Creating Dynamic Web Pages (ZOPE)

[Nicola Larosa]

> I am not exactly sure where to post this question -- the only
> reference that I could find for ZOPE in the Newsgroups is here.  I
> appologize if this is not the correct place.

There are many mailing lists on the Zope site, ask on the main one for 
further advice, and also search the ZopeDB archives for details on the best 
way of interfacing with MS SqlServer, it was a recent discussion.


> I have the situation where I need to create a simple Intranet for my
> company to display dynamic / data driven web-pages.  We are running a
> Windows NT network with MS-SQL Server and IIS.

Zope runs well on Windows, on its own or behind IIS.


> I had originally thought of using ASP (Server Side Scripting) to
> generate the dynamic web-pages.  While I know how to create the
> Intranet using ASP, I have yet to find any RAD type Web-Tools that
> will allow me to quickly and easily generate the ASP pages required,
> and I don't fancy using the Notepad approach either.

You will have to do some editing, but while not exactly RAD, there are tools 
that will help you, and you will end with a much more maintainable solution.


> My scenario is typical where I need to put together a company Intranet
> with a few front end Web-Pages where users can select information,
> various links, and enter search criteria.  The information is then
> retrieved from the MS-SQL Server and the results are sent back to the
> user.  It's nothing fancy, no shopping carts, or remembering sessions
> states, etc.. just really a simple front-end interface for
> non-technical people to easily retrieve information.

Use the ZDataQueryKit Product:

http://www.zope.org/Members/haqa/ZDataQueryKit

It contains a number of wizards that will help with SQL queries creation and 
report generation.


> I don't know if ZOPE would fit my situation or not.

I think so, and nicely too.


 > I know that it is / can be used to create complex E-commerce sites,
 > but I am wondering if it is overkill for what I need done.

No, it's not. It contains lots of tools, but you will only use what you 
need. The important thing is that the infrastructure is solid, and the 
synchronization with external RDBMS transactions is outstanding. The 
extensive authentication and authorization model has already been mentioned.


> Would I be better off trying to find some sort of RAD Web Tool
 > instead (anyone have any good suggestions) ?

Nothing more RAD than Zope that I know of, in the open source world.

Only, just give a thorough look at the ZopeBook, you will get a much better 
start:

http://www.zope.org/Documentation/ZopeBook/

And lastly, just jump over DTML and go straight to Page Templates. :^)


-- 
"Too much cleverness in the parser can turn against you."
   Guido Van Rossum

Nicola Larosa - nico at tekNico.net