- Zope - Zope lists

RE: [Zope] Zope "fitness"
by Randall F. Kern 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

This sounds like a neat portal, I hope your project goes smoothly. My team just made beta today on version 2.0 of our product. Version 1 was written in PHP, and I have several comments on why you might prefer Python (and Zope) to PHP. Version 1.0 of our system was done in PHP for reasons similar to the "flat learning curve" comment you make below; it worked, and it was easy and quick to go from HTML to a working database application. However, when we wanted to expand our system or fix bugs in a core component, PHP fell short. This lead me to Python, and then to Zope. Python provides a programming language that "fits our brains". It's also one of the fastest, most productive languages I've ever used. When I'm unsure how a function works, or exactly how to slice a sequence to get the effect I want I can just start an interpreter and try it. Most importantly, it is far and away the most fun programming I've done in a long time. By adding Zope we get a great content management system, and a good framework for security and other nasty server programming problems. It also provides a basis for customization with DTML and properties. As for complexity, yes, Zope can be complicated. In particular, most of the problems I see are either super-deep-dark Python hacks that I really shouldn't have done, _or_ Python expressions being used inside DTML tags (this results in some syntax strangeness.) I didn't read the thread on checking the string for bad characters, but using a Python Script or a Python Product it would also just be a one liner. I don't know what is available for user management in Zope, because early on I decided my best solution was a user folder integrated in my product. However, I have dealt with several of the other issues you raise. For your special site versions, I think it would be easy to write a SiteAccess (a Product that comes with Zope 2.3.0+) rule that would first call a setup python script for each event (subdomain), and then let the normal site code run. This setup script could set various values that your main scripts could then refer to; things like default values for your input fields, special banners, a different style sheet, etc. I have not done this in particular, but I have done similar things. I would much rather try to do this in Zope than PHP. The plugin-applets you mention seem to be a combination of client-side components (like the date picker) and server side components (like message forums). Zope doesn't add much to client-side component development, but doesn't hinder it either. Server side component development and integration I've found to be much easier with Zope than PHP. For one thing, general shared configuration is easy in Zope (using properties), whereas with PHP you have to store all your configuration in source, or write some script to parse a config file. DTML includes built in support for the <dtml-tree> tag, which implements the expandable tree control you see in the manage UI. This tag calls back into your code to get the list of elements to show when a node is expanded, so it should be just as fast as your script code. It doesn't appear to allocate storage for anything it isn't using, so I think it will be quite fast. I've never used it with a data set this large, but I think it would work quite well. I don't know anything about doing WAP/WML with Zope, but once again since Zope has a nice consistent way to interact with content and configuration, I would prefer to work on multiple protocols (like WAP and HTTP) using Zope than PHP. With PHP you would be forced to invent your own internal layers; with Zope you could reuse existing mechanisms like ZSQL Methods and properties. As for database support and flexibility, my site was first built using MySQL, and I moved to PostgreSQL in a couple days, including building the new database schema (which was quite a bit more sophisticated, using foreign keys and checks that mysql doesn't support). Zope's internal database is also very helpful for storing configuration and static content (welcome pages, announcements, etc.) One problem I've seen people complain about on this list is the difficulty of updating a bunch of ZSQL Methods to use a new database adapter (if you switch from MySQL to PostgreSQL.) However, it's very easy to write a quick python app that connects to the ZODB and updates all your ZSQL Methods to use the new DBA. Dealing with SQL queries is much easier in Zope than PHP, but switching between database servers (if you've written a good layer in-between your application logic and the PHP DB apis) would be easier in PHP. I also do all my development in vi :). I just saw on this list earlier a file system for linux that mounts an FTP server into your file system. That would be great for Zope development. You can also use vim with the FTP extensions (my solution). -Randy > -----Original Message----- > From: Jens Benecke [mailto:jens@jensbenecke.de] > Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 11:02 AM > To: Zope Users List > Subject: [Zope] Zope "fitness" > > > Hello, > > I've been lurking in this list for a couple weeks now and > I've learnt a lot > about Zope's capabilities. I've installed it and looked at a > lot of guides, > howtos and documentation on the Zope website. However, I'd > like to make > sure I make the right descision in choosing Zope and for that > I'd like to > ask a couple more questions. > > > We are running a "hitch-hiker" portal in Germany right now. > It lets users > insert a route they drive and others can search if they are > going the same > way, then drive together, saving time and travel costs. There are more > services like contacting people, personalization, etc. in planning. > > I like PHP because it was there to learn quickly and there was a flat > learning curve if you already know HTML. Insert a small PHP > tag here and > there and so slowly extend your site, being productive all the time. > > > In the next couple weeks, I would like to redesign the site > completely and > -PERHAPS- choose Zope as the development environment. That at > least partly > depends on the answers I get here :-) > > > Zope, as I understood is a bit more than just a server based > HTML scripting > engine with database access. It takes OOP to the web and > doesn't see pages, > directories but objects that can be extended - which is an > idea I like a > lot. Some of the things that I am planning to do seem to be > just the thing > Zope was made for. > > > What I would like to know is not just whether things are > "possible" with > Zope, I want to know whether these things are _easy_ with > Zope. I've seen > the reply to the post where somebody was asking how to check > if a string > contained only certain chars and the answer was a 10-line > <dtml-something > ...> script, which kind of scared me. This would be a > one-liner regexp in > PHP or Perl ... > > > - Transparent User registration. When a new user visits our > site I want to > re-recognize him after that. With that info, I would like > to know things > like > > - how much % of users came a second time > - how much % of users viewed how many pages > - etc. > > - Non-transparent user registration :-) I need an "easy" (in terms of > developing, and using) way for the users to save their settings and > perhaps even choose several profiles for themselves, for > address lists > and so on. > > - For certain dates, like festivals or special holidays, I > want to take the > whole site and "extend it" (see OOP) with a couple > additional features, > and present _that_ site in a sub-domain. Like > > - different colours / title bar > - pre-selected entry fields (e.g. for a sports festival > when everybody is > driving to the same place anyway) > - etc. > > - Plug in "applets". For example, for a date entry field I'd > like a small > calendar pop-up where people can select a date, and perhaps > also select > dates like "next monday three weeks from now" or something. > Those might > be available as PHP classes or as Zope products and the > point would IMHO > be how to integrate them in our system. Other extensions might be a > message forum, email forms, rating other users, or whatever. > > - One thing I specially like is the "tree" view method (which > is also used > in the tutorial). Is this a special Zope feature or just > "one of many"? > How would it cope with a _lot_ of data (I'm talking about x*10,000 > entries in total)? (This might be a way of browsing > available database > entries like cities, for our users. ATM we are using more > or less a flat > list which is not optimal for 29,000 database entries.) > > - Plug in WAP/WML and cell phone short message system > capability. I want > users to be able to query our system by sending a SMS (I've got a > provider for this already) or using their cell phone as web > browser via > WAP. > > - Database flexibility. The whole site will run on a MySQL or Postgres > database (haven't decided yet) and I probably won't need > Zope's internal > Database. I guess this won't be a problem. > > - vi compatability :) I haven't yet found out where the actual files > reside, but one thing I do *not* want to use for regular > development is > the web frontend. File/Save, or :wa , and refresh the > browser window is > my idea of development environment ... I hope this is possible. > > > Those are the ideas I have. I've got a rough idea how to > implement them in > PHP and I can see it won't be an easy task whatever I chosse > to use. I'm > perfectly willing to lern Python and do most of the scripting > in Python > anyway (putting thousands of "dtml-tags" into the source > isn't exactly the > way to go I suppose) but I would really like to hear your input first. > > > Thanks a lot!! > > > -- > Jens Benecke > · > " ...screams erupted at a Seattle hotel where Microsoft > founder Bill Gates > was addressing an education and technology conference. (...)" > -- cnn.com, Reportage über das Erdbeben > in Seattle >

