Download OpenOffice in a buildout might sound odd but

• You got used (and I think you are right) to isolate your python environment for each projects (e.g using buildout & virtualenv)
• You want to control OpenOffice components with your favourite python using the official OpenOffice library: pyuno
  
• If you already installed OpenOffice, you might not see how to link your favourite python with the pyuno library provided by the OpenOffice package of your favourite distribution

• read and write doc, odt, rdf, xls and the most common file extension known in the different well known office suites
  
• generate nice pdf
• no xml parsing/transforms when you want to read odt & co
  
• fill in templates with content (e.g. pod )
  
• drawing shapes
• ... (you might want to have a look at the OO developper guide for more informations even if there is lot's of java examples )

• download OpenOffice from any url (default to OpenOffice 2.3) and extract it in your buildout
  
• replace the default python interpreter delivered with OO with the one you are using in your buildout
• create an egg with pyuno and link it inside your buildout

So if you list your zope library :

$ ls yourbuildout/parts/yourzope2/lib/python/zope

app               configuration    documenttemplate  exceptions  i18n           __init__.py  pagetemplate  schema    structuredtext  testbrowser  viewlet
cachedescriptors  contentprovider  dottedname        formlib     i18nmessageid  interface    proxy         security  tal             testing
component         deprecation      event             hookable    index          modulealias  publisher     server    tales           thread

You will get

$ ls yourbuildout/develop-eggs
zope.app.component.egg-info     zope.app.security.egg-info      zope.dottedname.egg-info     zope.interface.egg-info     zope.structuredtext.egg-info
zope.app.egg-info               zope.app.testing.egg-info       zope.event.egg-info          zope.modulealias.egg-info   zope.tal.egg-info
zope.app.event.egg-info         zope.cachedescriptors.egg-info  zope.exceptions.egg-info     zope.pagetemplate.egg-info  zope.tales.egg-info
zope.app.i18n.egg-info          zope.component.egg-info         zope.formlib.egg-info        zope.proxy.egg-info         zope.testbrowser.egg-info
zope.app.interface.egg-info     zope.configuration.egg-info     zope.hookable.egg-info       zope.publisher.egg-info     zope.testing.egg-info
zope.app.pagetemplate.egg-info  zope.contentprovider.egg-info   zope.i18n.egg-info           zope.schema.egg-info        zope.thread.egg-info
zope.app.publisher.egg-info     zope.deprecation.egg-info       zope.i18nmessageid.egg-info  zope.security.egg-info      zope.viewlet.egg-info
zope.app.schema.egg-info        zope.documenttemplate.egg-info  zope.index.egg-info          zope.server.egg-info

Where each of these file will be seen for setuptools as an egg:

$ cat yourbuildout/develop-eggs/zope.app.component.egg-info

Metadata-Version: 1.0
Name: zope.app.component
Version: 0.0

Sure this might look like an ugly hook but I can't wait for zope 2 eggification

Virtualenv is a tool which will help you to isolate your python environment

Install Virtualenv

$ easy_install virtualenv

$ cd myApp.buildout
$ ls -l
bootstrap.py
buildout.cfg

$ virtualenv --no-site-packages .

$ ls -l bin
activate
easy_install
easy_install-2.4
python2.4

$ ./bin/python2.4 bootstrap.py
$ ./bin/buildout

• you can't always code in pair
• you don't want to compile & tests to check that is fine in the last few line you have just written
• you want to write nice python code
• you want to improve the way you write python
  
  

It exists a few very interesting softwares that can help you.

Here is a list of the one I am using really often:

PyFlakes - http://www.divmod.org/projects/pyflakes

PyLint - http://www.logilab.org/view?rql=Any%20X%20WHERE%20X%20eid%20857

These two are nice also but not as good as the previous one:

PyMetrics - http://sourceforge.net/projects/pymetrics

PyChecker - http://pychecker.sourceforge.net/
 
These tool are directly linked to my favourite editor VI:

command Pyflakes :call Pyflakes()
function! Pyflakes()
    let tmpfile = tempname()
    execute "w" tmpfile
    execute "set makeprg=(pyflakes\\ " . tmpfile . "\\\\\\|sed\\ s@" . tmpfile ."@%@)"
    make
    cw
endfunction

command Pylint :call Pylint()
function! Pylint()
    setlocal makeprg=(echo\ '[%]';\ pylint\ %)
    setlocal efm=%+P[%f],%t:\ %#%l:%m
    silent make
    cwindow
    endfunction

