Principle

Features provided by ZOPE

ZOPE is a powerful objected-oriented framework which provides a lot of rich fonctionnalities to build web application. Plomino uses the following ones:

• Authentication and access control: Plomino ACL's access levels (Reader, Author, editor, Deisgner, Manager) are implemented through ZOPE local roles
• Storage system: all the ZOPE objects are stored in the ZODB, each Plomino database will be stored in the ZODB.
• Language: ZOPE is developed in Python, so Python is the natural scripting language in Plomino, it can be used to write field, view selection, or hide-when formulas, etc., it can also be used to build agents.
• Index and search capabilities: ZOPE provides the ZCatalog class to index any type of object. Each Plomino database has a local ZCatalog (apart from the Plone one), it allows to search the database content and to manage the views' indexes.

Features provided by Plone (and Archetypes)

Plone is a CMS based on ZOPE, it provides the following to Plomino:

• Web user interface: navigation, skinning, layout, etc.
  
• CMF Archetypes, a product development framework: Plomino objets (PlominoDatabase, PlominoDocument, PlominoView, PlominoForm, PlominoField, etc.) are Archetypes products

What was missing to get closer to Lotus Domino ?

All the tools are available, but the Lotus Domino concepts are still missing in Plone. Plomino aims to provide them:

• Plomino database: basically a folder to handle content and design
• Plomino document: a piece of content that be structured the way the user needs
• Plomino form: a way to display and edit document dynamically
• Plomino view: to list and sort documents conviniently