Zend_Feed enables developers to retrieve feeds very easily. If you know the URI of a feed, simply use the Zend_Feed::import() method:

<?php

$feed = Zend_Feed::import('http://feeds.example.com/feedName');

?>   

You can also use Zend_Feed to fetch the contents of a feed from a file or the contents of a PHP string variable:

<?php

// importing a feed from a text file
$feedFromFile = Zend_Feed::importFile('feed.xml');

// importing a feed from a PHP string variable
$feedFromPHP = Zend_Feed::importString($feedString);

?>

In each of the examples above, an object of a class that extends Zend_Feed_Abstract is returned upon success, depending on the type of the feed. If an RSS feed were retrieved via one of the import methods above, then a Zend_Feed_Rss object would be returned. On the other hand, if an Atom feed were imported, then a Zend_Feed_Atom object is returned. The import methods will also throw a Zend_Feed_Exception object upon failure, such as an unreadable or malformed feed.