[Zope] Zope Advice for Java Man

[Mitch Pirtle]

Greetings Java Man!

I've chopped the message down to the few points that I am commenting to:

> >Can I convert an Excel sheet to read into Zope? 
> 
> Don't know, but search the Internet, and I'm sure you'll find
> something about it.

You definitely have options here, there are Zope Products (add-on
applications and modules) that you can work with.  You can browse
through a huge listing at:

	http://www.zope.org/Products/

> >How can I program for Zope without being restricted by its Web
> interface (I am using eclipse for Java development and that is much
> different from hacking little bits of code in various Web forms)? 
> 
> Look into Zope Products, written in Python.  See
> http://zope.org/Documentation/Books/ZopeBook/2_6Edition/CustomZopeObjects.stx

I think you're asking about the development environment, no?  I use
WebDAV and FTP to access the files from Zope, and a local editor (in my
case, Anjuta on linux).  With WebDAV you can pretty much 'mount' the
ZODB like a filesystem, and edit with whatever tools you prefer.

> >What would you suggest for a good solution and how do I learn the
> required skills in the shortest amount of time? 
> 
> Best Python book I know:  "Python: Visual QuickStart Guide" from
> Peachpit Press.  Instant answers to your questions.

Interesting book, I'll take a look just out of curiosity.

I'm a huge fan on Plone, an out-of-the-box portal for Zope.  Integrate
the Epoz graphical content editor, and you have one easy to use system. 
I had a 40-something attorney publishing on his own website within 5
minutes, no documentation provided.  No HTML or programming knowledge
needed, for him it looks just like Word.

	Plone: http://www.plone.org/
	Epoz: http://zope.org/Members/mjablonski/Epoz

> >Are there good comprehensive examples to look at? It seems that I
> learn best from looking at other people's code.
> 
> Zope is open source, so you can examine every line of code.  Zope.org
> provides custom products others have written, which are also all open
> source.

Again, the Plone community is very helpful, and the code is there for
your examination.  Sometimes it is easier to look at what others do...

> >(*) This is about pieces of old music that are played in various
> instrumental settings. One query is to search for combinations of
> pieces with a given set of instruments in order to prepare for a
> concert. The interface needs to be easy to handle and avoid
> re-entering the same information more than once (e.g. a composer or
> publisher). Therefore, I foresee that comboboxes are used a lot for
> selecting previously entered values/objects. The application first
> used on a personal workstation, but may be made available for
> multi-user access (eventually contributions) on the Web later on.

One good place to look at is Archetypes:

	http://sourceforge.net/projects/archetypes

Archetypes lets you create your own custom content types.  This would go
a long way for you to have easy-to-edit forms for data entry as well as
maintenance, and also simplifies your efforts at displaying lists and
sorting them for the website.

Hope this helps,

-- Mitch