Re: Unique ID problem...

One possibility might be an MD5 hash of some sort. The trick is deciding 
what to hash though. Titles and descriptions can change if an article is 
edited - do you need the unique identifier to be the same under those 
circumstances? Even discounting edits, you're going to find some feeds where 
the description can change over time: inline image urls may change as the 
server tries to balance its load; google news, as an example, includes "see 
also" links at the bottom of articles that can change over time; feeds that 
embed adverts in their descriptions might include a completely different set 
of adverts each time you refresh.

Personally, I would think your best bet would be hashing a combination of 
title plus link. Not perfect, but a reasonable approximation.

> I'm working on an application for caching rss feeds in a database for
> awhile, to allow for some searching. Since currently there are no
> required unique identifiers for articles, I was wondering if any of
> you have come across an efficent way to index items? Because when I am
> searching to see if an item is already cached I have to go through and
> compare for title and description. Any thoughts?




 
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