Announcing xe and PyFeed, for XML and syndication feeds

[Steve R. Hastings]

xe.py is a Python module to make it very easy to work with XML. I have
attempted to make xe classes very Pythonic and intuitive. xe is intended
for working with structured XML, such as syndication feed files, but I
have added some support for unstructured XML as well.

Example:

import xe
bird = xe.TextElement("bird")
bird.attrs["type"] = "Norwegian Blue"
bird.text = "just resting"
print bird

cheese = xe.TextElement("cheese")
cheese.text = "a bit runny"
examples = xe.NestElement("examples")
examples.bird = bird
examples.cheese = cheese
print examples

<examples>
<bird type="Norwegian Blue">just resting</bird>
<cheese>a bit runny</cheese>
</examples>


PyFeed is a Python module package set with modules for working with
syndication feeds. These modules use the xe classes. PyFeed currently
includes modules for working with Atom feeds, RSS 2.0 feeds, OPML 1.0
files, and OPML files.

Example:

import feed.rss
channel = feed.rss.Channel()
lst_errors = []
channel.import_xml("http://www.planetpython.org/rss20.xml", lst_errors)

print len(lst_errors) or "No errors!" No errors!
print channel.title

print len(channel.items) 45
print channel.items[0].title.text Mike Fletcher: Minor TwistedSNMP release is up
item = channel.items[0]
print item.pub_date.text Thu, 23 Mar 2006 15:45:31 -0800
# note that the date printed with "-0800", my time zone ....
item.pub_date.update()

print item.pub_date

item.pub_date = "not a valid timestamp"

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
File "/usr/local/lib/python/xe.py", line 1327, in __setattr__
o.direct(value)
File "/usr/local/lib/python/xe.py", line 1148, in direct
raise ValueError, "value must be a valid timestamp string"
ValueError: value must be a valid timestamp string1136102483.0



If there is any interest in these modules, I'll probably put them on
Sourceforge.net and on the Cheese Shop someday. For now, they live on my
personal web space:

http://www.blarg.net/~steveha/xe.html

http://www.blarg.net/~steveha/pyfeed.html


I look forward to any feedback.