[ZPatterns] Re: CMF and ZPatterns ..

Ulrich Eck ueck@net-labs.de
Mon, 12 Nov 2001 13:09:35 +0100


> Hi there.  Re CMF and ZPatterns I said, in another thread...
>
>>  Moreover, just reading the link Steve A. gave, it
>> seems the modifications Ulrich Eck describes are hacks
>> themselves--perhaps not as bad as the theoretical ObjectManager hack but
>> still something that would have to be maintained regularly along with
>> CMF upgrades.  I don't
> like
>> it.
>
> I may have said that too strongly; I'm sorry.  In any case, going straight
> to you--am I right that one would have to probably maintain this approach
> along with CMF upgrades?  I noticed you said, in a similar thread from
> which I took the subject line:
>

Like i said in my last mail, it is not possible to provide the modifications
as Hotfix and therefore it would be necessary to keep uptodate with the CVS
which is really to much work. What I got from my work, modifying CMF was:
A PortalFolder, that is a Folder w/Customizer and a PortalContent-Object 
that
is a DataSkin.

The bad thing is, that you need to map EVERY attribute from your 
PortalContent-
Objects to a corresponding Attribute-Provider which is not too easy 
(DublinCore,
Workflow ...).

>> I work on some kind of CMF-Application Framework, that takes the
>> advantages of CMF (Workflow,Skin) further.  An AppLogic
>> Tool, that provides an UI-Workflow and a FormsTool (already released).
>> With this combination and a small Product (an CMF-Application) you can
>> put small units into a CMF-Site (e.g. an Adressbook that uses a
>> Specialist and its Dataskins, an UserManager ... ). This way is much
>> more convenient and maintainable than putting the whole CMF into a
>> ZPatterns app i think.
>
> Do you mean by this making a specialist into a CMF tool?  If so, I was
> pondering this very thing.  I'd love to see what you've put together so
> far, if you feel like sharing.
>

No .. not this way. the CMF-Applications are not a way to store CMF-Content
somewhere else, but it enables you to put small applications that need a
UI-Workflow and Forms (an Addressbook, a Calendar). With this applications
I access the data that is stored in the db.

The Workflow stores its data in a CST-Session and so every user gets the 
inital
screen when he comes first to the app. An Application is whatever you want 
(e.g.
a Specialist that provides the data, but the data is not stored in ZODB)

It is not yet released because it is supprisingly simple if one has some 
documentation
for it, which has not yet arrived :)


I aggree with Phillip, that the ComponentArchitecture will help building 
PortalObjects
that can store data whereever they want. This does not mean, that CA brings 
this magic
by itself, but it will be easier to implement.

> Thanks a lot
>



Ulrich Eck
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