Specification

September 25th, 2007

Please refer to the following pages for information regarding the process of extending RSS:

RSSOFX namespace and elements

The proper method for extending RSS to include additional elements to scope the new elements within a namespace (this article does a good job of explaining why). The RSSOFX namespace is quite expectedly called rssofx, with the full path being http://www.rssofx.com). The RSSOFX namespace is declared as part of the rss root element of the RSS XML document:

  • <rss version=”2.0″ xmlns:rssofx=”http://www.rssofx.com”>

RSSOFX currently defines 7 additional elements as children of the existing rss item element:

  • accountName: the name of the account (like primary credit card)
  • accountType: the type of the account (like checking, savings, credit, debit)
  • accountInstitution: the institution (like American Express)
  • accountBalance: the balance of the account (after this transaction, negative if you owe)
  • transactionAmount: the amount of this transaction (debits are negative)
  • transactionDescription: the description of this transaction
  • transactionCategory: the category of this transaction (like groceries, dining out)

Example Documents

Example RSS document without RSSOFX extensions:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
  <channel>
    <description>American Express Transaction History</description>
    <link>http://www.financial-company-site.com</link>
    <ttl>30</ttl>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <item>
      <title>$-26.44 - HEB GROCERY #096 AUSTIN - 2 days ago</title>
      <description></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://www.financial-company-site.com/?uuid=unique_transaction_id</link>
      <guid>unique_transaction_id</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>$-4.18 - MCDONALDS F14122 00AUSTIN - 2 days ago</title>
      <description></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://www.financial-company-site.com/?uuid=unique_transaction_id</link>
      <guid>unique_transaction_id</guid>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

Example RSS document with RSSOFX extensions (note the addition of the rssofx namespace in the rss root element, and the rssofx elements inside the item element):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:rssofx="http://www.rssofx.com">
  <channel>
    <description>AMEX Transaction Historys </description>
    <link>http://www.financial-company-site.com</link>
    <ttl>30</ttl>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <item>
      <title>$-26.44 - HEB GROCERY #096 AUSTIN - 2 days ago</title>
      <description></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://www.financial-company-site.com/?uuid=unique_transaction_id</link>
      <guid>unique_transaction_id</guid>
      <rssofx:accountName>primary credit<rssofx:accountName>
      <rssofx:accountType>credit<rssofx:accountType>
      <rssofx:accountInstitution>American Express<rssofx:accountInstitution>
      <rssofx:accountBalance>-1048.92<rssofx:accountBalance>
      <rssofx:transactionAmount>-26.44<rssofx:transactionAmount>
      <rssofx:transactionDescription>HEB GROCERY #096 AUSTIN<rssofx:transactionDescription>
      <rssofx:transactionCategory>Groceries<rssofx:transactionCategory>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>$-4.18 - MCDONALDS F14122 00AUSTIN - 2 days ago</title>
      <description></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://www.financial-company-site.com/?uuid=unique_transaction_id</link>
      <guid>unique_transaction_id</guid>
      <rssofx:accountName>primary credit<rssofx:accountName>
      <rssofx:accountType>credit<rssofx:accountType>
      <rssofx:accountInstitution>American Express<rssofx:accountInstitution>
      <rssofx:accountBalance>-1022.48<rssofx:accountBalance>
      <rssofx:transactionAmount>-4.18<rssofx:transactionAmount>
      <rssofx:transactionDescription>MCDONALDS F14122 00AUSTIN<rssofx:transactionDescription>
      <rssofx:transactionCategory>Dining Out<rssofx:transactionCategory>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

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