And better each time you save your python file in vim , I check for wrong imports with Pyflakes with:

autocmd BufWrite *.{py} :call Pyflakes()

Step 1: Installing pysvn

$ python2.4
Python 2.4.3 (#2, Oct  6 2006, 07:52:30)
[GCC 4.0.3 (Ubuntu 4.0.3-1ubuntu5)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import svn
>>>

$ tar xvzf pysvn-1.5.0.tar.gz 
 ...
$ cd pysvn-1.5.0/Source
$ python2.4 setup.py configure 
...
$ make
...[pray]...
$ mkdir /usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/pysvn
$ cp pysvn/__init__.py /usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/pysvn
$ cp pysvn/_pysvn.so /usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/pysvn

$ python2.4
Python 2.4.3 (#2, Oct  6 2006, 07:52:30)
[GCC 4.0.3 (Ubuntu 4.0.3-1ubuntu5)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import svn
>>>

Step 2: Installing SVNMailer

$ tar xvzf svnmailer-1.0.8.tar.gz
   ...

$ cd svnmailer-1.0.8
$ /usr/bin/python2.4 setup.py install
   ...

 You have now a brand new svnmailer installed. Check it with:

$ ls -l /usr/bin/svnmailer
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2192 2006-10-24 17:00 /usr/bin/svn-mailer

3) Configure your repository to use svnmailer

We created a svn repository:

$ svnadmin create /var/svn/repos1

$ cd /var/svn/repos1/hooks

#!/bin/sh
REPOS="$1"
REV="$2"
/usr/bin/svn-mailer commit "$REPOS" "$REV" /etc/svn-mailer.conf

chmod 755 post-commit

4) Configure SVNMailer

[general]
# see http://opensource.perlig.de/svnmailer/doc-1.0/#general for details.

# the diff command to be used ... just copy it...
diff = /usr/bin/diff -u -L %(label_from)s -L %(label_to)s %(from)s %(to)s
# the sendmail location
mail_command = /usr/sbin/sendmail

[mymodule]
# see http://opensource.perlig.de/svnmailer/doc-1.0/#groups for details
# this part of the config apply only for commits under mymodule
for_paths = mymodule/.*

# the subject of the email
commit_subject_prefix = [MYMODULE]

# From address in the mail
from_addr = jfroche@jfroche.be

# To address ...
to_addr = peopleinterestinginmymodule@foo.bar

[defaults]
# see http://opensource.perlig.de/svnmailer/doc-1.0/#groups for details
# this part of the config apply for all the other module

# Default From address template
from_addr = %(author)s@localhost.localdomain

# the subject of the email 
commit_subject_prefix = [SVN]
to_addr = jeff@jfroche.be foo@skynet.be bar@gmail.com
generate_diffs = add copy modify
suppress_deletes = yes

/usr/bin/svn-mailer commit "$REPOS" "$REV" /etc/svn-mailer.conf

/usr/bin/svn-mailer commit "$REPOS" "$REV" /etc/svn-mailer.conf 2> 1> /tmp/svnmailer.log

Blog is a short form for weblog in fact, principe is simple: display at the top the newest written article.
There is different kind of weblog:

• Personal : express the life's thoughts
  
• Professional : express professional experiences

• Cultural : express all your culural (music, movie, paintings...) thoughts

Most of my stuffs will be about personal and professional expericences, General will be my personnal thoughts and the others will be topic oriented.

As Zope and Plone are part of my professional fun for the moment these are the actual topics. Don't know if I will be enough talkative to express what I see, feel but it's a good exercice for me. Taking also my place into this so big world...

My previous thoughts about blogging were very negative, thinking that most are unuseful and never read. They were like books inside a cellar that nobody read. Things are changing as you see. While working on a zope 3 stuff, I was yesterday thinking  "hey I should put that somewhere on a page..." and the weblog idea came up again. Don't want to tell myself "you should go there every night and at least write something", something that I will do during few days and stop, I know me. So let's say I will write here when i feel so without any dates constraints.

Spelling, grammar... I am a native french speaker that should take more english lessons. I don't want to write here in french as english is thecommon language in the zope/plone community. I hope people don't mind too much about that ?