Any network function you can perform from your desktop can be accomplished from an ASP.NET page. This includes sending and downloading email, making HTTP requests, screen scraping, and publishing and consuming RSS feeds. (RSS is a standardized XML format used for syndicating web content.) This four hour class looks at using classes in the .NET Framework as well as open source and affordable third-party components to: send email using SMTP; download email from a POP3 server; download, parse, and display the HTML from another website; consume and display remote RSS feeds; and generate RSS feeds for your website.
I. Sending Email
a. Configuring the Email Server Settings
b. Sending Plain-Text Emails
c. Sending HTML-Formatted Emails
d. Sending Attachments
II. Downloading Email Using aspNetPOP3
a. An Overview of POP3
b. Downloading and Parsing Emails
c. Processing Attachments
III. Making HTTP Requests and Screen Scraping
a. What is Screen Scraping?
b. Uses of Screen Scraping
c. Making a Simple HTTP Request
d. Downloading Binary Data
e. Sending GET or POST Headers
f. Specifying a Timeout
g. Making Authenticated Reque
sts
h. Using Conditional GETs
i. Working through a Proxy Server
IV. Consuming and Displaying RSS Feeds Using RssFeed
a. The Purpose and History of RSS
b. Consuming and Displaying an RSS Feed
c. Customizing the Display
d. Programmatically Working with a Remote RSS Feed
V. Producing an RSS Feed
a. Building an RSS Feed
b. Validating and Testing Your RSS Feed