[Zope] Re: why DTML confusing
To all of you that responded, I appreciate your comments. I will admit, after reading some of your comments, and going back to the DTML Reference, this topic is discussed in the section under "The special namespace variable". Right before my eyes, there is an example doing exactly what I wanted: dtml-if "_['sequence-length'] 20" The dtml-in variables don't follow Zope's own rules on variable names, but I've been told that this might change. Beyond this, when you need to do anything complex with DTML, the code gets really ugly. I have found it cleaner to just write an external Python method to take care of such complex things like parsing fields for wildcards, etc.. I will also look at Python Methods and ZClasses. Finally, don't get me wrong. I like Zope. It's the best solution I have found for through-the-web management and program development. I thank all of the Zope folks for that! Cheers, --irene "Spicklemire, Jerry" wrote: Irene says: I get so frustrated with DTML, I want to scream. Please don't tell me to buy the Zope book, DTML should be more intuitive. DTML maybe the heart of Zope, but it's also it's achilles heel. You're right about the confusion, frustration, nor are you alone. Still, DTML isn't the heart of Zope, it's more like the fascia. DTML was intended to make the task of delivering dynamic content wrapped up in HTML-ish Templates easier. It evolved, and took on a broader scope that made it enticing for lot's of "other stuff". Like most evolution, there are obvious benefits, and some unfavorable outcomes. The most glaring problems show up when you start trying to do things that seem to be just a step or two more sophisticated than simple examples that "just work". There's good news. Python Methods, or whatever we end up calling them, make actually implementing such things as easy as Py(thon). For some folks, it may look like the bad news is, "Now I have to learn Python". In perspective, learning Python is way better than wading through the Zope API via DTML. Way way better. So, the moral is, keep the DTML as simple as it can be. For anything else, reach for another tool. Zope has bunches of them. BTW, the dtml-if "_['sequence-item'}" stuff is the tip of the DTML Complexity Iceberg. The sooner you get comfortable with Python Methods, ZClasses, etc., the happier you'll be. One last point. Python Methods (a.k.a. Restricted, Internal, or some other as yet unheard of alternative, which we are all anxiously awaiting) is an add-on at this point. Target date for inclusion as part of the standard "Core Zope" is Zope v.2.3. For now, see: http://www.zope.org/Members/4am/PythonMethod Later, Jerry S. -- Irene BargEmail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Steward Observatory Phone: 520-621-2602 933 N. Cherry Ave. University of Arizona FAX:520-621-1891 Tucson, AZ 85721 http://nickel.as.arizona.edu/~barg ___ Zope maillist - [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope ** No cross posts or HTML encoding! ** (Related lists - http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope-announce http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope-dev )
[Zope] why DTML confusing
Hello All, I do read HOW-TO's, User-Guides, etc., but I think DTML must be made simpler, or better documentation, or more examples. As an example, within an dtml-in loop: 1. You can print the values of sequence-items with: (index=dtml-var sequence-index, number=dtml-var sequence-number, item=dtml-var sequence-item) 2. To test for equality, this does not: dtml-if "sequence-index == 0" (dtml-var count-adassnum Records found) /dtml-if 3. While this does work: dtml-if "_['sequence-index'] == 0" (dtml-var count-adassnum Records found) /dtml-if I say this is confusing. Don't tell me to read the Namespace How-to, or the Zope User Guides, I did, and it's still confusing! Unless you find an example, that does exactly what you want, trying to figure it out with the documentation available can be difficult. I found my answer to this in the "How-To: (How-to) access the field names and fields of any arbitrary ZSQL query", but it took a lot of searching the Zope site for references to 'dtml-in'. I get so frustrated with DTML, I want to scream. Please don't tell me to buy the Zope book, DTML should be more intuitive. DTML maybe the heart of Zope, but it's also it's achilles heel. -- irene ------ Irene Barg Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Steward Observatory Phone: 520-621-2602 933 N. Cherry Ave. University of Arizona FAX:520-621-1891 Tucson, AZ 85721 http://nickel.as.arizona.edu/~barg -- ___ Zope maillist - [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope ** No cross posts or HTML encoding! ** (Related lists - http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope-announce http://lists.zope.org/mailman/listinfo/zope-dev )
Re: [Zope] XML-RPC vs External method?
Kapil,
Thank you for this simple solution! I'm new to XML and Zope
and sometimes I get caught in learning too many new things
at once, we forget to think "simply":-) Thanks to you, I
don't need to use either External method, or XML-RPC. The
following simple DTML method works:
dtml-call "RESPONSE.setHeader('content-type','text/xml')"
?xml version="1.0"?
program
dtml-in get_all_programs
row
adassnumdtml-var adassnum null=""/adassnum
iddtml-var id null=""/id
titledtml-var title null=""/title
name_ldtml-var name_l null=""/name_l
name_fdtml-var name_f null=""/name_f
typedtml-var type null=""/type
/row
dtml-else
!--There was no data matching this query.--
/dtml-in
/program
Thanks again!
