[Zope] interfaces and help system

Amos Latteier amos@zope.com
Tue, 02 Oct 2001 12:00:41 -0700


sean.upton@uniontrib.com wrote:

> Slightly off topic, I do have an interfaces gripe... or question, perhaps...
> If interfaces are to be used for API documentation, one thing they lack in
> the scarecrow interfaces implementation is the ability to declare constants
> in the interface like you would in IDL or Java.  DOM node type numbers are a
> good example of what comes to my mind in this case.  Any thoughts on how you
> would document objects that fulfill this sort of interface with scarecrow
> interfaces?


While we normally think of interfaces as describing classes, they can 
also be used to describe modules. Interfaces can also have attributes as 
well as methods. So to take your DOM example, you could use an interface 
with attributes to describe a DOM module interface.

We should remember though that interfaces alone are probably never 
enough to describe complex systems. It's often helpful to have framework 
documentation that gives background information and examples.

-Amos

-- 
Amos Latteier         amos@zope.com
Zope Corporation      http://www.zope.com/