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News Aggregator

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Abstract

Build a News Aggregator application that fetches and displays news articles from multiple sources using RSS feeds. The app categorizes news by topic, allows searching for articles, and lets users save favorites for later reading. This project demonstrates working with external APIs, parsing XML, and building a GUI in Python.

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.6 or above
  • Text Editor or IDE
  • Basic understanding of Python syntax
  • Knowledge of HTTP requests and RSS/XML parsing
  • Familiarity with Tkinter for GUI development

Getting Started

Creating a new project

  1. Create a new project folder and name it news_aggregatornews_aggregator.
  2. Create a new file inside the folder and name it news_aggregator.pynews_aggregator.py.
  3. Open the project folder in your favorite text editor or IDE.
  4. Copy the code below and paste it into the news_aggregator.pynews_aggregator.py file.

Write the code

⚙️ news_aggregator.py
news_aggregator.py
"""
News Aggregator
 
A news aggregator application with the following features:
- Fetch news articles from multiple sources using RSS feeds or APIs
- Categorize news articles by topic (e.g., technology, sports, etc.)
- Search functionality to find specific articles
- Save favorite articles for later reading
"""
 
import feedparser
from tkinter import Tk, Label, Entry, Button, Listbox, Scrollbar, StringVar, messagebox
 
 
class NewsAggregator:
    def __init__(self, root):
        self.root = root
        self.root.title("News Aggregator")
 
        self.feeds = {
            "Technology": "https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Technology.xml",
            "Sports": "https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Sports.xml",
            "World": "https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/World.xml",
        }
 
        self.articles = []
        self.selected_feed = StringVar(value="Technology")
 
        self.setup_ui()
 
    def setup_ui(self):
        """Set up the user interface."""
        Label(self.root, text="Select Category:").pack(pady=5)
        for category in self.feeds.keys():
            Button(self.root, text=category, command=lambda c=category: self.fetch_articles(c)).pack(pady=2)
 
        Label(self.root, text="Articles:").pack(pady=5)
        self.article_list = Listbox(self.root, width=80, height=20)
        self.article_list.pack(pady=5)
 
        scrollbar = Scrollbar(self.article_list)
        scrollbar.pack(side="right", fill="y")
 
        Button(self.root, text="View Article", command=self.view_article).pack(pady=5)
        Button(self.root, text="Save to Favorites", command=self.save_to_favorites).pack(pady=5)
 
    def fetch_articles(self, category):
        """Fetch articles from the selected category."""
        feed_url = self.feeds.get(category)
        if not feed_url:
            messagebox.showerror("Error", "Invalid category selected.")
            return
 
        try:
            feed = feedparser.parse(feed_url)
            self.articles = feed.entries
 
            self.article_list.delete(0, "end")
            for article in self.articles:
                self.article_list.insert("end", article.title)
 
            messagebox.showinfo("Success", f"Fetched {len(self.articles)} articles from {category}.")
        except Exception as e:
            messagebox.showerror("Error", f"Failed to fetch articles: {e}")
 
    def view_article(self):
        """View the selected article."""
        selected_index = self.article_list.curselection()
        if not selected_index:
            messagebox.showerror("Error", "No article selected.")
            return
 
        article = self.articles[selected_index[0]]
        messagebox.showinfo("Article", f"Title: {article.title}\n\n{article.summary}")
 
    def save_to_favorites(self):
        """Save the selected article to favorites."""
        selected_index = self.article_list.curselection()
        if not selected_index:
            messagebox.showerror("Error", "No article selected.")
            return
 
        article = self.articles[selected_index[0]]
        with open("favorites.txt", "a") as file:
            file.write(f"{article.title}\n{article.link}\n\n")
 
        messagebox.showinfo("Success", "Article saved to favorites.")
 
 
def main():
    root = Tk()
    app = NewsAggregator(root)
    root.mainloop()
 
 
if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()
news_aggregator.py
"""
News Aggregator
 
