If you are one of those Internet users living in their RSS feed reader you might like Folder RSS. Folder RSS is a folder monitor that creates a valid RSS feed that can be accessed using any RSS reader. The feed will contain the changes made to specified folders. The software program is fully portable and script driven meaning that it is necessary to write a short batch script or run the software from the command line to create the valid RSS feed. It should also be noted that the feed will be updated locally which is not a problem for desktop feed readers. The use of feed readers like Google Reader on the other hand would require to input the IP of the local computer along with the path to the feed making sure that the remote feed reader is allowed to access the file on the local computer.
So how does Folder RSS work? A click on folder-rss.exe will explain the command line basics. It basically involves launching the same executable with a series of parameters that define what to watch and how to watch it. The basic command is folder-rss.exe [parameters] [folder to watch] [output file path]. The command folder-rss.exe c:\downloads c:\downloads.xml would create an RSS feed containing the latest changes to the c:\downloads directory. The RSS feed would be accessible by loading downloads.xml (or file://localhost/C:\download.xml)
Folder RSS comes with a set of optional parameters that can be used as filters. It is possible to to configure settings to monitor only files, folders or a specific file extension. It can also be used to change the maximum age of the files, the maximum amount of files that get displayed and to include Read only, Hidden or System files.
The RSS feed is not automatically updating itself. It has to be executed to update it. This can be done with a simple batch script that the user clicks on or that gets added to a task scheduler.
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8 Responses to “Monitor Folders By RSS”
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[...] Folder-RSS currently requires scheduling on your system, so you’ll need to specify how frequently you want it run using Windows Task Scheduler or an alternative scheduling application like the previously reviewed Freebyte. Folder-RSS is freeware, Windows only. Folder-RSS [via gHacks] [...]
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[...] like the previously reviewed Freebyte. Folder-RSS is freeware, Windows only. Folder-RSS [via gHacks] February 17th, 2009 in [...]
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[...] like the previously reviewed Freebyte. Folder-RSS is freeware, Windows only. Folder-RSS [via gHacks] February 18th, 2009 in [...]
Could be an extremely useful tool for me but sorry to say: the XML that I am getting from it is not well-formed.
Andreas just address the problem to the author over at the Donation Coder forum. They tend to reply in a matter of hours and provide solutions pretty quickly.
Don’t like to register just to post a comment. Anyway, http://validom.org/rss-atom says: ‘This document is not valid – Syntax error within XML declaration’.
Holy cow… I’d just been thinking I wanted something like this to track new media files through TVersity… Can it monitor sub-folders? I’ll check it out either way!
Interesting but not quite what I need. :)
I use self-made app in AutoIt to generate and publish feed with folder updates for friends (with http links to HFS).
HFS can generate own feeds (with some heavy tweaking) but they are limited comparing to separate solution.