[Zope] Creating a New Object Type - Use ZClass or Python?

[Michael Bernstein]

Kevin Dangoor wrote:

> >Kevin Dangoor wrote:
> >> If there was a way to "link" from one ZClass instance to another, then
> you
> >> could have an Author object for each author and just have the publication
> >> point to the Author object. There are certainly ways to do this
> >> programmatically now, it's just not automatic. This way, an Author could
> >> have other properties (contact info, website address, etc.) if desired,
> and
> >> those properties are only stored in one place.
> >
> >I have already submitted this to the collector:
> >http://www.zope.org/Collector/380/view
> >
> >But was informed that this was a low priority item, and that it had been
> >downgraded in status to 'wish'.
> >
> >Since I think that this is a VERY important feature, I am willing to put my
> >money where my mouth is and cough up some $$$ to get this done.
> Consequently I
> >have three questions:
> 
> [questions deleted]
> 
> I am about to start working on some code that will require the ability to
> link from one object to another. While I think having something nicely
> integrated in Zope to link to an object is ultimately the way to go, for now
> I'll just use a string property to store the URL. And I think I saw a
> function in ZCatalog.py that would map from a URL to an object. This is not
> *as* nice as an integrated feature, but it seems functional enough for my
> purposes.
> 
> So, my point is this: I agree it is important, but there are workarounds
> today.

I know there are workarounds to this (storing the URL in a string, storing the
ObjID in a string, etc.) But those aren't very accessible to me. I'm not a
programmer, I'm a designer that understands code, and I'd really rather not
fiddle with too much low-level stuff if I can avoid it. 

My biggest hobby-horse is not having to decompose mutli-dimensional data spaces
into a singly rooted hierarchy. The ZODB does not constrain to a single object
heirarchy, but the management interface largely does.

The folks at DC have been making enourmous strides towards addressing this issue
with such things as ZClasses (is-a multiple inheritance of object types),
ZCatalog (on-the-fly construction of object heirarchies by arbitrary atributes),
the upcoming ZTables for storage of tabular data, and other improvements.

But as far as I'm concerned, there is still a big gaping hole with regard to
associating object instances non-heirarchicaly. The ZODB will support this, it's
possible to build DTML interfaces for this, but it's not part of the current
management interface. I think it should be, BEFORE Zope 2.0 is finalized, and
I'm willing to shell out some cash to make it happen.

So my questions still stand:

1) How much will it cost to get this added to Zope?
2) Does anyone else want to pledge some $$$ to make this happen?
3) Can we formalize this sort of arrangement in the future to allow individual
developers/users to pool resources to get particular features added? (sort of a
Zope-specific SourceXchange).

Thank you for your attention.

Michael Bernstein
Chief Information Architect, Profitscape. (boy do I like my title!)