2 1

RE: [Zope] DTML method --> PythonScript
by Mayers, Philip J 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

REQUEST = context.REQUEST RESPONSE = REQUEST.RESPONSE schoolmenu = context.SchoolMenuClass.createInObjectManager(REQUEST['id'], REQUEST) ^^^^^^^^ schoolmenu.propertysheets.Basic.manage_editProperties(REQUEST) schoolmenu.reindex_object() if REQUEST.has_key(DestinationURL): return RESPONSE.redirect(DestinationURL+'/manage_workspace') return RESPONSE.redirect(URL2+'/manage_workspace') Possibly? Regards, Phil +----------------------------------+ | Phil Mayers, Network Support | | Centre for Computing Services | | Imperial College | +----------------------------------+ -----Original Message----- From: Timothy Wilson [mailto:wilson@visi.com] Sent: 13 March 2001 03:08 To: Zope listserv Subject: [Zope] DTML method --> PythonScript Hi everyone, I recently asked what the following DTML Method would look like as a PythonScript. Unfortunately, the answer given doesn't work. I've including the traceback below, and would appreciate any further ideas anyone has. Original SchoolMenuClass_add DTML Method: <HTML> <HEAD><TITLE>Add SchoolMenuClass</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" LINK="#000099" VLINK="#555555"> <dtml-with "SchoolMenuClass.createInObjectManager(REQUEST['id'], REQUEST)"> <dtml-call "propertysheets.Basic.manage_editProperties(REQUEST)"> <dtml-call reindex_object> </dtml-with> <dtml-if DestinationURL> <dtml-call "RESPONSE.redirect(DestinationURL+'/manage_workspace')"> <dtml-else> <dtml-call "RESPONSE.redirect(URL2+'/manage_workspace')"> </dtml-if> </body></html> The PythonScript that was suggested (with REQUEST and RESPONSE passed in the parameter list): REQUEST = context.REQUEST RESPONSE = REQUEST.RESPONSE schoolmenu = SchoolMenuClass.createInObjectManager(REQUEST['id'], REQUEST) schoolmenu.propertysheets.Basic.manage_editProperties(REQUEST) schoolmenu.reindex_object() if REQUEST.has_key(DestinationURL): return RESPONSE.redirect(DestinationURL+'/manage_workspace') return RESPONSE.redirect(URL2+'/manage_workspace') The resulting traceback:  -Tim -- Tim Wilson | Visit Sibley online: | Check out: Henry Sibley HS | http://www.isd197.k12.mn.us/ | http://www.zope.org/ W. St. Paul, MN | | http://slashdot.org/ wilson(a)visi.com | <dtml-var pithy_quote> | http://linux.com/ _______________________________________________ Zope maillist - Zope(a)zope.org http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope ** No cross posts or HTML encoding! ** (Related lists - http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope-announce http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope-dev )

1 0

Returning results from pythod method to web page
by alankirk 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

Hi there, I'm trying to find a way of returning some results from a MySQL database search into a <OPTION> </OPTION> list in a web page. I've written a python method which gets all the data i need from my database. I've stripped down the results (ie removed all the double and single quotes) so i can split them into the individual results. Heres my problem, i've got a while loop that will loop through each of the results from my database query, but i need some way to pass these results out to my web page. I've tried using: while (i<length): return " <option value=\" "+splitString[i]+" \">"+splitString[i]+" " i = i + 1 Which works but as it uses Return it fall out the loop and only returns the one item in my OPTION list. So i then tried to return a string of all the search results such as: while (i<length): f = " <option value=\" "+splitString[i]+" \">"+splitString[i]+" " i = i + 1 s = f s = s + f return s which returns the last item of the seach results. I've worked out that it does this because i keep overwriting the value of s with f. I've tried to assign s to be empty or " " but i was getting error messages saying s has not been assigned any values. Does anyone know how i could get around this? or does anyone know a better way of returning values from a loop into a web page?? Any feedback (preferably ASAP) would be most apprieciated Cheers Alan

2 1

FTP lost Titles
by Stephan Goeldi 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

When I transfer my locally (WinNT Zope 2.3.0) created DTML files, to the remote webserver (RedHat Zope 2.3.0), the DTML files are transferred correctly except of the titles. There is no title anymore on the remote machine. Did I miss something? _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

