[Zope-CMF] modification date should not be bobobase_modification_time

[Tres Seaver]

R=E9mi Houdaille wrote:
> Summary
>=20
>    The DefaultDublinCoreImpl class in CFMDefault relies on
>    bobobase_modification_time() when determining the modification
>    time of an object. This is not quite appropriate,
>    and I believe that using a specific attribute to store the
>    modification time would be better.
>=20
> Problem encountered
>=20
>    I have built a simple application based on the CMF for management
>    of shared information with our customers. We recently moved our
>    web site from one server to another. For some reason, the move
>    was made by exporting the (CMF) sites to a .zexp and importing
>    it on the new Zope server.
>=20
>    From then on, the modification times of all content appeared
>    to be the date of the import. This not only impacts the
>    information you see when looking at a specific document,
>    but also makes news box and such things display the wrong list
>    of objects :(
>=20
> Proposed solution
>=20
>    I solved the problem by modifying the DefaultDublinCoreImpl
>    class and some dtml, in the following way :
>=20
>    1. Use an attribute modification_date to store and retrieve
>       the proper information. The modified() method relies on
>       this attribute, other methods call it and I added a method
>       to perform modification of the attribute.
>       The modified code is shown below :
>=20
>    def Date(self):
>        "Dublin Core element - default date"
>        # Return effective_date if set, modification date otherwise
>        date =3D getattr(self, 'effective_date', None )
>        if date is None:
>            date =3D self.modified()
>        return date.ISO()
>=20
>    def ModificationDate(self):
>        """
>        Dublin Core element - date resource last modified.
>        """
>        return self.modified().ISO()
>=20
>    def modified(self):
>        """
>        Dublin Core element - date resource last modified,
>        returned as DateTime.
>        """
>        # keep compatibility with old instances
>        # which do not have the modification_date attr
>        if hasattr(self, 'modification_date'):
>            return self.modification_date
>        return self.bobobase_modification_time()
>=20
>    def setModificationDate(self, date):
>        """
>        Dublin Core element - date resource was last modified
>        """
>        self.modification_date =3D self._datify(date)
>=20
>    2. Modify the xxx_edit.dtml files (I was based on CMF1.1
>       now it would be xxx_edit.py) so as to make a call to
>       setModificationDate(DateTime.DateTime()). I also have
>       specific creation script that I modified.
>=20
>       I did it this way because I didn't want to modifiy the
>       CMF itself (only my own application). If the modification
>       was to be included in the CMF, it should where appropriate
>       in the python code.
>=20
> Discussion
>=20
>    What do you think guys about this proposal?

I like it very much -- I have been regretting the choice to use=20
'bobobase_modification_time' almost from the first day I made it!

>    One question which comes to me is when exactly the
>    modification_time should be changed: I currently do
>    not change it when only metadata changes. It is not
>    changed either when the object is cut/pasted somewhere.

If we call 'setModificationDate' in the skins (the PythonScripts which , =
then
different sites can vary the policy by customizing. Perhaps calling it on=
ly
in the skin methods which update the content (not the metadata, nor workf=
low)
is the Right Thing (TM) for a default? To do anything more complicated, w=
e
would have to add policy, and UI for administering it, to the metadata to=
ol.

 > Another one is to call setModificationDate() at appropriate places in =
the
 > code so that it is always kept at a correct value.


Tres.
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Tres Seaver tseaver@zope.com
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