Defining and accessing macros located in browser:page template

The case: I want to define a simple browser page (let's name it "mypage") for a page template where I defined some metal macros (in my case it is a template for an archetypes field). My product does not provide a skin for portal_skins, I don't want to add a layer and all the generic setup stuff just for a single template. I'm using plone 3.1.

The problem: @@mypage/macros does not work as legacy portal_skins page templates used to.

Solution: define a simple class like this:

from Products.Five import BrowserView

class MacrosView(BrowserView):

@property
def macros(self):
return self.index.macros

The ZCML for "mypage":

<browser:page
for="*"
name="mypage"
class=".macros.MacrosView"
template="mypage.pt"
allowed_attributes="macros"
permission="zope.Public" />

There could be a better, less verbose solution (like providing a meta definition for zcml, in order to avoid declaring "class" and "allowed_attributes"). We could also patch Five BrowserView.

In my case I have been able to use mypage as a template for my archetypes widget:

MyWidget(macro="@@mypage",)

Compared to legacy PT you will loose some builtins (like python: test()), but that kind of logic should be (easily) moved into a dedicated view class. This is noticeable in the case you are customizing an old template (like archetypes/widgets/file.pt ;-))

Dunno if it is the "right way of doing things", at least it worked-for-me(tm).