[Zope3-dev] RE: [SpringCleaning07]

[Stephan Richter]

On Tuesday 19 December 2006 06:16, Roger Ineichen wrote:
> > Here is a list of candidates for removal (please verify!):
> > zope.dependencytool

-1, it is used by people to find dependencies in their packages. It is not 
referenced anywhere in the code, because it is a standalone utility.

> > zope.fssync

+1

> > zope.importtool

-1, ditto to zope.dependencytool. Finding all the unused imports in a package 
is very useful and people do this from time to time. Clearly this code is not 
used anywhere, because it represents a standalone utility.

> > zope.modulealias

+1, though I might think some people still use it. So we have to be careful.

> > zope.sequencesort

+1

> > zope.wfmc

+1, but please make it very easily available. People do use this code in 
production; Zope Corp. and Adam Groszer come to mind. 

> > zope.xmlpickle

+1

> > zope.app.dtmlpage

+1

> > zope.app.file

-1, I use it all the time in combination with zope.app.image to have quick 
file support. This is acceptable, if you do not plan to store thousands of 
large documents. BTW, I would welcome a conversion to use blobs.

> > zope.app.fssync

+1

> > zope.app.zptpage

+1

I would suggest the following packages in addition to the ones above:

- zope.app.i18nfile

This package was only a demo early on, but I think we can remove it now.

- zope.app.homefolder

I know that some people -- particularly Florian Lindner -- are using this 
package. I think it should be available in the repository, but the use case 
of a homefolder is very CMS-specific and does not need to be in the base Zope 
3.

- zope.app.preview

I think the template in this package could be merged into another one.

- zope.app.recorder

I really hope noone is using this old way of doing functional tests anymore. 
Even if they do, the recorder is not required for running them.

- zope.app.schemacontent

I really love this package, because it really demonstrates some fascinating 
aspects of the Zope 3 API. However, it should not be part of the base 
distribution or be in the source tree. :-\

- zope.app.servicenames

While the deprecation warning says Zope 3.5, I really doubt that anyone has 
still code based on services working with Zope 3.3. That would be a miracle. 
I suggest you can remove it now.

- zope.app.sqlscript

This package has for me the same importance as zope.app.dtmlpage and 
zope.app.zptpage. It contains some nice code that shows how to use RDB 
connections correctly, but I doubt that anyone is seriously using them. 
SQLObject and ZAlchemy are just better options. I would leave it in the 
repository, but remove it from the core tree.

- zope.app.zopetop

It's dead for a long time.

- zope.app.versioncontrol

I think better approaches have been provided. As far as I can remember, ZC 
came out with their own package that fixes several design flaws of this 
package.

- zope.app.undo

Is anyone using this? I am certainly not. I think it can be removed. Phllip, 
you put a lot of work into it, what do you think? However, I think the code 
has a place in the repository, though there it runs in danger of quickly 
being outdated.

- zope.app.renderer

You can safely remove it from the base tree. It was not such a big success as 
I was hoping for. Other approaches are easier. Note that wiki and bugtracker 
still use this code, so it should be still available for those packages.

- zope.app.sqlexpr

A truly simple example of writing new TALES expressions, but nothing that 
should be any longer in the base tree; however, I would really like to keep 
it in the repository. This could move into the z3c namespace.

- zope.app.demo

This is a really tricky one. The point of the package is to collect 
demonstration code and the point of it living in zope.app is that it will 
always work. But does it belong here? I do not know. What do others think?

- zope.app.styleguide

This package contains Zope 3 coding style conventions, but I am not sure it is 
used as the canonical source for the conventions. I think the Wiki is more 
central. I know Roger put a lot of time into the package, so maybe we can put 
the information not contained in the wiki there and then remove the package.

----------------------

I'll note that the removal of several of the zope.app.* packages means a 
further distancing from TTW, offering the casual newscomer even less to look 
at. I am okay with this direction, but others might object strongly. This 
should really be brought up on zope3-users or other high-level mailing lists.

Regards,
Stephan
-- 
Stephan Richter
CBU Physics & Chemistry (B.S.) / Tufts Physics (Ph.D. student)
Web2k - Web Software Design, Development and Training