Channel Definition Format

Channel Definition Format (CDF) is an XML standard used in conjunction with Microsoft Active Channel and Smart Offline Favorites technologies. Its use is to define a website s content and structure. The standard is somewhat similar to the RSS (protocol) standard introduced by Netscape Communications Corporation several years after CDF was introduced in 1997. The standard and Active Channel were introduced with the launch of Internet Explorer 4.0, while Smart Offline Favorites was introduced with the launch of version 5.0.

Active Channel allows websites to be listed and web syndication with the end-users desktop. Smart Offline Favorites, like channels, enable users to view webpages from the cache.

However, unlike RSS, the idea of Active Channel was not widely accepted and its use is very limited.

= Example =

A generic CDF file:

Title of your Channel Synopsis of your channel s contents. Page Two s Title Synopsis of Page Two s contents.

=See also=

*Semantic Web *List of content syndication markup languages *Comparison of content syndication markup languages

= External links =

*[http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/delivery/channel/overview/overview.asp Introduction to Active Channel Technology] *[http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/delivery/cdf/tutorials/generic.asp How to Create Channel Definition Format (CDF) Files] *[http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-CDFsubmit.html 1997 W3 Submission of Channel Definition Format]