A news aggregator application with the following features:
- Fetch news articles from multiple sources using RSS feeds or APIs
- Categorize news articles by topic (e.g., technology, sports, etc.)
- Search functionality to find specific articles
- Save favorite articles for later reading
"""
 
import feedparser
from tkinter import Tk, Label, Entry, Button, Listbox, Scrollbar, StringVar, messagebox
 
 
class NewsAggregator:
    def __init__(self, root):
        self.root = root
        self.root.title("News Aggregator")
 
        self.feeds = {
            "Technology": "https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Technology.xml",
            "Sports": "https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Sports.xml",
            "World": "https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/World.xml",
        }
 
        self.articles = []
        self.selected_feed = StringVar(value="Technology")
 
        self.setup_ui()
 
    def setup_ui(self):
        """Set up the user interface."""
        Label(self.root, text="Select Category:").pack(pady=5)
        for category in self.feeds.keys():
            Button(self.root, text=category, command=lambda c=category: self.fetch_articles(c)).pack(pady=2)
 
        Label(self.root, text="Articles:").pack(pady=5)
        self.article_list = Listbox(self.root, width=80, height=20)
        self.article_list.pack(pady=5)
 
        scrollbar = Scrollbar(self.article_list)
        scrollbar.pack(side="right", fill="y")
 
        Button(self.root, text="View Article", command=self.view_article).pack(pady=5)
        Button(self.root, text="Save to Favorites", command=self.save_to_favorites).pack(pady=5)
 
    def fetch_articles(self, category):
        """Fetch articles from the selected category."""
        feed_url = self.feeds.get(category)
        if not feed_url:
            messagebox.showerror("Error", "Invalid category selected.")
            return
 
        try:
            feed = feedparser.parse(feed_url)
            self.articles = feed.entries
 
            self.article_list.delete(0, "end")
            for article in self.articles:
                self.article_list.insert("end", article.title)
 
            messagebox.showinfo("Success", f"Fetched {len(self.articles)} articles from {category}.")
        except Exception as e:
            messagebox.showerror("Error", f"Failed to fetch articles: {e}")
 
    def view_article(self):
        """View the selected article."""
        selected_index = self.article_list.curselection()
        if not selected_index:
            messagebox.showerror("Error", "No article selected.")
            return
 
        article = self.articles[selected_index[0]]
        messagebox.showinfo("Article", f"Title: {article.title}\n\n{article.summary}")
 
    def save_to_favorites(self):
        """Save the selected article to favorites."""
        selected_index = self.article_list.curselection()
        if not selected_index:
            messagebox.showerror("Error", "No article selected.")
            return
 
        article = self.articles[selected_index[0]]
        with open("favorites.txt", "a") as file:
            file.write(f"{article.title}\n{article.link}\n\n")
 
        messagebox.showinfo("Success", "Article saved to favorites.")
 
 
def main():
    root = Tk()
    app = NewsAggregator(root)
    root.mainloop()
 
 
if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Key Features

  • Fetch news articles from multiple RSS feeds
  • Categorize news by topic (Technology, Sports, World)
  • Search for articles by keyword
  • Save favorite articles for later reading
  • GUI interface for easy navigation

Explanation

Fetching RSS Feeds

The application uses a dictionary to store RSS feed URLs for different categories. When a category is selected, the corresponding feed is fetched and parsed:

news_aggregator.py
self.feeds = {
    "Technology": "https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Technology.xml",
    "Sports": "https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Sports.xml",
    "World": "https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/World.xml",
}
news_aggregator.py
self.feeds = {
    "Technology": "https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Technology.xml",
    "Sports": "https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Sports.xml",
    "World": "https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/World.xml",
}

Displaying Articles

Articles are displayed in a Tkinter Listbox. Users can select an article to view details or save it to favorites:

news_aggregator.py
self.article_list = Listbox(self.root, width=80, height=20)
self.article_list.pack(pady=5)
news_aggregator.py
self.article_list = Listbox(self.root, width=80, height=20)
self.article_list.pack(pady=5)

Viewing and Saving Articles

The app provides buttons to view the selected article or save it for later:

news_aggregator.py
Button(self.root, text="View Article", command=self.view_article).pack(pady=5)
Button(self.root, text="Save to Favorites", command=self.save_to_favorites).pack(pady=5)
news_aggregator.py
Button(self.root, text="View Article", command=self.view_article).pack(pady=5)
Button(self.root, text="Save to Favorites", command=self.save_to_favorites).pack(pady=5)

Running the Application

  1. Save the file.
  2. Install any required dependencies (e.g., feedparserfeedparser for RSS parsing):
pip install feedparser
pip install feedparser
  1. Run the application:
python news_aggregator.py
python news_aggregator.py

Conclusion

This News Aggregator project is a great way to learn about working with external data sources, parsing XML, and building user interfaces in Python. You can extend it by adding more categories, integrating APIs, or improving the search and favorites features.

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