I'm using the Client/Cases/Detail/etc granularity and making each record a single object (using File objects for testing) in an appropriate data folder (e.g. Case/Data, Client/Data or maybe Data/Client, Data/Case). I create properties with field names and assign them the field values. That way I can use the ZMI to create/clone/edit/delete 'data records' easily in addition to my programs. I'm using Formulator so I can tap the field definitions programmatically to get the info needed to define the File data object properties appropriately for each field. I thought about making a template File data object and cloning it as needed but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. Besides the dynamic Formulator approach lets me change form AND 'table' definitions in one spot which is nice for development.
Sounds like you might like http://www.zope.org/Members/mjablonski/PropertyObject and friends.
Being shiny new to Zope I'm still grasping the building blocks but thought ZClasses sounded like what might be useful for this. Thanks for letting me know that might not be a good idea. I'll continue to fumble through alternate approaches. It's painfully slow but at least it's interesting.
ZClasses does seem like a good idea. But regular products aren't that hard (esp. with mxmEasyProduct) and they're more portable, more powerful, and usually more understandable than the current ZClasses idea and implementation. I think that PropertyObject/Abracadabra is a good player in the TTW-product area. Also, Plone's Archetypes (which also works in vanilla CMF) is very cool: based on a simple schema it'll make an object/type with the right forms and properties, even with actions and input validation. Dunno if it's quite far enough along yet to be newbie usable, but it's almost to a release and should be included in future Plones. CMF/Plone might be a little much to swallow at the same time, but if you're interested, http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/*checkout*/archetypes/Archety... http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/archetypes/Archetypes/docs/qu... http://sourceforge.net/projects/archetypes http://www.plone.org/ http://cmf.zope.org/ --jcc