janchor: README.html

Introduction

janchor was originally inspired by DJ Adam's headline Delivery service, as written in his series of Articles Fun With Jabber. A special thanks to DJ Adams for his excellent book "Programming Jabber". I highly recommend it for anyone interested in Jabber programming.

Obtaining:

janchor is available under the GNU General Public Licence. The most recent release is always up at http://janchor.jabberstudio.org/. CVS & Bug tracking are available at JabberStudio.

Installation:

Edit your jabber server's configuration to allow the headline component to connect to it. For example, in the <browse> section:

<headline type="rss" jid="headlines.myhost.com" name="Janchor headlines">
   <ns>jabber:iq:register</ns>
</headline>

Then add a <service> section:
<service id="rsslinker">
   <host>headlines.myhost.com</host>
   <accept>
      <ip>127.0.0.1</ip>
      <port>31515</port>
      <secret>hallo</secret>
   </accept>
</service>
Edit the top of the janchor.pl file to match your server's requirements.
Restart your jabber server if required, and start the rss component.

NOTE: Jabberd 1.4.2 and earlier will not store delivered messages for offline users. Jabberd 1.4.3 and forward changes this. A patch is also available for older jabberd's to change this behavior at: here. This is the same patch that was accepted for jabberd 1.4's CVS, so if you have any trouble, please tell me ASAP. Thanks.

Usage:

janchor comes with zero headline sources standard. You can add and remove headline sources via jabber:iq:register, typically available from most jabber client's "Agent Registration" interface. Instructions are available through that interface.
A list of sources I use can be found on my rss transport, by sending a jabber message to list@rss.rifetech.com.
For the moment, lists of available feeds can be obtained by sending a message to your component, or to any one of the feeds. A list will be returned in a reply message. It is hoped that this will eventually be replaced with a jabber:iq:browse interface.
Per-User subscription to headline sources is done simply by adding the requested feed to one's roster, through jabber's normal presence subscription mechanism. Likewise, removing the source & unsubscribing fro presence will result in a unsubscription from the headline source.

Bugs:

If you've got some suggestions, please file something against the Bugs database on my JabberStudio page, or email me if you have trouble with that.

TODO:

Per-source rss intervals (0.3.x)
i18n (This appears to be narrowed down to a Net::Jabber problem. Theoretically janchor is already doing this right, and once a Net::Jabber fix comes down, everything will just fall into place. Theoretically. :) )
iq:browse/disco/agents support (0.4.0)
Seperation of component config from janchor.pl (0.4.?)
Vcard support? (Not sure how to do with Net::Jabber) (0.4.?)
ACL for addition & removal of headline sources (0.4.?)
Some kind of per-source ACL? (0.5.?)
Support for headline message input and rebroadcasting in addition to simple RSS output. (0.4.? 0.5.?)
The more we can get a few typical RSS sources to start broadcasting their headlines via jabber instead of RSS, the closer we get to elimating PULL headlines from this equation entirely.
Replace the MLDBM db implementation with a xdb. (anyone familiar with xdb usage with Net::Jabber care to give me a pointer or suggestion here?) (0.6+ ?)

Contact:

If you have any comments or suggestions regarding janchor, please feel free to contact me via jabber or email, at atrus@rifetech.com.