[Zope] Adding files

Derek Simkowiak dereks@realloc.net
Mon, 10 Dec 2001 09:19:03 -0800 (PST)


     All,
	I have a few (easy?) questions wrapped into one email here, so I
apologize for that.  But I haven't been able to find the necessary info in
the docs, www.zope.org, or "The Zope Book".

	My client wants to publish files to Zope using MS-Windows
"drag'n'drop".  They want to drag entire directory trees and drop them
into Zope.  Publishing files individually (and manually creating all
subdirectories) through the web admin interface is too slow.

	I see two possible solutions:

1.  Use Samba to "share" a filesystem via SMB, and then use some kind of
3rd-partyProduct that lets Zope import a filesystem tree.  The client
would drop files to the Samba share, and those files would magically
appear in Zope.  (Can anyone point me to such a Product?)

2.  Use either WebDAV or FTP with Windows XP's native support for those
protocols.  Windows Explorer would make the Zope server appear like any
share, but use WebDAV.  This would require Windows XP or an Explorer
add-on such as FTPDrive (which makes FTP sites appear like a drive).

	Have I missed any possibilities?

	My next question is: When I create a object in Zope, I have to
select the type (i.e., the "Select type to add..." dropdown).  Is it a
DTML Document?  DTML Method?  An Image?

	When adding files to Zope with WebDAV or FTP, how does it know
what "type" to make those new files?  If I upload 'spam.html', will that
become a DTML Method?  A DTML Document?  What if I want .html files to be
ZPT pages instead?  Does it use file extensions, or MIME types, or magic
numbers?

	Finally, related to the above question, my client wants to use
Zope to publish LARGE files.  Video files, DVD images, etc. (it's a video
shop).  I've looked at the Product ExtFile (w/ExtImage), which claims to
store only meta-data in the Zope ODB, and not the file contents itself.  
With ExtFile, the contents reside as regular filesystem files, thus not
plugging up the ZODB when you have very large files.  Frankly, I'm a bit
surprised that this is not standard Zope architecture.

	Anyway, I want to make sure that these huge (300MB to 2 gig) don't
bring Zope to a halt.  Other than ExtFile, are there any recommendations?  
If files are uploaded with WebDAV, how do I make it default to "type"  
ExtFile?


Thank You,
Derek Simkowiak
dereks@realloc.net