Information and Content Exchange (ICE) is an

XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable ...

-based

protocol Protocol may refer to: Sociology and politics * Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states * Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state * Etiquette, a code of personal behavior Science and technolog ...

used for content

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

via the Internet. By using XML both sender and receiver have an agreed-upon language in which to communicate. Using a client–server architecture, ICE defines a syndicate/subscribe model that is comparable to the binary publish/subscribe protocol standards used in CORBA and DCOM. However, in ICE messages are delivered through XML, typically over an

HTTP The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide We ...

connection, rather than through a lower-level binary protocol.

History

The first standard specifically for web syndication, ICE was proposed by Firefly Networks and

Vignette Vignette may refer to: * Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy * Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters * Vignette (literature), short, i ...

in January 1998. The two companies ceded control over the specification to the ICE consortium, which consisted of an authoring group and an advisory council. The ICE Authoring Group included

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

, Adobe, Sun, CNET,

National Semiconductor National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer which specialized in analog devices and subsystems, formerly with headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The company produced power management integrated circuits, display dr ...

Tribune Media Services Tribune Content Agency (TCA) is a syndication company owned by Tribune Publishing. TCA had previously been known as the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate (CTNYNS), Tribune Company Syndicate, and Tribune Media S ...

Ziff Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, an ...

and

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

, amongst others, and was limited to thirteen companies. The ICE advisory council included nearly a hundred members. ICE was submitted to the

World Wide Web Consortium The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web. Founded in 1994 and led by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations that maintain full-time staff working ...

standards body on October 26, 1998, and showcased in a press event the day after. The standard failed to benefit from the open-source implementation that W3C XML specifications often received. Version 1.1 of the protocol was published on July 1, 2000. Version 2.0 featured improved web service support and was released on August 1, 2004. No further versions have appeared since. Vignette had a demo version of an ICE-capable server named Site-to-Site in February 1998, aiming to show how the protocol could facilitate content exchange between websites. Site-to-site was initially scheduled for release in summer 1998; it was launched under the name Vignette Syndication Server on February 22, 1999. Through Syndication Server, Vignette became the primary ICE vendor. In June 1999, Vignette invested $14 million in the leading web syndicator iSyndicate to adopt Vignette StoryServer for further development of the iSyndicate website. As part of the deal iSydicate committed to making all of its content available in the ICE protocol. Comparable XML specifications include

WDDX WDDX (Web Distributed Data eXchange) is a programming language-, platform- and transport-neutral data interchange mechanism designed to pass data between different environments and different computers. History WDDX was created by Simeon Simeonov ...

, NITF, XMLNews, NewsML, and

PRISM Prism usually refers to: * Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light * Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron Prism may also refer to: Science and mathematics * Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...

, as well as CDF, RSS, Atom, and Open Content Syndication (OCS).

Implementations

TwICE
is a Java implementation of ICE 2.0
Rice
is a Ruby implementation of ICE 1.1. Both TwICE and Rice are developed and maintained by Jim Menard.
ICEcubes
is the original Java reference implementation of ICE 1.1, although it has not been actively maintained since December, 2000.

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Technology Report: Information and Content Exchange Protocol

Content Repository for Java technology API
XML-based standards Web syndication formats Web service specifications Web services

History

Implementations

See also

References

External links