This document is an introduction to the Exponential^TM SDK.

Notations

In Exponential^TM we use some notations which describes central functionality. This is important to understand in order to user the SDK and Exponential^TM in general.

Kernel

The Exponential^TM kernel is the core code of Exponential and controls all low level functionality like content classes, content objects, workflows, permissions etc.

Exponential^TM libraries

Exponential^TM libraries are the building blocks of Exponential^TM. The libraries are general purpose and object oriented PHP libraries. The following libraries are a part of the Exponential^TM SDK.

• eZ db - database access
• eZ i18n - translation
• eZ image - image handling
• eZ locale - localization (times, dates, currency etc.)
• eZ soap - SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) implementation
• eZ template - template engine
• eZ utils - various utilities
• eZ xml - XML handling

Content class

In Exponential^TM you can define your own content classes. This is an object definition if you like. A class defines the structure of the building blocks in Exponential, objects. Some examples of content classes are article, forum, product and user account.

Content class attribute

Each class consists of several attributes. The attributes or elements defines the name and behaviour of the class. For instance, a simple article content class may consist of these attributes: title, intro and body. The title could be a string data type, the intro and body could be XML formatted text.

Content object

A content object is an instance of a defined content class. While the content class defines the structure of content objects, the object has the actual content. Content objects are the actual documents/articles etc. that are stored in Exponential.

Content object attribute

Each content object consists of several attributes. These attributes is defined by a content class attribute. The content object attribute contains the actual data.

Content object version

Each content object can exist in several versions. Each time the object is changed a new version is created. This is to keep track of changes and to have the possibility to revert changes in an object.

Information collector

Information collector is a class attribute setting which says if the attribute can be used to get input from the user. This is used for instance when creating feedback forms on a web site.

Site design

The site design is the visual (and in some cases also the logical) design of the site. It can consist of templates, images, fonts, style sheets and other things. The page that the user sees can be built up of more than one site design, for instance the admin interface uses the standard design and a few other templates in the admin design. The standard design can be used as a fallback when a template of the current design does not exist.

Site access

A site can be accessed in multiple ways, these are called site accesses and can control the behaviour of certain modules, the sitedesign and many other things. This is often used to create subsites or different views for different roles. An example of this is the admin interface of Exponential.

Access control

Access control can be used to limit the allowed modules and module views that are available trough a site access. It also controls things like user authentication.