How to Parse and Export RSS Feeds to XML and CSV Formats

RSS feeds remain a powerful way to access structured content from websites. This article explores a straightforward method to parse RSS feeds and export them to both XML and CSV formats using Python, without relying on third-party modules.

Understanding the Process

The technique involves three main steps:

1. Fetching the RSS feed and saving it in XML format
2. Parsing the XML content
3. Converting the parsed data to CSV format

Required Python Modules

This solution uses only standard Python libraries:

• CSV module – for creating and writing to CSV files
• Requests module – for making HTTP requests to fetch the RSS feed
• XML module – for parsing the XML content

Step 1: Loading the RSS Feed

The first function, load_RSS, handles fetching the RSS feed:

• Specify the publicly accessible RSS feed URL
• Make a request to the URL using the requests module
• Save the returned content as an XML file named ‘result.xml’ in binary write mode

Step 2: Parsing the XML

The second function parses the downloaded XML file:

• It takes the XML file as an input
• Analyzes the XML structure
• Extracts relevant information from the RSS feed

Step 3: Converting to CSV

The final function, save_to_CSV, transforms the parsed data:

• It processes the extracted content
• Creates a new CSV file
• Organizes the RSS feed information into structured columns and rows

Executing the Script

When executed, the script performs these operations sequentially:

1. Downloads the RSS feed as an XML file
2. Parses the XML content to extract relevant data
3. Creates a CSV file containing the organized information

Practical Applications

This approach works with any website that provides an RSS feed. Common applications include:

• Monitoring blog updates across multiple sites
• Aggregating news from various sources
• Creating archives of content for analysis
• Building custom content dashboards

The beauty of this solution is its simplicity and flexibility – with just basic Python knowledge, you can adapt it to work with any RSS feed source.