Parse Method  
 

Open the specified news feed and select the first news item.

Syntax

object.Parse( FeedXml, [Options] )

Parameters

FeedXml
A string value which contains the contents of the news feed to be parsed.
Options
An optional numeric parameter that specifies one or more options when opening the news feed. This parameter is constructed by using a bitwise operator with any of the following values:
Value Constant Description
0 rssOptionNone No additional options are specified and the news feed is processed using relaxed rules when checking the validity of the feed. The control will attempt to automatically compensate for a feed that is malformed or does not strictly conform to the RSS standard. This is the default value if the Options parameter is omitted.
1 rssOptionStrict The news feed content should be processed using strict rules to ensure that the feed meets the appropriate RSS standard specification and all feed property values are case-sensitive. By default, relaxed rules are used which allows the application to open a feed that may not strictly conform to the standard specification.

Return Value

A value of zero is returned if the string contains a valid RSS feed and the contents were successfully parsed. Otherwise, a non-zero error code is returned which indicates the cause of the failure. If the method fails, the value of the LastError property can be used to determine cause of the failure.

Remarks

The Parse method is an alternative to the Open method, enabling the application to process a news feed from alternative sources such as a database or compressed file. It is important to note that the string which contains the news feed XML must be properly formatted and conform to the RSS standard specification.

Example

The following example opens a local file that contains a news feed, stores the contents in a string variable and parses the contents. A ListBox control is populated with the title of each news item in the feed. Note that this example was written to demonstrate the use of the Parse method, however the Open method can also be used to open a local file and requires less code.

Dim hFile As Long
Dim strFileName As String
Dim strFeedXml As String
Dim nIndex As Long
Dim nError As Long
    
strFileName = "newsfeed.xml"
    
hFile = FreeFile()
Open strFileName For Input As #hFile
strFeedXml = Input(LOF(hFile), #hFile)
Close #hFile

nError = NewsFeed1.Parse(strFeedXml)
If nError > 0 Then
    MsgBox NewsFeed1.LastErrorString, vbExclamation
    Exit Sub
End If
    
ListBox1.Clear
Label1.Caption = NewsFeed1.ItemCount & " news items, published on " & NewsFeed1.Published
    
For nIndex = 1 To NewsFeed1.ItemCount
    nError = NewsFeed1.GetItem(nIndex)
    If nError > 0 Then
        MsgBox NewsFeed1.LastErrorString, vbExclamation
        Exit For
    End If
    ListBox1.AddItem NewsFeed1.ItemTitle
Next

See Also

Close Method, GetItem Method, Open Method, Store Method