Class Context

Each request will have a new context.

This class defines a container for all of the information that gets passed around to all of the various screens, layouts, etc. Not everything in the context will have request scope. However, access to almost everything is provided via the context. The context is normally named ctx. Most classes subclass aquarium.util.AquariumClass and thus have self._ctx. All templates subclass aquarium.util.AquariumTemplate which puts ctx in the _searchList. Hence:

In Python                   In Cheetah
=========                   ==========

self._ctx.foo       =       $foo

Here is a list of things to expect in the context:

wsa

This wsadaptor object abstracts our interface to the Web server. See aquarium.wsadaptor.WebServerAdaptor.

iLib

This object contains a bunch of internal Aquarium functions. See aquarium.util.InternalLibrary.

form

This is an instance of aquarium.util.FormDict. It is a dict-like object representing the form.

request.cookie, response.cookie

This are instances of Cookie.SimpleCookie. See the Cookie module in the Python standard library.

cookiesVerified

If True, then we can safely use cookies.

db

This is a reference to a Python database module. Use dba instead. See the Python documentation.

dba

This is an adaptor for db. See aquarium.database.DatabaseAssistant.

session

This is a dict-like instance containing session data. See aquarium.session.SessionContainer.Session.

url

This is an urlscheme. urlscheme classes dictate how the screen parameter is positioned in URL's. See aquarium.urlscheme.UrlSchemeAPI.

screen

This is the module name (relative to the screen directory) of the currently active or requested screen.

screenInstance

This is an instance of the above screen. See aquarium.screen.ScreenAPI.

screenList

aquarium.util.Aquarium.screenLoop will add the name of the screen it is about to execute to this list before attempting to execute it.

controller

If you use aquarium.screen.Controller as the super class for your controllers, it will save a reference to the controller in the rare case you need to access the controller from the view.

actionResults

Messages that must be shown to the user can be set here by controller screens to be shown later by view screens. It is usually the layout's responsibility to output the message. You may choose to store actionResults in the session instead of ctx if you wish for it to survive redirects. See aquarium.screen.ScreenAPI and aquarium.layout.LayoutAPI. Also, see aquarium.util.ActionResults if you want more than just a simple string.

The following are for working with gettext:

translation

This is gettext.translation(...). See gettext.translation from the Python standard library.

_

This is ctx.translation.gettext. It also serves to mark the string for translation. Always use a a local variable to reference this (i.e. _("foo") instead of self._ctx._("foo")) or gettext will not be able to successfully note that the string is marked for translation.

gettext

This is the same as _, but does not mark the string for translation. This is useful if the string is a variable instead of a literal.

ngettext

This is ctx.translation.ngettext. It is like _, but for plurals.

N_

This is the identity function. It doesn't do anything other than mark the string for translation.

The following are for convenience:

properties

I.e. aquarium.conf.AquariumProperties.

cell0

The string cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"

clearGif

An instance of aquarium.widget.ClearGif.

htmlent

A shortcut for self._ctx.iLib.htmlEntities.

jsEsc

A shortcut for self._ctx.iLib.javaScriptEscape.

jsQuote

A shortcut for self._ctx.iLib.javaScriptQuote.