[Zope-dev] Changing ZClass base classes comfortably (was Warning! TransparentFolders...)

[Martijn Faassen]

Kevin Dangoor wrote:
> I'm very much a fan of ZClasses (as I think I've said before around here :)
> 
> The biggest trouble I see with them is that the most "supported" method of
> changing the base classes of a ZClass seems to be to create a Python base
> class for each ZClass. While this is certainly doable, it's also somewhat
> annoying to have this non-web-based dependency for a product that is
> otherwise completely thru-the-web.
> 
> Does anyone know what exactly the potential issue is with the
> hold-on-to-the-seat-of-your-pants method of base class changing? I know lots
> of people have done it without trouble... but, I bet a lot of people would
> prefer Zope had a more "supported" method of doing this through the web.

And this brings us right back again to TransparentFolders. One thing
they provide is a form of inheritance (as opposed to acquisition). If
there was a ZClassReference that was much like a TransparentFolder, but
in fact refers to a ZClass somewhere else or a Python Base class, or
anything, really. (ZClasses just shouldn't be confined to the product
screen at all), you could easily change base classes by just dropping
in new ones, deleting old ones, and so on.

Is there any deep technical reason why something like this isn't
feasible? It would just be a much nicer interface than now, when you
can only easily change the base classes upon creation.

Regards,

Martijn