1 0

Ri:Re: [Zope] Python console
by spinwing＠inwind.it 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

As usual, the ML answers my questions before I write them....Please ignore my previous message... Thanks Stefano

1 0

Re: [Zope] Zope "fitness"
by Stephane Bortzmeyer 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

On Thursday 15 March 2001, at 20 h 2, the keyboard of Jens Benecke <jens(a)jensbenecke.de> wrote: > In the next couple weeks, I would like to redesign the site completely and > -PERHAPS- choose Zope as the development environment. <dtml-in DevilsAdvocate> Did you consider other free WAS like OpenInteract or Enhydra or Midgard? (Specially the last one since you come from a PHP background.) I'm interested myself because climbing the Zope curve is difficult. I like OpenInteract's smooth integration with all the mod_perl goodies I already use, for instance. </dtml-in> > - Database flexibility. The whole site will run on a MySQL or Postgres > database (haven't decided yet) and I probably won't need Zope's internal > Database. I guess this won't be a problem. You can store your data in any external DBMS (I use PostgreSQL). But the Zope objets have to be in the ZODB (I've seen discussions about storing them in the external DBMS, like OpenInteract or Enhydra do, but, AFAIK, there is no easy way to do so at the present time. Zope is quite closed.) > - vi compatability :) I haven't yet found out where the actual files > reside, /var/lib/zope/Data.fs > but one thing I do *not* want to use for regular development is > the web frontend. File/Save, or :wa , and refresh the browser window is > my idea of development environment ... Everybody agrees. The Web frontend is for demos to your PHB. The ZODB can be reached with FTP or WebDAV with limitations (versions, some types of objects...). Any FTP-aware editor (I use Emacs and HTMLkit) can do it. As mentioned, the Linux (and only Linux) FTP filesystem (experimental) can be used to enable you to access Zope objects with any Unix tool.

1 0

Ri:Re: [Zope] Python console
by spinwing＠inwind.it 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

Hello Chris thanks for the answer, however I get this: Python 1.5.2 (#0, Jul 30 1999, 09:52:18) [MSC 32 bit (Intel)] on win32 Copyright 1991-1995 Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam >>> import Zope Traceback (innermost last): File "<stdin>", line 1, in ? File "C:\APPL\Zope\lib\python\Zope\__init__.py", line 110, in ? DB=ZODB.FileStorage.FileStorage(Globals.BobobaseName) File "C:\APPL\Zope\lib\python\ZODB\FileStorage.py", line 262, in __init__ lock_file(f) File "C:\APPL\Zope\lib\python\ZODB\lock_file.py", line 115, in lock_file raise error, ( ZODB.POSException.StorageSystemError: Could not lock the database file. There must be another process that has opened the file. <p> >>> Of course Zope is running, because the idea is to inspect it while running. At this moment I am running under NT 4.0 wks, but in Production I will be running Solaris and Linux. Any suggestions? Regards Stefano > Hi Stefano, > > cd to the "lib/python" directory of your Zope. > > then invoke python. > > At the python prompt: > > >>> import Zope > >>> app = Zope.app() > >>> app.Control_Panel > <ApplicationManager instance at 7128372> > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <spinwing(a)inwind.it> > To: <zope(a)zope.org> > Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 1:15 PM > Subject: [Zope] Python console > > > Hello > > I have been reading some times that it is possible to start up the Pyhton > interpreter and dialog with Zope while it is running. However, I have no > clue how to do it, nor I found anything around, nor I do not know what I can > ask it. > > Would somebody be so kind to give me some pointers? > > Thanks and regards > Stefano Vedovelli > > > _______________________________________________ > Zope maillist - Zope(a)zope.org > http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope > ** No cross posts or HTML encoding! ** > (Related lists - > http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope-announce > http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope-dev ) > > >

1 0

bottleneck?
by Tom Deprez 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

Hi, I need to build a intranet site in which we'll store all references (like author, date, title, ...) to written articles, thesisses, publications, books, .... from our department. The problem is that all these different mediums contain much the same information except for 3-4 fields.I could put all this information inside an sql database. However, it might be interesting to also actually store for instance the whole article... Then I think I better store everything inside Zope. But, I'm wondering if Zope can handle much data in a same folder. For instance, I would like to store all publications inside a folder named publication. But this would lead to a lot of publication objects in one folder... Can Zope handle this? Or are there better methods to achieve this (which I can wonder, since Zope was first build for newspapers which want to show there contents on-line). How do you do such a thing? Thanks in advance, Tom.

