Joachim Werner writes:
I do not agree with you:
a ZClass is both an instance (you can manage, modify, delete) and a class (you can use as blueprint for object creation).
O.k., I CAN manage/modify/delete a ZClass, but it still is (conceptually) a class, and only a class. You can manage/modify/delete Zope Python classes, too: Add new icons, DTML or "real" methods etc. It just is done from the file system. Still nobody would call those "instances" ...
Or did I miss something here? Maybe you search "python.org" for Guido's metaclasses article. It tells that a Python class can be both a class and an instance and that this view has interesting applications.
You focus on the class aspects of a ZClass (a pattern for creating instances providing them with basic common infrastructure), while I stress the instance aspects. The fact, that you can manage ZClasses in the same way as other Zope objects, calls for similar structuring possibilities: taking them out of the centralized control panel and putting them anywhere in the site. That was the starting point of our discussion... Dieter