Welcome to Z Topics.

What are Z Topics?

  Z Topics are objects which allow you to categorize and browse 
  your Zope objects much as Yahoo and other web indexes categorize
  resource.
  
  Z Topics uses Z Catalog to find objects to categorize. To categorize
  objects in a Z Topic, they must be in a Z Catalog.
  
How does a Z Topic contain Zope objects?

  A Z Topic doesn't actually contain the objects that are included
  in it. Instead a Z Topic uses a collection of Z Catalog searches
  to maintain a sort of live collection of contents. You can think
  of Z Topics as canned Z Catalog queries.

How are Z Catalog queries defined?

  Use the *Search Criteria* management tab to examine and change a Z
  Topics catalog searches. From this view you can add and delete
  searches, and edit existing searches.  Each search has a collection
  of search expressions which describe what to look for in the Z
  Catalog.

  All search expressions are Zope expressions like those available
  via the DTML 'var' tag. For example here are some valid search
  expressions:: 
  
    ["DTML Document", "DTML Method"]
  
    ZopeTime() - 7
  
    "boat OR ship"
    
  By using search expressions you can compose fairly detailed Z Catalog
  searches.
  
How do Z Topics compose searches?

  A Z Topic can contain multiple searches. The results of the searches
  are combined (or OR'd) together.

How do Z Topics work in hierarchies?  
  
  Z Topics, like Zope Folders can hold other objects including other
  Z Topics. It is often useful to arrange Z Topics inside each other
  so that you might have a "Vehicles" Z Topic which contains a number
  of sub-topics including "Boats". The "Boats" sub-topic could contain
  further sub-topics such as "Motor Boats" and "Sail Boats".

  To facilitate this arrangement Z Topics include two search options,
  'Refine parent Topic results' and 'Exclude child Topic results'.
  You can control these setting under the *Search Options* management
  tab.
  
  'Refine parent Topic results' causes a Z Topic to acquire its
  parents search criteria. This effectively means that the Z Topic
  will refine its parent search. In other words, the Z Topic will
  contain a sub-set of its parents results.
  
  'Exclude child Topic results' causes a Z Topic to not display
  results that are included in its child Z Topics. This effectively
  avoids having results listed in multiple places in a Z Topic
  hierarchy.
  
  By selecting both options you can easily built rich hierarchies
  of Z Topics. For example, the "Vehicles" Z Topic could contain
  a search that returns all objects concerned with vehicles. The
  "Boats" Z Topic could then contain search criteria that differentiate
  "Boats" from other vehicles. If it acquires its parent's search
  criteria, "Boats" need not be concerned with how to locate vehicles
  in general. Additionally, if "Vehicles" excludes its child results
  then when the "Boats" sub-topic is added, then "Vehicles" will not
  display boat results, as they are listed under "Boats". If you
  remove "Boats", the boat listings will return to "Vehicles".

How do Z Topics handle caching?
  
  Z Topics cache search results for efficiency. For Z Topics in
  large hierarchies, quite a few Z Catalog searches may be necessary
  to determine the Z Topic's results.
  
  When you change a Z Topic's search settings its cache is cleared
  and the cache of other Z Topics that rely on it also have their
  caches cleared.
  
  You can manually clear a Z Topic cache under the *Search Options*
  tab. You might want to do this after add a lot of information to
  a Z Catalog which will change the Z Topics search results.
  
What is RSS?

  RSS (Rich Site Summary) is an XML format for content syndication.
  Several popular web sites including http://my.netscape.com and
  http://my.userland.com use this format. By creating an RSS format
  for a Z Topic, you are creating a view of the topic which can be
  shared easily with others via content syndication.
  
  Find out more at http://my.netscape.com/publishing
  
What is the status of the Z Topic product?

  This product is currently unsupported. You are free to use it under
  the terms of the ZPL, but Digital Creations does not offer support.
  
  That said, we do accept patches.
  

Don't forget to have fun!

-Amos
