browser interface?

[Patrick Phalen]

[Bob Horvath, on Tue, 07 Dec 1999]
:: Patrick Phalen wrote:
:: 
:: > [55555, on Sun, 05 Dec 1999]
:: > :: Not having a formal CS background, I have no real idea about how to pass
:: > :: information between programs, and I don't have time to teach myself any GUI
:: > :: toolkits.  I thought using a browser as an interface would be an easy
:: > :: compromise.  So my question is should I use the cgi module to do that or is
:: > :: there a better way?  Also, if I'm using cgi, is there a way to not reload my
:: > :: script every time a button is clicked?  Thanks in advance.
:: >
:: > Sounds like Zope might be a fit.
:: >
:: > http://www.zope.org
:: 
:: The Zope learning curve might be a bit much.  It depends on what he wants to do.
:: I am very intersted in Zope, have it loaded on my machine, but have not been able
:: to get off the ground with it.  I am anxiously awaiting the O'Reilly book.  If
:: anyone has any good pointers to where to start with Zope, I'ld love to hear about
:: them.
:: 
:: My answer to the original post would have been that cgu is probably what you want
:: to look at, but Zope should be considered too.

Bob,

You make a good point. Zope requires more time and mental investment to
learn than cgi.py. However, the original poster asked for a persistance
model across requests, too. Given that, I think it *might* be easier
overall to learn Zope than try to engineer transaction-like behavior
from scratch. IOW, he'd likely end up needing an application server
anyway.

In regard to documentation, it's improving. Have you looked lately at
http://zdp.zope.org and at http://www.zope.org/Documentation?
Quite a few Guides and Tips now. Browse through the How-Tos -- there are
close to 100 of them now.