[Zope-dev] New Help System in 2.2

[Jason Spisak]

Stephan Richter writes:

> At 09:09 PM 5/30/00 +0000, Jason Spisak wrote:
> >Shane Hathaway writes:
> >
> > > Jason Spisak wrote:
> > > > I was just browsing the help system and can I just say it is 
> > terrfic.  The
> > > > .py files especially.  Not that python isn't that easy to read, but 
> > having
> > > > the ZQR type stuff handy online is a huge win.  Is that stuff updated 
> > from
> > > > the source on the fly?
> > >
> > > Almost.  It's actually written in separate files that mirror the
> > > structure of the real source.  And I'd like to bring up the point that
> > > I wonder why it is written that way.  Wouldn't it make more sense to
> > > self-document the source?
> > >
> > > If the issue is that some methods shouldn't be callable from a URL,
> > > there are better solutions to that problem (this is written to DC
> > > mainly):
> >
> >Is this the reason that it's not pulling the docs from the source?
> >That's not a good idea.  With all the effort that Michel put in to work
> >around not documenting in the source, he could have fixed it so that it
> >pulled the docs from the source on the fly without effecting the URL
> >access.
> >
> > > 1) Enahnce the permissions system to include "Accessible via HTTP",
> > > "Accessible via FTP", etc.
> > > 2) Use an underscore as the first character of a docstring to indicate
> > > a non-URL-callable method.
> > >
> >
> >I just looked at it and that seems like doing work twice.  Why not just
> >document your source?
> 
> I just talked to Amos and Michel last Friday about that and they researched 
> for a long time, whether it would be better to document the source or to 
> have different files. They both decided it is the best to have the 
> documentation separately. I believe that they looked at the issue from all 
> angles and had good reasons, why they went with the current way.

I trust them implicitly.  I'm sure that my gut reaction was probably the
same one they had, but after careful thought they found a better solution.

> Furthermore, the help system will become even more than just the screen 
> help. The .py files you see, are just the start of the new API 
> documentation. 

Oooo.

>Furthermore, we will include a new DTML reference soon. Do 
> you know about anything else, that should be included?

Well if you really want to make it hot, the examples that are in there can
keep coming.  Web links might not be out of order either.  The only problem
is that there is no difinitive Zope online docs to link to, to get the most
recent info.  But when there is, it would be nice to include.

Thanks,

Jason Spisak
CIO
HireTechs.com
6151 West Century Boulevard
Suite 900
Los Angeles, CA 90045
P. 310.665.3444
F. 310.665.3544

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