[Zope-CMF] Hmmm... problems with dependencies ...

[Dennis Allison]

On a fresh instance of CMF (CVS, unmodified) I set up index_html to be
customized from skins/generic.  I also set up to be customized versions of
<standard_html_header> and <standard_html_footer> and <standard_topbar>. 
Viewing the index-html from the skins/custom folder works logged in as 
admin works [Bjust fine.

Viewing the site from outside dies with a template expansion error....

 File /home/zope/ZopeSys/Zope-2.5.0-linux2-x86/lib/python/ZPublisher/Publish.py,
line 39, in call_object
    (Object: index_html)
  File /home/zope/ZopeSys/Zope-2.5.0-linux2-x86/lib/python/OFS/DTMLMethod.py,
line 127, in __call__
    (Object: index_html)
  File
/home/zope/ZopeSys/Zope-2.5.0-linux2-x86/lib/python/DocumentTemplate/DT_String.py, line 473, in __call__
    (Object: index_html)
  File
/home/zope/ZopeSys/Zope-2.5.0-linux2-x86/lib/python/DocumentTemplate/DT_Let.py,
line 76, in render
    (Object: folder_url=absolute_url)
  File
/home/zope/ZopeSys/Zope-2.5.0-linux2-x86/lib/python/DocumentTemplate/DT_In.py,
line 695, in renderwob
    (Object: objectValues( [ 'Folder', 'Portal Folder' ] ))
KeyError: Id

which stikes me as a dependency error.  The DTML index_html invokes stuff that
apparently defaults to templates rather than the equivalent DHTML.  What to do?
Is there an easy way to discover the dependencies?

I would prefer to maintain the option of building a mixed site, some pages built
with templates, some with DTML, yet others with python scripts and external procedures.
The skin mechanism and the associated defaulting seems to get in the way of this.
Is there any reasonable way to accomplish this?  For example, how do I keep the
same basic layout and skin when some pages are rendered using templates and
others using DTML?

Is there a way to use the templates mechanism to create DTML?

Finally, one more question.  Much of the CMF functionality is buried in the
tools layer.  To change the functionality, I have to modify the tools.  Are the
interfaces and API specified somewhere?  What's the recommended way to make such
changes so that my system can track the CMF development?

Thanks.

-dra