[Zope] Re: [Re: [Zope] Dictionary properties within Zope.]

[happyrhino@usa.net]

>> I can add properties which can be lines, strings, numbers.
>> But hasn't anyone found the need to add dictionaries ?
>> In almost every website I've created, the global configuration
>> files are full of dictionary variables. 
>> For example, for navigation menus we might have 
>> navigation = {"Title 1" : URL1, "Title2" : URL2, etc}
>> from which it's then simple to generate the HTML for the navigation.
>> And there are many other instances where dictionaries save the day.
>
>The problem with this approach is, that you need at least three parts:
>title, url, and sort key.

Yes, that's what I usually have. But I use them over and over
again so it's worth it. The dictionary might be =
{ "geo" : "Geological Reports",
  "his" : "Historical Manuscripts",
  etc }

and then I have a list ["geo", "his".... ] which defines the list order
since the dictionary.keys() can not be used. URL's are always based upon
these keys so it's pretty much automatic :)


>Actually, this can be done much nicer in ZOPE with the Navigation >Product.

Maybe but I then call these dictionary keys in SQL statements. They're
ingrained into the website.

>> This would have been something very useful to put in the root
>> folder properties as a form of "site configuration". 
>Well, this is not actually the ZOPE Zen, as it is absolutly non object
>oriented. What if you delete some object? Or rename it? ...

True. It would be best if these were generated on-the-fly but 


>> The only references to dictionaries seem to be with respect to the
>> REQUEST.cookies and REQUEST.form and DTML doesn't seem to have the 
>> mechanisms for dealing with dictionary properties on folders.
>Well, you can always set them in DTML methods yourself ;)
>But navigation surely is the wrong usage for dictionaries ;)

Actually, navigation is done via lists. The dictionaries provide
titles or urls for the navigation :) Subtle difference.

Anyway, I think I've found a way to do it. Not very elegant though =

Create a 'lines' property called 'dico'
eg. bio:Biohazard
    chem:Chemical
    
Then in the DTML document use 
<dtml-in dico>
<dtml-var "_.string.split(sequence-item,':')[0]">
<dtml-var "_.string.split(sequence-item,':')[1]">
</dtml-in>

except I can't pass sequence-item to the Python expression :(

By the way, is that really the way to use Python string services ?
I tried <dtml-var expr="split()"> or <dtml-var "split()"> as per two
different versions of documentation and it didn't work. 

Henry


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