Channel Definition Format

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p>Submitted to the <a href="/facts/World_Wide_Web_Consortium/lGWmhF6M">World Wide Web Consortium</a> (W3C) in March 1997 for consideration as a <a href="/facts/Web_standards/3U9MLjD1">web standard</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> CDF marked Microsoft's attempt to capitalize on the <a href="/facts/Push_technology/KoRjtGET">push technology</a> trend led by <a href="/facts/PointCast_(dotcom)/Kpf6suSX">PointCast</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> The most notable implementation of CDF was Microsoft's <a href="/facts/Active_Desktop/AgIXTMQs">Active Desktop</a>, an optional feature introduced with the <a href="/facts/Internet_Explorer_4/ztoV77jR">Internet Explorer 4.0</a> browser in September 1997.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Smart Offline Favorites was introduced in <a href="/facts/Internet_Explorer_5.0/HaSYzQEg">Internet Explorer 5.0</a>.
</p><p>CDF prefigured aspects of the <a href="/facts/RSS_(file_format)/WBAWrkdj">RSS</a> file format introduced by <a href="/facts/Netscape_Communications_Corporation/JGWlEUI7">Netscape</a> in March 1999,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> and of <a href="/facts/History_of_web_syndication_technology/XeYqWGnz"> web syndication</a> at large. Unlike RSS, CDF was never widely adopted and its use remained very limited. As a consequence, Microsoft removed CDF support from <a href="/facts/Internet_Explorer_7/P5FLswaN">Internet Explorer 7</a> in 2006.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="example">Example</h2>
<p>A generic CDF file:
</p>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<CHANNEL HREF="http://domain/folder/pageOne.extension"
  BASE="http://domain/folder/"
  LASTMOD="1998-11-05T22:12"
  PRECACHE="YES"
  LEVEL="0">
    <TITLE>Title of Channel</TITLE>
    <ABSTRACT>Synopsis of channel's contents.</ABSTRACT>
    <SCHEDULE>
      <INTERVALTIME DAY="14"/>
    </SCHEDULE>
    <LOGO HREF="wideChannelLogo.gif" STYLE="IMAGE-WIDE"/>
    <LOGO HREF="imageChannelLogo.gif" STYLE="IMAGE"/>
    <LOGO HREF="iconChannelLogo.gif" STYLE="ICON"/>
    <ITEM HREF="pageTwo.extension"
      LASTMOD="1998-11-05T22:12"
      PRECACHE="YES"
      LEVEL="1">
        <TITLE>Page Two's Title</TITLE>
        <ABSTRACT>Synopsis of Page Two's contents.</ABSTRACT>
        <LOGO HREF="pageTwoLogo.gif" STYLE="IMAGE"/>
        <LOGO HREF="pageTwoLogo.gif" STYLE="ICON"/>
    </ITEM>
</CHANNEL>

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Active_Channel/0dQVY7nT">Active Channel</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Active_Desktop/AgIXTMQs">Active Desktop</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Push_technology/KoRjtGET">Push technology</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Semantic_Web/NFHo9dB7">Semantic Web</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_content_syndication_markup_languages/3kfk5tIA">List of content syndication markup languages</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/History_of_web_syndication_technology/XeYqWGnz">History of web syndication technology</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/internet-explorer/ie-developer/platform-apis/aa768023(v=vs.85)">Introduction to Active Channel Technology</a></li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131011020101/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/174055">How to Create Channel Definition Format (CDF) Files</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-CDFsubmit.html">1997 W3 Submission of Channel Definition Format</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Ellerman, Castedo (1997-03-10). "Channel Definition Format Submission 970309". W3.org. Retrieved 2011-07-08. <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-CDFsubmit.html" target="_blank">http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-CDFsubmit.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"Microsoft Leads Industry to Standardize on Formats for Internet Push Channels; Submits Channel Definition Format Specification to W3C". Microsoft. 1997-03-12. Archived from the original on September 13, 2014. Retrieved 2014-09-13. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140913171719/http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/1997/mar97/cdfrpr.aspx" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20140913171719/http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/1997/mar97/cdfrpr.aspx</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Kelly, Kevin; Gary Wolf (March 1997). "Push!". Wired. Vol. 5, no. 3. Archived from the original on October 13, 1999. Retrieved 2014-09-13. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19991013012158/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.03/ff_push_pr.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/19991013012158/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.03/ff_push_pr.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Lash, Alex (1997-10-01). "New Explorer finally here". CNET News. Archived from the original on January 16, 1999. Retrieved 2015-12-29. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19990116221408/http://www.news.com/SpecialFeatures/0%2C5%2C14723%2C00.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/19990116221408/http://www.news.com/SpecialFeatures/0%2C5%2C14723%2C00.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Glascock, Stuart (1997-10-06). "IE 4.0 finally ships, to be built into future OS versions". Computer Reseller News. No. 757. p. 315. <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>Hammersley, Ben (2005). "A short history of RSS and Atom". Developing Feeds with RSS and Atom. Sebastopol: O’Reilly. pp. 2–11. ISBN 9780596008819. <a href="9780596008819" target="_blank">9780596008819</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>"CDF Reference". Microsoft. 2010. Archived from the original on December 26, 2010. Retrieved 2016-02-20. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20101226233037/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa768137%28v%3Dvs.85%29.aspx" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20101226233037/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa768137%28v%3Dvs.85%29.aspx</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Channel Definition Format open-in-new

Channel Definition Format