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Subscriptions

Channel Definition Format


Subscriptions

An important part of efficient information delivery is providing a mechanism to automatically select and schedule downloads of information. Users who frequently visit the same Web sites can subscribe to the site, which enables their computer to periodically download Web pages that have changed. This enables users to see what has changed on the Web site without actually visiting the site. Once subscribed, users are notified on a periodic basis through a number of user-selected methods ranging from e-mail notification to a new taskbar notification.

Key Features of Subscriptions

  • Receiving new content. Each time a user adds a favorite, they can subscribe to the site or page, and then Internet Explorer will download the page to the cache based on scheduling preference and notify the user of the changes. Once the subscribed site or page is received, users can disconnect from the Internet and still view and work with the data.

  • Scheduling site downloads. Users can choose when they want the computer to retrieve the information that they have subscribed to. Users have numerous choices such as daily, weekly or custom, or they can choose to manually request an update.

  • Notification of new content. When subscribing, users have a number of options concerning how they would like to be notified of the content changes on the site.

What are the Benefits of Subscriptions?

Subscriptions improve a user’s ability to stay in touch with current Web site information and be able to take the information on the road with them. The following examples demonstrate these key benefits.

  • Improving the ability to stay current with Web site changes. A user who regularly views ten key Web sites every day must open the browser, visit each site, and then scan numerous pages to see what has been updated. With Smart Favorites, Internet Explorer 4.0 polls the site in the background (by using a technology called WebCheck), looks at the tags, and then notifies the user of the changes.

  • Take the Web on the road (mobile Web computing). Lets say that every day you ride the train to work and you enjoy reading a newspaper. With Subscriptions, you can simply subscribe to an online newspaper, schedule it to update while you are getting ready for work, and then read the news on the train. This is also extremely beneficial to people who fly; they can subscribe numerous Web sites and, then completely browse the subscribed Web sites in the air!

  • Optimizing connect time. Today, most people have something specific to do when they connect to the Internet. It is very easy to get sidetracked, however, with the ever-present links to multiple sites. Using subscriptions in conjunction with the scheduling capabilities in Internet Explorer 4.0, a user can select the sites they are interested in, connect to the Web, download the sites, and then disconnect from the Internet and read all the information later. This saves valuable connect time.

How do Subscriptions Work?

Receive

First, any site that is in the Favorites list is grouped into the Smart Favorites category. Internet Explorer will automatically look at those sites and alert you when they have been updated. Subscriptions go further in that they download a custom amount of information into the user’s cache. In the Add to Favorites dialog box, there is a new checkbox enabling users to subscribe to their favorite sites.


Adding a Subscription is Just Like Adding a Favorite


After subscribing to a site, users have different delivery options for downloading varying levels of Web pages from the site. Users can also control the amount of download time and disk space used by each subscription. All subscription information is kept in a new Subscriptions folder created by Internet Explorer 4.0, which makes it easy to find out when sites have been last checked or downloaded.


A Red Gleam Marks Subscriptions with New Content


Schedule

Users can schedule when to have information downloaded to their computer, such as daily, weekly or a custom time. Users can also manually request a download.


Scheduling a Subscription Update


Notification

Users have the following choices on how they are notified of changes on the site they subscribe to:

  • Show notification icon on the taskbar. This will enable a subscription task icon on the taskbar and when the site is updates, a red gleam appears over the icon as shown in Figure 24. Sites that have been updated appear on the menu when the user clicks the subscription task on the taskbar. Users have the option to update their subscriptions and set global subscription properties from this menu.


Taskbar Icon Notification and Menu


  • Send notification through Outlook Express. This option results in an e-mail message notifying the user when a subscribed site is updated. The message also includes a link to that site. In Beta 2, with enhanced e-mail clients that support rich MIME HTML, Internet Explorer sends the entire updated Web page as an e-mail message. The link takes you to the Internet, and you can receive this information directly inside your e-mail client. With Internet Explorer, you can subscribe to any site in the world and receive these rich e-mail messages; you’re not limited to any specific set of vendors.

  • Favorites notification: On the Favorites menu, there is a red gleam next to each subscribed site that has been updated. As shown in the following figure, a user can point to the site to see a brief description of the site changes.


Properties Reveal New Content and Tooltips Show the Updated Properties


Channel Definition Format

To give Web authors a means for optimizing the delivery of content to millions of Internet users, Microsoft has developed and submitted the industry's first Channel Definition Format (CDF) for push technology to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). CDF is an open and easily authored format for the publishing of Web-standard channels that will allow Web publishers to optimize the broadcast of their content, streamlining the delivery of information from Web servers to users.

Internet Explorer 4.0--which will automatically enable any Web site to be a Web broadcaster--will implement CDF, optimizing the delivery of push content to the millions of users of Microsoft Internet Explorer. The CDF specification is now available.

Microsoft's CDF submission has garnered broad support from more than 30 content providers, ISVs and Internet solution providers. The benefits that CDF offers developers include the following:

  • Open format. Any company can author content to take advantage of CDF, any server can run Web sites that are enhanced by CDF, and any broadcast-enabled client software can access channels available on Web sites using CDF.
  • Proven technology. Microsoft's leadership in Internet client/server solutions and extensive work with leading Web content and technology developers will ensure that CDF will meet demanding market requirements.
  • Low cost. The CDF specification will save content development costs by allowing Web content developers easy access to a market of millions of compatible clients, using readily available software.
  • Use of compelling Internet technologies. CDF is extensible, enabling sites to publish channels utilizing any or all of simple HTML, Dynamic HTML, ActiveXÖ technologies and other specialized broadcast technologies.
For Internet users, the above benefits of CDF mean rich content broadcast seamlessly to their desktops. For Web publishers, the open and easily implemented content specification dramatically reduces costs and makes entry-level channel publishing possible with a standard Web server such as Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS).


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Last updated: Tuesday, April 29, 1997