fast-feed

fast-feed

Node.JS module for parsing newsfeeds (RSS 2 and Atom). It should be one of the fastest feed parsers. Uses RapidXML.

Usage

Without callback (throws exception):

var fastFeed = require('fast-feed');
fastFeed.parse(xml_string);

With callback:

var fastFeed = require('fast-feed');
fastFeed.parse(xml_string, function(err, feed) {
    if (err) throw err;
    console.log(feed);
});

Do not parse content/description:

var fastFeed = require('fast-feed');
fastFeed.parse(xml_string, { content: false });

Or:

var fastFeed = require('fast-feed');
fastFeed.parse(xml_string, { content: false }, function(err, feed) {
    if (err) throw err;
    console.log(feed);
});

Extracted feed attributes

For Atom feeds:

{
    type: "atom",
    title: String,
    id: String,
    link: String,
    author: String,
    author_uri: String,
    author_email: String,
    items: [{
        id: String,
        title: String,
        date: Date,
        author: String,
        author_uri: String,
        author_email: String,
        summary: String,
        content: String,
        links: [{
            rel: String,
            href: String,
            type: String,
            hreflang: String,
            title: String,
            length: String,
            text: String
        }],
        link: String
    }]
}

Any attribute besides type might be missing. summary and content are missing when the content: false option is used.

For RSS 2 feeds:

{
    type: "rss",
    title: String,
    description: String,
    link: String,
    author: String,
    items: [{
        id: String,
        link: String,
        date: Date,
        title: String,
        author: String,
        description: String
    }]
}

Any attribute besides type might be missing. description is missing from items when the content: false option is used.

Supported Node/io.js versions

This package uses Nan and has been tested (install+running tests) on:

• io.js 1.5.1
• node 0.10.24
• node 0.12.0

Running tests

Install dependencies:

npm install

Build the addon:

node-gyp configure build

Run tests (requires mocha globally installed):

make test

Testing leaks

Leak testing uses assumption that RSS (not the feed but memory) set grows slowly. If it grows fast then the extension (or something else) leaks.

Good

RSS grows slowly:

$ make test-leak
node --gc_global tests-leak/cdata.js
{ rss: 12419072, heapTotal: 6163968, heapUsed: 2259008 }
{ rss: 12955648, heapTotal: 6163968, heapUsed: 2392424 }
{ rss: 12955648, heapTotal: 6163968, heapUsed: 2257952 }
{ rss: 12955648, heapTotal: 6163968, heapUsed: 2118152 }
{ rss: 14901248, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 1976096 }
{ rss: 14901248, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3899040 }
{ rss: 14901248, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3755944 }
{ rss: 14901248, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3614592 }
{ rss: 14901248, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3473584 }
{ rss: 14901248, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3331376 }
{ rss: 14901248, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3188704 }
{ rss: 14901248, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3048720 }
{ rss: 14901248, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 2905936 }
{ rss: 14901248, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 2764424 }
{ rss: 14901248, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 2623784 }
{ rss: 14901248, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 2481888 }
{ rss: 14901248, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 2340056 }

Bad

RSS grows rapidly:

$ make test-leak
node --gc_global tests-leak/cdata.js
{ rss: 79446016, heapTotal: 6163968, heapUsed: 2259008 }
{ rss: 146755584, heapTotal: 6163968, heapUsed: 2392424 }
{ rss: 213798912, heapTotal: 6163968, heapUsed: 2257952 }
{ rss: 281112576, heapTotal: 6163968, heapUsed: 2118152 }
{ rss: 349970432, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 1976096 }
{ rss: 417284096, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3899040 }
{ rss: 484597760, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3755944 }
{ rss: 551641088, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3614592 }
{ rss: 618954752, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3473584 }
{ rss: 685998080, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3331376 }
{ rss: 753311744, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3188704 }
{ rss: 820625408, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 3048720 }
{ rss: 887668736, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 2905936 }
{ rss: 954982400, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 2764424 }
{ rss: 1022025728, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 2623784 }
{ rss: 1089339392, heapTotal: 8261120, heapUsed: 2481888 }

License

The binding code is covered with the MIT license. RapidXML is dual-licensed (MIT and Boost Software License, see LICENSE.rapidxml).