RSS Feeds with URL parameters

In another article we explained how Tabulizer can be used as a powerful RSS feed reader. In this article we will show how to use user parameters, for the purpose of customizing the RSS feed URL. As a result, with a single data source we will be able to read multiple feeds that vary only in a few parameters. The ideal example for that is the RSS feed from weather.com which gives localized weather information.

We recommend reading the tutorial about the data sources parameters, to understand better how this example works.

OK, below is the weather information for the New York metropolitan area. Try to click on other areas to see how the weather information will be updated to match the selected area when the page is reloaded. The only thing we had to do is to use a single URL user parameter, which when is present it will affect the RSS feed URL and consequently the provided weather information.

Invalid data source. Please correct the following errors:
  • The data source tag/idis missing or it is invalid
OK, click on the following areas to update the weather information table.
The RSS feed URL is http://wxdata.weather.com/wxdata/weather/rss/local/{user_param_1:cmd}?cm_ven=LWO&cm_cat=rss where {user_param_1:cmd} will be replaced by the default value of USNY0996 that corresponds to New York, unless a URL parameter similar to data_source_user_params=1%3AUSNY0996 is provided, in which case it will overwrite the default value for user_param_1.