[Zope] Management interface and DTML Methods vs Documents

[Stephan Richter]

At 12:48 PM 3/25/00 -0600, you wrote:
>While I still have the training wheels on, I've been trying to be careful 
>to understand the difference between DTML Methods and DTML Documents. I 
>thought I was doing OK until I noticed this about the management interface 
>(when looking at a folder):

You asked one of the most tricky questions for beginners. If you look in 
the mailing list archives you will find the answer, but here my attempt:

I think of DTML Methods as functions that work on the folder they are in. 
Think about it this way: A folder is a class, then all DTML Methods are 
methods of the class Folder. They contain no properties other than id and 
title.
DTML Documents are on the other hand classes as well. So a DTML Document in 
Folder is like a subclass of the class Folder. Since DTML Document is a 
class, it can contain properties, while DTML Method does not.

Also, if you say: <dtml-var title> the DTML Method will return the title of 
the folder, whereby DTML Document will return its own title. That makes 
perfectly sense knowing the above definition.

How do I use them? Whenever DTML is called directly from the browser (like 
a link, or typed in  URL) I use DTML Documents. Whenever a document or 
other object calls DTML from inside I use DTML Methods.

I hope I did not confuse you. Don't take it as a major drawback to not 
completely understand the differences. It took me well over a month.

Regards,
Stephan
--
Stephan Richter - (901) 573-3308 - srichter@cbu.edu
CBU - Physics & Chemistry; Framework Web - Web Design & Development
PGP Key: 735E C61E 5C64 F430 4F9C 798E DCA2 07E3 E42B 5391