[Zope3-dev] Re: Zope 3 web root

[Shane Hathaway]

Martin Aspeli wrote:
> On Thu, 09 Feb 2006 18:40:51 -0000, Shane Hathaway 
> <shane at hathawaymix.org>  wrote:
> 
>> An idea just occurred to me.  I think others have probably had 
>> similar  ideas, but didn't express it in the right place or time.
> 
> 
>> Part 1: Let's put an Apache-like web root
> 
> 
>> Part 2: Let's add some ZCML directives that define how to interpret  
>> filenames in the web root by their extension.  Let's also interpret  
>> special per-directory files that map URI names to filenames, similar 
>> to  Apache .htaccess files.
> 
> 
> So, I'm serving static content like Apache, I'm interpreting file types  
> like Apache and I'm using .htaccess files like Apache. But I'm using Zope.
> 
> Why am I not just using Apache?
> Would I be learning this beast that is Zope?

The content is not necessarily static.  If you drop a .zpt file in the 
directory, and some ZCML has mapped .zpt to PageTemplateFile, the result 
is generated on the fly.  It's a rapid prototyping tool and a gentle 
entry into the world of Zope.  You're using Zope because your friends 
recommended it or it's because you already know it.  You believe that 
the prototype can evolve fairly easily into a Python package, if you 
later need it.

>> Part 3: One kind of file we can put in the web root serves as a 
>> gateway  into an object database.
> 
> Or use RewriteRules?

RewriteRules only work externally.  One possible use of a .zodb file is 
to mount a catalog or an object store, which requires an internal reference.

> P.S. I would be more excited if there was a similarly integrated story 
> for  RDBMS.

Are you saying you want to put code and templates in an RDBMS, that you 
want content to be stored in an RDBMS, or that you want to talk to an 
RDBMS without putting SQL scripts in an OODBMS?

> P.P.S. I think Zope is great in large part because of the ZODB, not in  
> spite of it

I agree.

> P.P.P.S. I agree that having alternate ways of storing information is  
> attractive

Yup.  Figuring out exactly how to do that, though, has proven hard. :-)

Shane