RSS Feed Generator

Purpose & User Intent: Solve the problem of creating standards-compliant RSS 2.0 feeds from structured data without manual XML editing. Target users include content managers, developers, CMS integrators, and marketers who publish news, blog posts, podcasts, or product updates and need reliable syndication. Use when you have channel metadata and a list of items that must be delivered as a valid RSS document for distribution to readers and aggregators.
Core Logic & Features: The tool accepts channel fields (title, link, description, language, lastBuildDate) and an array of items (title, link, description, pubDate, guid, optional enclosure). It outputs a well-formed RSS 2.0 document, escaping special characters, formatting dates in RFC 822, and producing a pretty-printed XML. Optional fields include categories, author, and enclosure metadata for media. Unique value lies in deterministic, standards-compliant output with explicit input validation and deterministic item order when supplied.
Inputs & Outputs: Inputs include feed_title (string, required), feed_link (URL, required), feed_description (string, required), language (ISO code, optional), lastBuildDate (RFC 822 date, optional). Items: item_title (string, required), item_link (URL, required), item_description (string, required), item_pubDate (RFC 822 date, required), item_guid (string, optional but recommended), enclosure (object: url URL, length number in bytes, type MIME type, optional). Output: rss_xml (string, UTF-8, formatted XML). Validation rules ensure valid URL syntax, non-empty required strings, and valid date formats.
Algorithms & Calculations: Build an RSS 2.0 document with a root and a single containing channel metadata and multiple entries. Dates are formatted to RFC 822, character escaping is applied, and optional enclosure data is added as with url, length, and type attributes. If item_guid omitted, the tool may derive a stable GUID from item_link when available. No external data fetch occurs; the tool consumes provided inputs to generate output.
Error & Edge Cases: Missing required fields triggers input-level errors; invalid URLs or dates cause validation failures; an excessive number of items may produce large XML output; enclosure fields must include a valid URL and numeric length when provided. External data access is not performed; generation is offline and deterministic.
Industry/Region & Localization: Uses RSS 2.0 standard conventions; language codes follow IANA/BCP 47; RFC 822 date formatting ensures cross-region compatibility for feeds; no currency or region-specific calculations apply unless enclosure metadata requires them.
Assumptions & Exclusions: Assumes supplied data is pre-validated and sanitized; does not crawl pages or fetch content from URLs; excludes non-RSS extensions (e.g., iTunes or Atom-specific tags) unless explicitly enabled as optional extensions.