[Zope] - How to register an object?

[Amos Latteier]

At 09:52 AM 1/13/99 +0100, Stefan Willie wrote:
>there are documents at zope.org that say I can publish an object, say
>'billy', and invoke its
>methods with a url
>
>        http://my.site/billy/my_method
>
>How can I register an object in Zope?

Well, it all depends what you mean by 'Zope'. It's confusing because Zope
can refer to either the entire Zope framework or simple the Zope ORB.

From the Zope site:
"""
Using Zope components separately -- You can use the Zope ORB and other Zope
components like templates and the object database separately in your Python
programs. You should consult the Technical Introduction to Object
Publishing with Zope and the Trinkets Tutorial for perspectives on
developing with Zope components. 
"""

These two documents:

http://www.zope.org/Documentation/Reference/ObjectPublishingIntro
http://www.zope.org/Documentation/Reference/Trinkets

describe object publishing in general terms and are not concerned with the
Zope framework. They assume that you are publishing your own module with
the Zope ORB. (I'll update them to make that assumption more obvious.)

In fact, as old BoboHeads know, the Zope framework is just another module
which is publishable by the Zope ORB.

So to publish your own objects without the Zope framework just set up the
Zope ORB to publish your module. There are many ways you can do this,
including using PCGI, ZopeHTTPServer, and the new CGI publisher. (Take a
look at the ZPublisher release if you want to publish your own modules.)
Probably the easiest way is to invoke ZopeHTTPServer on the commandline:

  ZopeHTTPServer.py path/to/MyModule

Now the Zope ORB is publishing your module on the web.

If you want to publish your objects within the Zope framework you have more
things to consider. If you don't want your objects to have any connection
or knowledge of the Zope framework then an external method like so will
probably work:

import MyModule

def myObject:
  "return my object"
  return MyModule.myObject

If your object needs to communicate with Zope objects then things get
trickier. You need to start learning the Zope API and figuring out how to
accomplish your goals. If you are doing simple things, sticking with an
External Method is a good idea. If you are doing complex things you should
consider writing a Zope Product.

Hope this helps.

-Amos

P.S. The ExternalObjects Product was an experiment to see how useful it
would be to give simple and arbitrary object publishing facilities to Zope.
This project is not being actively pursued, but I haven't given up on the
idea yet. If you have trouble with ExternalObjects I'd be glad to try and
help, but please remember that ExternalObjects is just an experiment, not
an official part of Zope.