[Zope] Am I getting the idea correctly?

Frank Isaacs frank@dolphintechnology.com
Sat, 8 Jul 2000 17:37:51 -0400


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I'm so new to Zope that I can barely even spell it. But I'm about to =
spend some time and effort getting proficient with something that =
enables dynamic, database-connected (and database-updateable) content on =
web sites so I can sell it to clients, and the appeal of Zope is =
overwhelming in this arena.=20

I am a very proficient PowerBuilder programmer, but Sybase's offerings =
are cumbersome and somewhat expensive. I am well versed in many of =
Microsoft's products, particularly VBA for its Office products, but I =
worry greatly about using anything from Microsoft because it's hard to =
know when I'll run into a "gotcha" that I'll curse myself for later on. =
Cold Fusion and other products seem a happy medium but the CF server =
piece is about $5k, and some others are more expensive.

But here's what worries me about Zope: it looks I will do a whole lot of =
typing and get caught up in the syntax and repetitive nature of things =
like <dtml-var ------> and <dtml-this -----> and <dtml-that ----- >. OK, =
so it's not made for the faint-of-heart at this point - I can handle =
that. But I also am not an HTML maven, and it looks like I need to have =
full HTML expertise to make this work also. GUI tools take the drudge =
out of <a href=3D"something">something and <h2>this is a heading</h2> =
pretty well, but I don't see how to get out of this stuff with Zope, =
especially since it looks like everything is stored internally in a data =
file that I can't access from the outside.

Am I correct? Or is there help on the horizon for those of us who have =
no graphic design skills and <shudder> actually believe there's a place =
for GUI-based tools?

Thanks for any light you might shed on this subject for me -

-Frank

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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I'm so new to Zope that I can barely =
even spell it.=20
But I'm about to spend some time and effort getting proficient with =
something=20
that enables dynamic, database-connected (and database-updateable) =
content on=20
web sites so I can sell it to clients, and the appeal of Zope is =
overwhelming in=20
this arena. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I am a very proficient PowerBuilder =
programmer, but=20
Sybase's offerings are cumbersome and somewhat expensive. I am well =
versed in=20
many of Microsoft's products, particularly VBA for its Office products, =
but I=20
worry greatly about using anything from Microsoft because it's hard to =
know when=20
I'll run into a "gotcha" that I'll curse myself for later on. Cold =
Fusion and=20
other products seem a happy medium but the CF server piece is about $5k, =
and=20
some others are more expensive.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>But here's what worries me about Zope: =
it looks I=20
will do a whole lot of typing and get caught up in the syntax and =
repetitive=20
nature of things like &lt;dtml-var ------&gt; and &lt;dtml-this =
-----&gt; and=20
&lt;dtml-that ----- &gt;. OK, so it's not made for the faint-of-heart at =
this=20
point - I can handle that. But I also am not an HTML maven, and it looks =
like I=20
need to have full HTML expertise to make this work also. GUI tools take =
the=20
drudge out of &lt;a href=3D"something"&gt;something and &lt;h2&gt;this =
is a=20
heading&lt;/h2&gt; pretty well, but I don't see how to get out of this =
stuff=20
with Zope, especially since it looks like everything is stored =
internally in a=20
data file that I can't access from the outside.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Am I correct? Or is there help on the =
horizon for=20
those of us who have no graphic design skills and &lt;shudder&gt; =
actually=20
believe there's a place for GUI-based tools?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Thanks for any light you might shed on =
this subject=20
for me -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>-Frank</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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