Creating RSS feeds

You can create RSS feeds to help team members stay up-to-date on projects, even when they are not using Helix ALM. RSS feeds are based on filters, which you can publish to make a feed available to others. Items that pass the filter are displayed in the feed. For example, management wants to keep all team leads aware of critical open customer issues. You can create a filter that includes open issues with Critical selected in the Severity field and then publish the filter.

Before publishing filters to create RSS feeds, make sure the Helix ALM Published Data CGI is installed, RSS feeds are enabled for the project, and you have security permissions to mark filters as published.

Helix ALM data in RSS feeds can be viewed by anyone, not just Helix ALM users and customers. Make sure that feeds do not contain confidential information.

Most web browsers no longer provide native support for RSS feeds. Users may need to use other methods to view feeds.

Installing the Helix ALM Published Data CGI

Make sure the Helix ALM Published Data CGI (ttpubdata.exe) is installed and hosted on a web server. The CGI is installed during Helix ALM Server installation in the web server's default CGI directory by default. See the installation help for information.

Enabling RSS feeds for the project

To generate URLs for subscribing to RSS feeds, enable RSS feeds for the project and specify the Helix ALM Published Data CGI URL in the project options using the Helix ALM Client. See the Helix ALM Client help for information about setting hyperlink project options.

Enabling security commands for published filters

Make sure the following commands are enabled for your security group in the Helix ALM Client: Mark Filter as Published, Edit Published Filters, Delete Published Filters, and Duplicate Published Filters.

Keep in mind that anyone can view data in RSS feeds so you may only want to enable these commands for security groups that include administrative or other high-level users. See the Helix ALM Client help for information about editing security groups.

Publishing filters

1. Select the filter to publish from the filter list to apply it.

2. Click the filters list and choose Edit Current Filter.

The Edit Filter dialog box opens.

3. Select Publish from the Share list.

You cannot publish filters that include restrictions based on <current user> because users do not have to be logged in to view RSS feeds. You also cannot publish filters with interactive restrictions.

4. Click Save to save the changes.

The filter is published.

Users can add the URL for the published filter to their RSS aggregator or you can add it to an internal web page.

You can only subscribe to RSS feeds or view the feed URL in the Helix ALM Client. See the desktop client help for information about accessing RSS feeds.