[mod_python] mod_python with AJAX / MDA project looks for support

Anastasios Hatzis ah at hatzis.de
Fri Dec 15 08:01:12 EST 2006


Hopefully I'm not at the wrong place with my issue: I'm author of the 
OpenSwarm project on SourceForge.net. It's about feeding a MDA-like tool 
with an UML model (XMI file) so it generates a server application 
written in Python and using PostgreSQL as database-server, including 
multi-tier enabled business logic and transaction safety.

I plan to extend the generator by the ability to do the same with GUI 
clients and Web-based user-interfaces, where latter should run on Apache 
and mod_python. Speak: a user is specifying pageflows, dialogs, widgets 
etc. in UML (like does it for the business logic), connecting them with 
parts of the supplying logic components and the SDK will generate the 
Web UI component more or less fully automatically.

Two or three years ago I built some web-apps based on mod_python for a 
similar project (but apps were based on C++ instead of Python). 
Currently I'm experimenting with a MVC-like approach where the model is 
a wrapper to the generated Python application. Requests are handled by 
mod_python.publisher, while the handlers are the only Python modules in 
the public directory and they are just firing respective controllers in 
the non-public directory which are doing all the real Web-stuff (calling 
appropriate pages, contents, and so on). This prototype is not in the 
official release yet but in projects SVN branch.

It currently works 'traditional' style, speak: one page is returned per 
request. But since it's also meant to satisfy needs of heavy-users (e.g. 
end-users of a generated ERP solution who need hot-keys, drag & drop 
...) I'm also thinking of an additional AJAX support (probably where the 
Web UI decides on the fly which way it serves the pages depending on 
browser's capabilities).

Now I'm looking for ideas, comments, advice, whatever will help this 
project to get these eye-catching features :-) If you are even 
interested to contribute, e.g. regarding the mod_python-oriented 
aspects, I really appreciate any kind of support. Thank you.

Anastasios


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