Parsing Namespaces

XML-based feeds (RSS, Atom, RDF) support namespace extensions that add rich metadata beyond the basic feed format. All supported namespaces are automatically parsed and custom prefixes are normalized.

Accessing Namespace Data

Namespace elements in feeds are automatically parsed and attached to corresponding elements as objects:

import { parseRssFeed } from 'feedsmith'

const feed = parseRssFeed(`
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
  <rss
    version="2.0"
    xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd"
    xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
  >
    <channel>
      <title>My Podcast</title>
      <itunes:author>John Doe</itunes:author>
      <dc:creator>John Doe</dc:creator>
      <item>
        <title>Episode 1</title>
        <itunes:duration>30:15</itunes:duration>
        <dc:date>2024-01-15</dc:date>
      </item>
    </channel>
  </rss>
`)

// Access namespace data
feed.itunes?.author
feed.dc?.creator
feed.items?.[0]?.itunes?.duration
feed.items?.[0]?.dc?.date

Custom Prefix Normalization

If the feed contains a known namespace but is using it under a different prefix, Feedsmith will automatically normalize it to the standard prefix.

<!-- Feed with custom prefixes -->
<rss
  xmlns:podcast="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd"
  xmlns:dublincore="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
>
  <channel>
    <podcast:author>John Doe</podcast:author>
    <dublincore:creator>John Doe</dublincore:creator>
  </channel>
</rss>

// Normalized in parsed object
feed.itunes?.author // "John Doe" - podcast: prefix normalized to itunes:
feed.dc?.creator // "John Doe" - creator: prefix normalized to dc:

Supported Namespaces

For a complete list of supported namespaces and their compatibility with different feed formats, see the supported formats section.