[Seaside] state of the aubergine

Frank Sergeant frank@canyon-medical.com
Sat, 20 Apr 2002 22:55:31 -0600


Avi Bryant <avi@beta4.com> wrote:
 
> We're currently finishing up a Seaside application that manages ticket
> sales for a group of theatres - basically a point of sale app, which has
 ...

Thank you for describing your application.

> processes are quite sequential, there ended up being essentially no
> coupling between the various pages.  Instead, the application is
> structured as a bunch of dialogs with simple inputs and simple outputs

I think that is one of the major appeals of the Seaside approach, that
one might avoid becoming too deeply intangled in the html flow control
(if I've understood correctly).  I had played a little with the app that
was finally done in Dolphin by trying out Python with its httpd server
and I was favorably impressed with it in many ways, although I did find
myself becoming a little too intangled in coding the next actions on
each page.  The main reason I abandoned that approach at the time was
fear that the users would not accept a web-based interface (they had
been used to a DOS/Clipper interface), especially with regard to
keystroke shortcuts for moving incrementally and/or rapidly through
picklists.  With a web-based app, I had trouble getting certain
keystrokes, I forget which now, which had become "standard" in the DOS
version of the app.  Now I am not quite so worried about that aspect.  I
still wonder how well it would be received by users who are focused on
data entry speed and who prefer never to move from the keyboard to the
mouse.

> I'll be using Seaside for some other stuff this summer, but I probably
> shouldn't talk about it yet ;-).

Sure, no rush, just tell us whatever you like whenever you can.

(And, thanks to Nevin for posting details on how he is using Squeak and
Seaside.)


-- Frank