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<h1>Introduction</h1>
<p> Welcome to <em>The Zope Book</em>. This book is designed to introduce you to
Zope and its uses. Zope is an open-source web application server. If
you are interested in writing web pages, programming web scripts, using
databases, managing content, or doing a collaborative web development
task, then you should read this book.</p><h2> Why Should I Read this Book?</h2>
<p> This book is meant to appeal to both current Zope users and people new
to Zope:<ul>
<li>You don't need to be a programmer to read this book, or to use
Zope.</li>
<li>You should have some idea of how the web works; including a basic
understanding of HTML and URLs.</li>
<li>You should know what a web browser and a web server are and should
have some idea of how they communicate. </li>
</ul>
</p><p> The first part of the book explains to you how you use Zope
through its web managment interface to manage dynamic content.
The concepts in these chapters are are fundamental Zope concepts
that show you how to use Zope to publish content on the web.</p><p> Some later sections of the book cover advanced topics such as
relational databases, scripting with various programming languages, and
XML. These chapters don't teach relational databases, programming, or
XML, they simply show you how to use these technologies with Zope.</p><h2> How the Book Is Organized</h2>
<p> The organization of the book is presented below, as well as a brief summary
of each chapter.</p><h3> Part I: Introducing Zope</h3>
<p> These chapters get the reader up and running with Zope. You
learn about basic Zope objects and idioms.</p><h4> Chapter 1: Introducing Zope</h4>
<p> Chapter 1 explains what Zope is and who it's for. It
describes in broad strokes what you can do with Zope. You also
learn about the differences between Zope and other web
application servers.</p><h4> Chapter 2: Using Zope</h4>
<p> Chapter 2 covers the most important Zope concepts. By the end of
this chapter you should be able to use Zope to create and manage
simple yet powerful web applications.</p><h4> Chapter 3: Using Basic Zope Objects</h4>
<p> Chapter 3 introduces <em>objects</em>, which are the most
important elements of Zope. In it we cover what an object is
in general, and then we introduce the basic Zope objects:
folders, DTML documents, DTML methods, files, and images.</p><h4> Chapter 4: Dynamic Content with DTML</h4>
<p> Chapter 4 introduces <em>DTML</em>, Zope's tag-based scripting
language. In it we describe DTML's use for templating and
scripting and its place in relation to other ways to script
Zope. We cover DTML syntax and the three most basic tags, <em>var</em>,
<em>if</em> and <em>in</em>. After reading this chapter you'll be able to create
dynamic web pages.</p><h4> Chapter 5: Using Zope Page Templates</h4>
<p> Chapter 5 introduces Zope Page Templates, a new tool to create
dynamic HTML. This chapter shows you how to create and edit
page templates. It also introduces basic template statements
that let you insert dymanic content.</p><h4> Chapter 6: Creating Basic Zope Applications </h4>
<p> Chapter 6 walks the reader through several real-world
examples of building a Zope application. It provides plenty
of examples showing how to use Zope objects and how they can
work together to form basic applications.</p><h3> Part II: Creating Web Applications with Zope</h3>
<p> These chapters provide a more in depth look at advanced Zope
topics. They cover the material necessary to build real web
applications with Zope.</p><h4> Chapter 7: Users and Security</h4>
<p> Chapter 7 looks at how Zope handles users, authentication,
authorization, and other security-related matters. Security is
central to Zope's design and should be central to the web
applications that you create with Zope.</p><h4> Chapter 8: Variables and Advanced DTML</h4>
<p> Chapter 8 takes a closer look at DTML. It covers DTML security
and the tricky issue of how variables are looked up in
DTML. It also covers advanced uses of the basic tags covered
in Chapter 3 and the myriad special purpose tags. This chapter
will turn you into a DTML wizard.</p><h4> Chapter 9: Advanced Page Templates</h4>
<p> Chapter 9 goes into more depth with templates. This chapter
teaches you all the template statements and expression
types. It also covers macros which let you reuse presentation
elements. By the end of this chapter you'll know all there is
about page templates.</p><h4> Chapter 10: Advanced Zope Scripting</h4>
<p> Chapter 10 covers scripting Zope with Python and Perl. In it
we cover how to write business logic in Zope using more
powerful tools than DTML. It discusses the idea of <em>scripts</em>
in Zope, and focuses on Python and Perl-based Scripts. This
chapter shows you how to add industrial-strength scripting to
your site.</p><h4> Chapter 11: Searching and Categorizing Content</h4>
<p> Chapter 11 shows you how to index and search objects with
Zope's built-in search engine, the <em>Catalog</em>. It introduces
indexing concepts and discusses different patterns for
indexing and searching. Finally it discusses meta-data and
search results. This chapter shows you how to create a
powerful and easy to use information architecture.</p><h4> Chapter 12: Relational Database Connectivity</h4>
<p> Chapter 12 describes how Zope connects to external relational
databases. It shows you how to connect to and query
databases. It also covers features which allow you to treat
relational data as though it were Zope objects. Finally, the
chapter covers security and performance considerations.</p><h3> Part III: Developing Advanced Web Applications with Zope</h3>
<p> The final part of the book deals with advanced topics. You learn
how to scale your web application and extend Zope itself.</p><h4> Chapter 13: Scalability and ZEO</h4>
<p> Chapter 13 covers issues and solutions for building and
maintaining large web applications, and focuses on issues of
management and scalability. In particular, the Zope Enterprise
Option (ZEO) is covered in detail. This chapter shows you the
tools and techniques you need to turn a small site into a
large-scale site, servicing millions of visitors.</p><h4> Chapter 14: Extending Zope</h4>
<p> Chapter 14 covers extending Zope by creating your own classes
of objects. It discusses <em>ZClasses</em>, and how instances are
built from classes. It describes step by step how to build a
ZClass and the attendant security and design issues. Finally,
it discusses creating Python base classes for ZClasses and
describes the base classes that ship with Zope. This chapter
shows you how to take Zope to the next level, by tailoring
Zope to your needs.</p><h2> Conventions Used in This Book</h2>
<h3> This book uses the following typographical conventions:</h3>
<dl>
<dt> <em>Italic</em></dt>
<dd>Italics indicate variables and is also used to introduce
new terms.</dd>
<dt> <code>Fixed width</code></dt>
<dd>Fixed width text indicates commands, hyperlinks, and
code listings.</dd>
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