help

If you have any questions, issues or suggestions about the News Reader template then leave a comment or contact me.

Video

This video shows how to configure and use the News Reader template in Ignition. It is best viewed in Full screen mode.