Channel Definition Format
{{Short description|XML file format}}
{{other uses of|CDF}}
Channel Definition Format (CDF) was an XML file format formerly used in conjunction with Microsoft's Active Channel, Active Desktop and Smart Offline Favorites technologies. The format was designed to "offer frequently updated collections of information, or channels, from any web server for automatic delivery to compatible receiver programs."{{Cite web| last = Ellerman| first = Castedo| title = Channel Definition Format Submission 970309| work = W3.org| accessdate = 2011-07-08| date = 1997-03-10| url = http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-CDFsubmit.html}} Active Channel allowed users to subscribe to channels and have scheduled updates delivered to their desktop. Smart Offline Favorites, like channels, enabled users to view webpages from the cache.
History
Submitted to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in March 1997 for consideration as a web standard,{{Cite web|title=Microsoft Leads Industry to Standardize on Formats for Internet Push Channels; Submits Channel Definition Format Specification to W3C |work=Microsoft |accessdate=2014-09-13 |date=1997-03-12 |url=http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/1997/mar97/cdfrpr.aspx |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913171719/http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/1997/mar97/cdfrpr.aspx |archivedate=September 13, 2014 }} CDF marked Microsoft's attempt to capitalize on the push technology trend led by PointCast.{{Cite magazine|volume=5 |issue=3 |last=Kelly |first=Kevin |author2=Gary Wolf |title=Push! |magazine=Wired |accessdate=2014-09-13 |date=March 1997 |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.03/ff_push_pr.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19991013012158/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.03/ff_push_pr.html |archivedate=October 13, 1999 }} The most notable implementation of CDF was Microsoft's Active Desktop, an optional feature introduced with the Internet Explorer 4.0 browser in September 1997.{{Cite news |last=Lash |first=Alex |title=New Explorer finally here |work=CNET News |accessdate=2015-12-29 |date=1997-10-01 |url=http://www.news.com/SpecialFeatures/0,5,14723,00.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19990116221408/http://www.news.com/SpecialFeatures/0%2C5%2C14723%2C00.html |archivedate=January 16, 1999 }}{{Cite news| issue = 757| pages = 315| last = Glascock| first = Stuart| title = IE 4.0 finally ships, to be built into future OS versions| work = Computer Reseller News| date = 1997-10-06}} Smart Offline Favorites was introduced in Internet Explorer 5.0.
CDF prefigured aspects of the RSS file format introduced by Netscape in March 1999,{{Cite book| publisher = O’Reilly| pages = [https://archive.org/details/developingfeedsw0000hamm/page/2 2]–11| last = Hammersley| first = Ben| title = Developing Feeds with RSS and Atom| url = https://archive.org/details/developingfeedsw0000hamm| url-access = registration| chapter = A short history of RSS and Atom| location = Sebastopol| date = 2005| isbn = 9780596008819}} and of web syndication at large. Unlike RSS, CDF was never widely adopted and its use remained very limited. As a consequence, Microsoft removed CDF support from Internet Explorer 7 in 2006.{{Cite news |title=CDF Reference |work=Microsoft |accessdate=2016-02-20 |date=2010 |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa768137(v=vs.85).aspx |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226233037/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa768137%28v%3Dvs.85%29.aspx |archivedate=December 26, 2010 }}
Example
A generic CDF file:
BASE="http://domain/folder/" LASTMOD="1998-11-05T22:12" PRECACHE="YES" LEVEL="0">
LASTMOD="1998-11-05T22:12" PRECACHE="YES" LEVEL="1">
See also
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/internet-explorer/ie-developer/platform-apis/aa768023(v=vs.85) Introduction to Active Channel Technology]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20131011020101/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/174055 How to Create Channel Definition Format (CDF) Files]
- [https://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-CDFsubmit.html 1997 W3 Submission of Channel Definition Format]
{{Internet Explorer}}
Category:Windows communication and services