This method is mostly useful in combination with the Ecosystem Search method, for filtering purposes, since that method requires you to supply a category's ID if you intend to narrow you search to one category.

You can retrieves all the available categories, each with its own data:

1. id attribute: the category's ID number
2. node text: the category's name

XML or JSON (default is XML).

In XML, nodetexts have their content encapsulated in a CDATA section.
In JSON, these nodes use escaped Unicode codes for special characters.

1. http://api.eco.netvibes.com/categories
2. http://api.eco.netvibes.com/categories?format=xml (same result as above)
3. http://api.eco.netvibes.com/categories?format=json

Current result in XML (as of this writing - results may vary):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<categories>
  <category id="1"><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  <category id="2"><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
  <category id="3"><![CDATA[Sport]]></category>
  <category id="4"><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
  <category id="5"><![CDATA[Art & Entertainment]]></category>
  <category id="6"><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
  <category id="7"><![CDATA[Games]]></category>
  <category id="8"><![CDATA[Lifestyle]]></category>
  <category id="9"><![CDATA[Tools & Services]]></category>
  <category id="10"><![CDATA[Shopping]]></category>
  <category id="11"><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
  <category id="12"><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
  <category id="13"><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
  <category id="14"><![CDATA[Organizations]]></category>
</categories>

Current result in JSON (as of this writing - results may vary):

{"categories":[
  {"id":"1","label":"News"},
  {"id":"2","label":"Business"},
  {"id":"3","label":"Sport"},
  {"id":"4","label":"Music"},
  {"id":"5","label":"Art & Entertainment"},
  {"id":"6","label":"Technology"},
  {"id":"7","label":"Games"},
  {"id":"8","label":"Lifestyle"},
  {"id":"9","label":"Tools & Services"},
  {"id":"10","label":"Shopping"},
  {"id":"11","label":"Science"},
  {"id":"12","label":"Education"},
  {"id":"13","label":"Travel"},
  {"id":"14","label":"Organizations"}
]}