If I could get the following to work, I'd have all the state maintenance I'd ever need. I have a file called bearcl1.py with the lines: class bearcl1: gstr = "a wet bird never flies at night" def getgstr(self): return self.gstr def setgstr( self, InputStr ): self.gstr = InputStr and a file called __init__.py with the lines: from bearcl1 import bearcl1 def initialize(context): """ Register base class """ context.registerBaseClass( both saved in a subdir called: /home/bear/zope/lib/python/Products/bearclxpt1/ and have created a product called bcl1 with a zclass called bzcl1 which subclasses bearcl1 and CatalogAware. Moreover, the class bzcl1 now shows up on my ADD list when constructing web pages so that I can have an object called bz1 of the class bzcl1 and a dtml page in the same folder and the dtml page contain a line like: <dtml-var bz1.getgstr > which looks like it ought to work ( and produce 'a wet biord never flies at night' on the resulting page ) but doesn't. Again, if I could get that much to work I'd basically be home free. I'd appreciate any suggestions. Ted Holden