[Zope-dev] complex zope applications

[Scott Lewis]

hi folks,

i'm in the middle of developing a zope application and its starting to 
get complicated. i'm looking for tips on how to manage the 
complexity or design to minimize it.

the application is a registry of trainers and training events. because 
of the client's needs and my experience with relational databases, 
the backend is SQL Server.

the first part was a training calendar. it deals with three main 
objects(tables): TrainingEvent, Person, Location. there are about 4 
other supporting tables: County, DateTime, etc.

i originally planned to use ASP, but couldn't find any tools i was 
happy with. already a little behind, i gambled and decided to use 
zope. not knowing any python, i went the DTML/SQL method 
route. this part of the application is working well.

here's the problem. the full (larger) scope of the project is now 
becoming clear. to model all the data will probably require 18-20 
tables. working with the data will require 3 or 4 separate 
applications.

any ideas on how to develop this in zope in a manageble way? the 
first application is composed of a LOT objects: DTML input forms, 
DTML form handlers, SQL methods, etc. i'm afraid if i keep going 
this route things will spiral out of control.

what seems like a better structure is 3 tier: python business 
objects talk to (encapsulate) the database. zope controls the 
business objects. the main reason i switched to zope is that it 
seems like zope is set up for this.

before i jump into this, is there anyone who has done something 
similar? can you offer any advice or moral support? sorry for the 
broad questions, but i guess i'm looking for feedback at a higher 
level. over the next few months i'll have 1000s of more specific 
questions :)

thanks in advance for any feedback,

-scott

-----
Scott Lewis
Baltic Avenue Productions
csl@balticave.com