[Zope] Allaire Spectra

[Jay, Dylan]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Bernstein [mailto:mbernstein@profitscape.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 07:33
> Cc: zope@zope.org
> Subject: Re: [Zope] Allaire Spectra
> 
> 
> "Jay, Dylan" wrote:
> 
> > Has anyone  had a good look at Allaire Spectra?
> > It looks like Zope on steriods. Or at least marketed that 
> way. Perhaps
> > someone can do a feature for feature comparrison.
> 
> I did a comparison for DC about three weeks ago. With Paul's 
> permission, here is
> a somewhat edited version:
> 
> Paul Everitt wrote:
> 
> <stuff deleted about DC's strategy>
> 
> > With that in mind, how does Zope, particularly the new 
> Zope.org site,
> > stack up against Spectra?

<stuff snipped>
 
> 
> Get this: Almost all of the management and meta-management 
> interfaces are
> dynamically generated from the object model. Some of this 
> could be accomplished
> in Zope by allowing developers to incorporate 'naked' 
> elements from the
> management interface (for example propertysheets) into their 
> DTML without the
> 'chrome' of the tabs etc.(ie: <dtml-var propertysheetform>). 
> If an object had
> more than one propertysheet, it would be nice to be able to 
> include them all in
> one add/edit form, and have Zope do the heavy lifting
> 
> Currently, it is possible to generate add and edit forms for 
> ZClasses, and then
> edit the DTML to change the appearance. But if the ZClass 
> definition changes,
> those forms need to be re-generated, and the appearance 
> changes done again. This
> seems as though it could be handled a little more elegantly 
> by embedding a call
> for a 'naked' form that is dynamically generated, into a DTML 
> document that
> contains all the code for the appearance of the page. That 
> way when the ZClass
> definition changes, the form would too.

I think this is a really good idea. However there would need to be more meta
data kept about the properties to determine how to represent it well, eg a
textarea for a string property is ofter more appropriate than a simple input
box. To do this, perhaps each property could have an optional edit field
where you can put in property name inpedendent html that would render an
edit widget for a single property.

If fact now that I'm on the topic. Why are properties and and
objects/methods so seperate? It seems to me what I'm describing above is
creating a speciaiztion of a simple object type (ie string) with a different
render or edit method. What aren't properties objects? What can't objects be
extended in an as-hoc manner. Why can't complex objects such as an XML
document exist as a property and be changed/viewed in the same way as any
property on a property sheet? Why can't I copy/rename/delete any property
like I can a method. I see the difference between methods and properties as
a organizational one rather than a logical one.