3 2

RE: [Zope] Installation Probs
by Capesius, Alan 16 Mar '01

16 Mar '01

There is normally a startup delay of 30sec to 2 minutes depending on the computer while the system starts. Once the server is ready, it will display the port it is running on in the DOS box. Are you waiting? >>>-----Original Message----- >>>From: Marc Fischer [mailto:marcbpc@gmx.de] >>>Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 3:52 PM >>>To: zope(a)zope.org >>>Subject: AW: [Zope] Installation Probs >>> >>> >>>sure ! >>> >>>> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- >>>> Von: Chris McDonough [mailto:chrism@digicool.com] >>>> Gesendet: Donnerstag, 15. März 2001 21:01 >>>> An: Marc Fischer; zope(a)zope.org >>>> Betreff: Re: [Zope] Installation Probs >>>> >>>> >>>> Is the service started? >>>> >>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>> From: "Marc Fischer" <marcbpc(a)gmx.de> >>>> To: <zope(a)zope.org> >>>> Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 11:12 AM >>>> Subject: [Zope] Installation Probs >>>> >>>> >>>> > Hi, >>>> > >>>> > I just wanted to install Zope (I tried 2.2.5 an 3.0) on >>>my win 2000 as a >>>> > service, but without success :-( >>>> > >>>> > Installation completed normally, but if I try to reach the site >>>> > "http://localhost:8080/mange" I do not get it!!! >>>> > >>>> > What could be my problem? If I try to stop the service >>>and run the >>>> start.bat >>>> > manually, the procedure in the dos windows stopps after: >>>> > >>>> > D:\Programme\WebSite>"D:\Programme\WebSite\bin\python.exe" >>>> > "D:\Programme\WebSite >>>> > \z2.py" -D >>>> > >>>> > ... and nothing more happens ... :-( >>>> > >>>> > Perhaps someone is able to help ... thanx a lot ... >>>> > >>>> > Marc >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > _______________________________________________ >>>> > Zope maillist - Zope(a)zope.org >>>> > http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope >>>> > ** No cross posts or HTML encoding! ** >>>> > (Related lists - >>>> > http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope-announce >>>> > http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope-dev ) >>>> > >>>> >>> >>> >>>_______________________________________________ >>>Zope maillist - Zope(a)zope.org >>>http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope >>>** No cross posts or HTML encoding! ** >>>(Related lists - >>> http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope-announce >>> http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope-dev ) >>>

4 3

Re: uploading file with python script (problem with it)
by Wang Haifeng 15 Mar '01

15 Mar '01

Hi, Hans de Wit, I think there is something wrong with your form. To upload file, the form should specify "enctype" attr to "multipart/form-data". Like this: <form action="addFile" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">... Simon Wang ---- Original Message -------- From: "Hans de Wit" <hw(a)scp.nl> <mailto:hw@scp.nl> Organization: Sociaal & Cultureel Planbureau To: zope(a)zope.org <mailto:zope@zope.org> Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 17:20:06 MET Reply-to: hw(a)scp.nl <mailto:hw@scp.nl> Subject: [Zope] Newbie: uploading file with python script (problem with it) Hello, I have a problem uploading files via a form and a python script. The content of the uploaded file after uploading it is only a string, ie the name of the file, not the file itself. I followed the guestbook example of the Zopebook. This is the receiving Python script. # create a unique file id id='entry_%d' % len(context.objectIds()) # create the file afile=context.REQUEST['afilename'] context.manage_addProduct['OFSP'].manage_addFile(id,afile) *** afilename is a field on the form the "sending" form: <form action="addFile"> Add file:<input type="file" name="afilename:string" size="30"><br> <input type="submit" value="upload"> </form> Thanks for any advice

3 5