--irene
Ender wrote:
if the xml format is simple you could just do it dtml, it would end up
with some extra white space but it would still be valid.
a dtml method akin to
?xml version="1.0"?
dtml-in mysqlretrieve
item
contentdtml-var content/content
squishydtml-var squishy/content
/item
/dtml-in
kapil
Irene Barg wrote:
Hello all,
I have setup a query form to query a small MySQL database using
Zope. It consists of:
1. ZMySQL Database Connection (ZMySQLDA)
2. ZSQL method
3. A search interface.
Now, what I want is the user to have the option of viewing the
results in HTML or raw XML. I think there can be two approaches
to this: 1. External method, or 2. XML-RPC.
1. External method: Replaces the ZMySQL database connection
with an external Python function called 'mysqldb_XML', pieces
of which follow:
def mysqldb_XML(self,query):
"""
Use a MySQL SAX driver to map relational data to XML.
Hacked from PyXML saxdemo.py. The MySQL driver is a modified
version of Sean McGrath's drv_mysql.py ("XML Processing with
Python").
"""
from xml.sax import saxexts, saxlib, saxutils, writer
import sys,urllib
#Our MySQLdb XML driver;
driver="xml.sax.drivers.drv_mysqldb"
.
out = sys.stdout;
p=saxexts.make_parser(driver)
dh=writer.PrettyPrinter(out,dtdinfo=info)
try:
p.setDocumentHandler(dh)
return p.parse(query)
except IOError,e:
return in_sysID+": "+str(e)
except saxlib.SAXException,e:
return str(e)
Inside Zope, I get the ZSQL 'query' and do something like:
dtml-call "RESPONSE.setHeader('content-type','text/xml')"
dtml-in "mysqldb_XML(query)"
dtml-var sequence-item
/dtml-in
2. XML-RPC: It seems to me XML-RPC could do this too, but
I don't know how one would print out the raw XML response.
Could I have a Zope client request the ZSQL method above,
but instead of sending it to my output DTML method, I just
print the raw-XML stream? Examples would be helpful:-)
It seems to me if XML-RPC already produces an XML formatted
stream, it would be more efficient to just use it (unless
there is yet another way in Zope I'm not aware of). Is it
possible? Is there any reason to want to use the external
method instead?
Thanks for your comments,
--irene
--
Irene Barg Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Steward Observatory Phone: 520-621-2602
933 N. Cherry Ave.
University of Arizona FAX:520-621-1891
Tucson, AZ 85721 http://nickel.as.arizona.edu/~barg
--
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--
--
Irene Barg Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Steward Observatory Phone: 520-621-2602
933 N. Cherry Ave.
University of Arizona FAX:520-621-1891
Tucson, AZ 85721 http://nickel.as.arizona.edu/~barg
--
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[Zope] XML-RPC vs External method?
Hello all,
I have setup a query form to query a small MySQL database using
Zope. It consists of:
1. ZMySQL Database Connection (ZMySQLDA)
2. ZSQL method
3. A search interface.
Now, what I want is the user to have the option of viewing the
results in HTML or raw XML. I think there can be two approaches
to this: 1. External method, or 2. XML-RPC.
1. External method: Replaces the ZMySQL database connection
with an external Python function called 'mysqldb_XML', pieces
of which follow:
def mysqldb_XML(self,query):
"""
Use a MySQL SAX driver to map relational data to XML.
Hacked from PyXML saxdemo.py. The MySQL driver is a modified
version of Sean McGrath's drv_mysql.py ("XML Processing with
Python").
"""
from xml.sax import saxexts, saxlib, saxutils, writer
import sys,urllib
#Our MySQLdb XML driver;
driver="xml.sax.drivers.drv_mysqldb"
.
out = sys.stdout;
p=saxexts.make_parser(driver)
dh=writer.PrettyPrinter(out,dtdinfo=info)
try:
p.setDocumentHandler(dh)
return p.parse(query)
except IOError,e:
return in_sysID+": "+str(e)
except saxlib.SAXException,e:
return str(e)
Inside Zope, I get the ZSQL 'query' and do something like:
dtml-call "RESPONSE.setHeader('content-type','text/xml')"
dtml-in "mysqldb_XML(query)"
dtml-var sequence-item
/dtml-in
2. XML-RPC: It seems to me XML-RPC could do this too, but
I don't know how one would print out the raw XML response.
Could I have a Zope client request the ZSQL method above,
but instead of sending it to my output DTML method, I just
print the raw-XML stream? Examples would be helpful:-)
It seems to me if XML-RPC already produces an XML formatted
stream, it would be more efficient to just use it (unless
there is yet another way in Zope I'm not aware of). Is it
possible? Is there any reason to want to use the external
method instead?
Thanks for your comments,
--irene
--
Irene Barg Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Steward Observatory Phone: 520-621-2602
933 N. Cherry Ave.
University of Arizona FAX:520-621-1891
Tucson, AZ 85721 http://nickel.as.arizona.edu/~barg
--
___
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** No cross posts or HTML encoding! **
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