Zope and Plone in the DSD

David Konerding

DSD Group Meeting

3/5/2004

Zope is an App Server

• Python-based• Transactional object database• Dynamic HTML (Python-like scripting)• Powerful “through-the-web” management and

development• Tightly integrated security model• Can load “products” which add features such as

content management• Supports WebDAV, XML-RPC, external RDBMS

connections, SOAP

Zope is a way of life (your new life begins now)

• The fundamentals are:– Zope is a framework into which you publish

objects– Zope objects include folders, so you can

create hierarchical structures– Objects “acquire” (similar to inherit) behavior

from their ancestors– The Zope object instance hierarchy maps to

the URL model

Zope is a way of life (a reading from the Book)

• Your web browser sends a request to the Zope server. The request specifies a URL in the form protocol://host:port/path?querystring", e.g. http://www.zope.org:8080/Resources?batch_start=100.

• Zope separates the URL into its component "host", "port" "path" and "query string" portions (http://www.zope.org, 8080, /Resources and ?batch_start=100, respectively).

• Zope locates the object in its object database corresponding to the "path" (/Resources).

• Zope "executes" the object using the "query string" as a source of parameters that can modify the behavior of the object. This means that the object may behave differently depending on the values passed in the query string.

• If the act of executing the object returns a value, the value is sent back to your browser. Typically a given Zope object returns HTML, file data, or image data.

• The data is interpreted by the browser and shown to you.

Zope's seminal duty is to "publish" the objects you create. The way it does this is conceptually straightforward.

Example of constructing a small home page.

• We already have a place for per-developer pages: https://bosshog.lbl.gov/people

Imagine I want to add a new page.• To enter the Zope management interface (you must have

permission), simply add “/manage” to the URL• Example:

– https://bosshog.lbl.gov/people ->– https://bosshog.lbl.gov/people/manage

To add a new folder…

To add a new folder…

To add a new folder…

To add a page to your new folder

To add a new page to your folder

Editing the new page

Viewing the new page

Viewing the new page

Accessing content via WebDAV

Accessing content from WebDAV

a

WebDAV

• Drag and drop files and folders into Zope!• In my experience WebDAV is kind of flaky, especially on Windows.

The linux command line client “cadaver” works just fine.• There is also FTP support, but it’s currently disabled due to plaintext

passwords.

Some other fundamental Zope concepts

• Acquisition: objects “acquire” (like inherit) behavior from their ancestors. Many behaviors can be defined at the root of the Zope site and acquired across the site- nice way to provide headers, footers, etc.

• Security: Zope has a sophisticated, yet hard to understand security model. Effectively, users are assigned roles and roles have permissions on objects. Administrative tasks can be delegated to users. Security ties in with acquisition to allow for very sophisticated access mechanisms

Products add features to Zope

• Products are Python packages which can be integrated within Zope. After integration (stop server, copy a folder into the Zope tree, start server), you can add product instances within your site.– ZWiki- a Wiki component– Plone- a sophisticated Content Management

Framework– ZSQL– VirtualHostMonster

Plone- the ultimate Zope product

• Plone lives on top of the Content Management Framework product.

• It allows you to create sophisticated sites with a minimum of work.

• Easy to add files, manage document publishing workflows (such as author writes document, editor edits it, then reviewer approves it)

• Wikis (and more plones) can be embedded within a Plone, allowing sub-projects complete control

Our site’s usage of Zope and Zope Products

Our external site tree (rooted at https://bosshog.lbl.gov)/people/projects

DSDCluster – Plone documenting the clusterpyGrid (virtual server published at https://pygrid.dsd.lbl.gov)

pyGlobuspyGridware

/proposalsDOERenewals

The pyGrid site is actually a Plone, with 2 more Plones and a Wiki inside.

Sensitive parts of the site are only accessible by authenticated users (basic HTTP auth over HTTPS).

The “true root” of the Zope web site is not publicly accessible, and is only used for administrative purposes

The Python Grid Community Plone (pygrid.dsd.lbl.gov)

Plone example- the pyGrid web site

/projectspyGrid

pyGridPlonepyGridWikipyGridware

pyGridwarePlonepyGlobus

pyGlobusPlone

The Plone sites provide news and document publishing- good for publicizing releases

The Wiki sites allow community involvement- answering FAQs, showing examples, writing tutorials

Viewing My Folder

Adding a new document

Publishing the document (submit for review)

Publish or Perish