DTML<->Python confusion (RE: [Zope] How to make a script return rendered dtml)

[Peter Bengtsson]

> > When does RESPONSE need to be passed; it can always be gotten
> > from the REQUEST, right?
>
> Right.

Not even REQUEST has to be passed as argument.

def foo(self,REQUEST):print REQUEST.lastname
==
def bar(self): print self.REQUEST.lastname

But many manage_* methods use the REQUEST=None and if REQUEST is not None,
redirect to 'manage_workspace' or else void.

Is there a special little trick in Zope that passes REQUEST as a parameter
to say "this is ZMI"? Is REQUEST specially treated compared to other
arguments?