October 1999 - Zope - Zope lists

Zope and Vignette
by Michael Hirsch 07 Oct '99

07 Oct '99

Dear Zopers, I went to a presentation by a Vignette technical guy yesterday. Last week I visited Digital Creations where I had a great meeting with Paul and Jim (hi guys). I thought y'all might like to hear my impressions of the similarities and contrasts between the two companies. I'd like to start by thanking the people who gave me some things to look for in the Vignette meeting. It was very helpful. My first impression is that Vignette knows how to sell and DC knows about software engineering. As a developer it was a lot of fun talking to DC about Zope, but it was mostly about underlying technology. Vignette talked (too much, for my taste) about what it does, but not how it does it, but at the end they had managed to show off lots of neat features that make for good bullet points. With DC I ended up with a good idea of what could be done, but not how much of it had been prepackaged. More on this later. Vignette's product is call StoryServer. It appears to me that Zope and StoryServer have essentially the same capabilities. StoryServer appears to be Tcl based (at least the scripting language is Tcl based) whereas Zope is Python. The object oriented nature of Python may make it more powerful, but also, perhap, more confusing at the beginning. The StoryServer scripting seemed rather fragile to me--little happens automatically (see below for a discussion of flushing the cache) or by default. The Zope concept of "acquisition" operates very powerfully. If I had to redo a site I'd rather use Zope. StoryServer has a very clever caching mechanism. They cache componnets in the native filesystem, then let Apache's server-side include mechanism compose the files. (It wasn't clear to me how they manage to track users paths if the user only goes to cached files, so it is possible that they always have some communication overhead--I'm not sure.) The Zope cache is inside the Zserver, so probably a little slower. OTOH, when a Zope object changes it automatically notifies the cache, whereas the StoryServer cache needs to be explicitly flushed. When the cache is not in use StoryServer appears quite slow. Even with the cache they only claimed 1M hits/day using a dual CPU Ultra 2 sparc, which sounds much less than Zope. But I haven't tested either. StoryServer appears to have much more "out-of-the-box" capabilities, though it is not clear to me whether that is only appearance, or reality. For instance, StoryServer has canned tools for workflow, cookie management, detection of browser versions, and user tracking. (Of course, cookies and browser detection are not very difficult.) I'm sure that Zope can handle such tasks, but I don't know if such tools are already written or need to be done from scratch. For instance, I've heard Jim or Paul say that they know how to deal with cookies, but I'm not sure what the capabilities are. Where StoryServer really wins is in the interface. They have a nice, Java powered user interface that provides a point and click method of both writing code, and administering the site. One big example is workflow. StoryServer has a nice system for moving content around, starting with the initial content entry, then through reviews by e.g. marketing, legal, etc., until it is finally published. All of this is configurable and doable though a nice GUI interface. I have confidence that Zope has the capability to perform all these tasks, but expect that is must be programmed from scratch. In any case, there is no fancy GUI for doing this under Zope. Most of the other differences pointed out by Vignette are FUD, but just because it is FUD doesn't mean it isn't true. It would be nice to know of a high volume, high visibility Zope powered site. I'd like to hear any contribution/criticisms to the above. We will be making a decision very soon and more knowledge is always good. Thanks, -- --Michael

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RE: [Zope] Zcatalog confusion
by Martijn Pieters 07 Oct '99

07 Oct '99

At 15:49 07/10/99 , Michel Pelletier wrote: >The reason for this error is because of the way python methods work. In >this case, you are using an *unbound* method, meaning a method that >isn't bound to a particular object. Try: > > object.manage_editCataloger('newscatalog') > >Where 'object' is the CatalogAware object you want to change the >Cataloger value on. You could also do: > > manage_editCataloger(object, 'newscatalog') > >-Michel No Michel, He is using the CVS version, remember the traceback said: 'Expected 3, got 2', he needs to pass in REQUEST (I forgot this was a bug you fixed). -- Martijn Pieters, Web Developer | Antraciet http://www.antraciet.nl | Tel: +31-35-7502100 Fax: +31-35-7502111 | mailto:mj@antraciet.nl http://www.antraciet.nl/~mj | PGP: http://wwwkeys.nl.pgp.net:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xA8A32149 ------------------------------------------

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RE: [Zope] Zcatalog confusion
by Michel Pelletier 07 Oct '99

07 Oct '99

> -----Original Message----- > From: Stuart 'Zen' Bishop [mailto:zen@cs.rmit.edu.au] > Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 1999 9:23 PM > To: Geir B Hansen > Cc: zope(a)zope.org; Martijn Pieters > Subject: Re: [Zope] Zcatalog confusion > > > On Wed, 6 Oct 1999, Geir B Hansen wrote: > > > > > manage_editCataloger('newscatalog') > > I do not know where to go from there, though , because i > still get an > > error : > > > > Error Type: TypeError > > Error Value: not enough arguments; expected 3, got 2 The reason for this error is because of the way python methods work. In this case, you are using an *unbound* method, meaning a method that isn't bound to a particular object. Try: object.manage_editCataloger('newscatalog') Where 'object' is the CatalogAware object you want to change the Cataloger value on. You could also do: manage_editCataloger(object, 'newscatalog') -Michel

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RE: [Zope] Passing query strings in trees
by Martijn Pieters 07 Oct '99

