[Edu-sig] Python for Fun

[Schmidt, Allen J.]

Zope works great in the newspaper business. The stories come from the
print-side database as XML files and the whole lot is FTPd up to our server
overnight. An automatic script runs in the early morning to run through each
story, grab the properties of each (and any photos attached to the story)
add them into the Zope database and catalog each one. The the catagories are
pulled out and they are organized into groups; localities, sports, obits,
etc. Then when they are in, another script runs and the catalog index is
built which is what you see on our front page. All(most) is automatically
done - a process that used to take a guy all night to do by hand dealing
with static text files. 

Zope is a great tool and fun too! Changes all the time and we keep bolting
on new stuff.

Yes, please let me know how your courses go! Good luck!

Allen

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Meyers
To: Schmidt Allen J.; 'Chris Meyers '; 'edu-sig@python.org '
Sent: 5/25/2001 5:33 PM
Subject: RE: [Edu-sig] Python for Fun

Hi Allen,

I think I need to learn at lot more about Zope. Most of what we're 
doing here involves a marriage between database tables and Python 
dictionaries turned into objects. We made a small extension to the 
Sybase module to retrieve data from SQL queries, mold them into 
dictionarys, and attach as attributes to created objects. It was 
technology that was effective even 5 years ago.

I don't have much to offer for teaching yet. But I'll try to keep 
track this summer. Syllabus, what works, what dont. I assume you've 
seen Jeff Elkners book at www.ibiblio.org/obp and projects his high 
school class is doing.

Chris

05/25/2001 12:12:24 PM, "Schmidt, Allen J." <aschmidt@nv.cc.va.us> 
wrote:

>Hi Chris!
>
>I too work for a newspaper - The Free Lance-Star - in 
Fredericksburg,
>Virginia (www.fredericksburg.com). We are using Zope mixed with 
Python, XML
>and SQL to handle the automated production of our paper online. 
Working out
>very well and having a great time with Zope! Made our jobs a lot 
easier.
>
>Would love to hear of anything you can offer for teaching Python. 
We are
>Zopeheads here and some are more versed in Python than 
others...only using
>it for things we need to for interactiion in Zope.
>
>Trying to get a curriculum for teaching younger students (8-14) 
for our home
>schooling computer classes.
>
>Allen Schmidt
>aschmidt@fredericksburg.com
>