[Zope] ZAjax anyone?

[Greg Fischer]

So I have been reading and learning a lot the last couple days about this
whole AJAX thing. I really think it is something I am going to move towards
for web apps. However, I don't want to lose Zope. I wonder if any of you
would be willing to comment on this?

I quickly tested Ruby on Rails, given all it's hype lately. It's a nice
setup, but I kept using it thinking, "I can do that in DTML quite easy." I
just don't have the XMLHttpRequest going, or the Javascript client libraries
that make the interface improvements. The tutorials I followed mentioned
that you have this nice recipe app in a half hour. I thought again, "So, I
can do that in a half hour in Zope." It's not the speed that appealing, it's
the XMLHTTP requests without page reloads that is appealing. If I can just
do this in Zope, wow! (There were some things in Rails that I liked, like
the whole Model/Controller/View thing. But, really, we could implement that
type of scenareo in Zope apps too, I would think.)

I did it. (at a very simple/small level) Though it's not automated like in
Rails, but it's not that hard. I used Prototype.js and Rico.js for the Ajax
client libs. Then I simply setup a generic/non-css Rolodex page like the one
for Rico http://openrico.org/rico/demos.page?demo=ricoAjaxInnerHTML.htmlFrom
here, I made a simple DTML Method,
getPersonInfo.xml. It had DTML to check for request objects passed in from
the Rolodex ajax objects, and then send back the particular record. Pretty
simple, but quite an eye opener for me.

It really got me thinking. We need, for those of us who would like to pursue
this development, a Zope/Ajax backend. There's a bunch of others for PHP,
.NET, and whatever else. We need ZAjax!

I would love to have a product (called ZAjax :) that simply receives a
request from the client and spits out xml. To be more specific, a set of
classes that call ZSQL methods and retrieve records, then send that back in
xml format. Maybe make it so, in my client script, I can call the python
class with arguments of, zsql method name, zsql method args. Doing it this
way would keep things database platform independent. (more so than Rails)
Also, it would give you control of the SQL, and make our table space
indiferent to the python or client engine. And, it would still keep it
simple, or at least, not really any more complicated than doing zpt or dtml.
IMHO. What do you guys think?

One of the things that bugged me about Rails was the fact that you have to
name your table primary keys "id". And you have to call them a plural name.
(like contacts) And in the ruby code, you refer to your classes singularly.
(contact) Plus, foreign keys had to be named, othertable_id. This whole
thing really messed me up, and turned me off to it. Then, I found out that
using stored procedures was shunned upon. LOL! Yeah right! I can totally see
the arguments they have though, but to me it's a matter of preference. I
like sprocs for certain things, whether or not I am using a whole new style
of web programming. And, I love Zope. Can't do without it.

So, after reading all that, I have on last thought. Is it really best to
even use Zope in an AJAX-style application? Maybe it's best to use
mod-python in Apache? And if I am doing that, then there's always DJango.
Well, for me, I have a hunch, that at some point the ability to use your
Ajax app with the existing ZODB (and all the other Zope niceties) will be
huge benefit and a powerful platform.

OMG, long email...

I am going to spend a little more time practicing this new development and
testing it. Probably I will move to script.aculo.us
<http://script.aculo.us>for the extension to
prototype.js because of the nice interface elements. However, I don't know
how to build a Zope product yet. So, if there's nothing available in the
next few months, I guess I'll start working on it. (IF I decide it really is
best to stick with Zope, which I think it is.) BTW, I know about the Json
thing too, but I prefer to stick with same methods and objects already used,
like prototype. (used by Rails)

Is there an sql to xml product for zope that would do this already?

Thanks for listening... and I'll have more to say.
Greg


--
Greg Fischer
1st Byte Solutions
http://www.1stbyte.com
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