07 Oct '99

At 15:51 07/10/99 , Michel Pelletier wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Jim Cain [mailto:jec@mgmt-inc.com] > > Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 1999 10:17 PM > > To: zope(a)zope.org > > Subject: [Zope] Passing query strings in trees > > > > All, > > > > I have a Zope tree structure that requires a query variable > > to be passed to > > it. The first time through, I can pass it on the http request with no > > problem: > > > > http://www.mgmt-inc.com/some_object?variable=value > > > > But this query string is not included in the [+] and [-] links to > > expand/contract the tree so that I can pass it on to the next > > rendering of > > this object. How do I do this? > ><a href="http://a.url/?<dtml-var QUERY_STRING>">link</a> > >-Michel Waky waky Michel.. He wants the QUERY_STRING added to the URL for the + and - icons. Which isn't possible in the current implementation of the tree tag. You'll either will have to extend the tree tag, or use a cookie. -- Martijn Pieters, Web Developer | Antraciet http://www.antraciet.nl | Tel: +31-35-7502100 Fax: +31-35-7502111 | mailto:mj@antraciet.nl http://www.antraciet.nl/~mj | PGP: http://wwwkeys.nl.pgp.net:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xA8A32149 ------------------------------------------

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DTML minor mode for emacs
by Francois-Regis CHALAOUX 07 Oct '99

07 Oct '99

Have anyone an DTML minor mode for emacs based on the HTML major mode? FRC

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How to manipulate a tree?
by Steen Suder 07 Oct '99

07 Oct '99

How do I give the icons in my tree the same behaviour as the + and - signs to the left of them? I'd like to be able to click _either_ the +/- sign or the folder icon to collapse or expand the item. I know that I can collapse or expand the entire tree. -- Best regards, Steen Suder

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RE: [Zope] Passing query strings in trees
by Michel Pelletier 07 Oct '99

07 Oct '99

> -----Original Message----- > From: Jim Cain [mailto:jec@mgmt-inc.com] > Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 1999 10:17 PM > To: zope(a)zope.org > Subject: [Zope] Passing query strings in trees > > All, > > I have a Zope tree structure that requires a query variable > to be passed to > it. The first time through, I can pass it on the http request with no > problem: > > http://www.mgmt-inc.com/some_object?variable=value > > But this query string is not included in the [+] and [-] links to > expand/contract the tree so that I can pass it on to the next > rendering of > this object. How do I do this? <a href="http://a.url/?<dtml-var QUERY_STRING>">link</a> -Michel

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Help with SQL Like statement
by Mats Nordgren 07 Oct '99

07 Oct '99

Hi again, I have a question regarding the ZSQL methods. How do you use LIKE in your sql statements? ex: SELECT * FROM clients WHERE last_name LIKE <dtml-sqlvar search_criteria type=string>% the problem arises because the type automatically adds the '' around the search_criteria and the percentage sign needs to be inside the '' as in 'Smi%' for all accounts that start with Smi. Thanks in advance. -- Mats Nordgren First Union Securities mats(a)launchnet.com icq: 14659299

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RE: [ZOPE Collector] Zope Question entry: Basic ZClass Containers : Resource Not Found on add? : Resource Not Found on add?
by Michel Pelletier 07 Oct '99

07 Oct '99

> -----Original Message----- > From: gtk(a)well.com [mailto:gtk@well.com] > Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 1999 5:49 AM > To: support(a)digicool.com > Subject: [ZOPE Collector] Zope Question entry: Basic ZClass > Containers: > Resource Not Found on add? > > > Description: The ZDG cops out just before explaining how to > create ZClass containers. Trying the obvious doesn't seem to work: > > * create a ZClass with base classes ZObject > and ZObjectManager and default constructor, > factory etc > * create a ZClass inside it with base class > ZObject > * create an instance of the top ZClass > * visit it; the Container pane will be displayed > > Fnord Container at /FnordTest > There are currently no items in FnordTest > To add a new item click "Add". > > * click on the Add button > > Zope Error > Zope has encountered an error while > publishing this resource. > Resource not found > NotFound: (see above) > > For some reason, my FnordContainer won't let me specify a > Fnord as a subobject -- perhaps because Fnord is defined > inside FnordContainer? > > I can't see why this shouldn't work, Zope isn't helping me > figure it out, the documentation doesn't cover it, and I > can't find a HowTo about it. Is this a bug, or expected behaviour? If you look at your FnordContainer ZClass you'll see a tab called 'subobjects'. This contains a list of objects that can be added to your container. You must select one of these objects in order for the add list to come up correctly. It is a bug that ZClasses contained in a ZClass ObjectManager don't show up in this list so you can specify them. -Michel

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ZCatalog, FieldIndexes and TextIndexes
by marian.mcnatt＠smawins.com 07 Oct '99

07 Oct '99

Can someone give me a good explanation of the difference between a FieldIndex and a TextIndex? Also... I have created a ZCatalog for a search on my web site. Currently, the users can search on Title, Keyword, or Summary, but they have to choose which one they want to search on. I want the search to have one entry box that will search all three different fields. I'm sure there's a good way to do this, as I see it on the zope.org site, but I can't figure out how they did it. Any ideas/help would be appreciated.

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