This is an undocumented (afaik) feature of DTML methods/documents - due to the way python argument mapping works, you can pass any value into a 'local' variable in a DTML method like thus: <dtml-var "myDTMLmethod(foo=5,greg=Sally)"> this the above case, Sally could be a legal variable value that will be put into the new local greg in your DTML method, and one named foo with the value of 5. AFAIK this is pass-by-value, so modifying greg in your called method will not change sally, but I could be wrong... I use this sort of thing quite often in one of my ongoing projects where I need to reformat dates strings from their mysql format to how the client wants to view them... I have a method named undb_dateout that uses a variable called 'dbdate' and does some string splitting and formatting to output it. Originally, I would do things like this with the method: <dtml-call "REQUEST.set('dbdate', currentdatevar)"> <dtml-var undb_dateout> Then, on a whim I changed this to: <dtml-var "undb_dateout(dbdate=currentdatevar)"> And it worked... Someone should add this to the DTML documentation, or at least make it stand out more - it is VERY useful... If no one else does I'll write-up a how-to on it.

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Message: 7 Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 19:13:59 +0000 (GMT) From: Espen Sorbye Frederiksen <ceeesf@cee.hw.ac.uk> To: <zope-dev@zope.org> Subject: Message: 7 Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 19:13:59 +0000 (GMT) From: Espen Sorbye Frederiksen <ceeesf@cee.hw.ac.uk> To: <zope-dev@zope.org> Subject: [Zope-dev] Passing arguments to DTML Methods

Sorry this, possibly, very trivial question:

How do you pass on variables to a DTML Method. If I would use a python method I would use <dtml-call "pythonmethod(var1, var2)">. This does not work with DTML Methods. First of all why? Secondly how is it possible to get around the problem?

Hope someone kindly could answer my question,

Espen