Updated ownership documentation

help/ObjectManager_Import-Export.dtml

@@ -10,8 +10,54 @@
 		  var directory of the server on which Zope is running. If
 		  you choose <tt>XML format</tt>, the export file will be encoding as
 		  XML, otherwise it will be encoded as a binary file. </p>
-<p> To import an object into to Zope, specify the name of the import
-		  file in the <tt>Import file name</tt> field and click the
-		  <tt>Import</tt> button. The import file should be located in the Zope
-		  import directory of the server on which Zope is running.
-		  </p><dtml-var standard_html_footer>
+
+
+
+<p> 
+To import an object into to Zope, specify the name of the import 
+file in the <tt>Import file name</tt> field. The import file should 
+be located in the Zope import directory of the Zope installation. 
+Click the <tt>Import</tt> button to import the objects in the import 
+file.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By default, you will become the owner of the objects you import. In 
+some cases you may want to preserve the ownership information in the 
+imported objects. To preserve the existing ownership information in 
+the imported objects, select the <tt>retain existing ownership information</tt>
+ option before clicking the <tt>Import</tt> button.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Note that when you elect to retain existing ownership information, the 
+ownership information will be used exactly as it appears in the imported 
+objects. For instance, if the object you are importing was acquiring its 
+ownership information in the place where you exported it, it will 
+continue to acquire its ownership information when you import it (though 
+the actual ownership information may now be different in the context into 
+which it is imported). 
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Likewise, if the ownership of an object was explicit 
+(not acquired) when it was exported, then it will be explicit after it is 
+imported. The important thing to note in this case is that if you export an 
+object from another Zope site, the user who owned that object in the other 
+site may not exist in the site you are importing the object into. Zope does 
+not check to make sure the owner exists if you import an object that was 
+explicitly owned. 
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If the explicitly named owner does not exist in the site 
+that you are importing into, imported objects that depended on their 
+owner having a higher level of privilege than the special <tt>nobody</tt> 
+user may not work correctly until their ownership has been reassigned to 
+another user with sufficient privileges. See the online help for <a 
+href="<dtml-var SCRIPT_NAME>/Control_Panel/Products/OFSP/Help/Ownership.dtml">
+ownership</a> for more details.
+
+</p>
+
+<dtml-var standard_html_footer>

help/Ownership.dtml

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 <h1>Ownership</h1>
 
+<h2>Overview</h2>
+
 <p> 
 This view allows you to manage the ownership of a Zope object.
 </p>
@@ -10,7 +12,8 @@ This view allows you to manage the ownership of a Zope object.
 All Zope objects except objects within the Control Panel support 
 ownership. When an object is created, copied or imported in Zope, 
 the logged-in user performing the operation becomes the owner of 
-the resulting object(s).
+the resulting object(s). Note that simply moving or renaming an 
+object does not change its ownership.
 </p>
 
 <p>
@@ -39,7 +42,11 @@ If an object is owned directly, the ownership information is
 stored in the object itself. If an object is owned implicitly, 
 it acquires its ownership information from its container (which 
 may in turn acquire its ownership information from <em>its</em> 
-container, and so on). When Zope automatically assigns ownership 
+container, and so on). 
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Zope automatically assigns ownership 
 to newly created or copied objects, it tries to use implict 
 ownership if possible. This makes it easier to change the 
 ownership of many objects at one time without having to visit 
@@ -115,4 +122,33 @@ you will also see a button labeled <tt>Take ownership</tt>. Click
 the button to take ownership of the object.
 </p>
 
+<h2>Notes on Ownership</h2>
+
+<p>
+It is possible to remove a user in your Zope installation while 
+objects that were owned by that user remain (for instance, 
+someone in your organization moves on, so you remove his account 
+on your Zope server). When you remove a Zope user, objects that 
+were owned by that user still have ownership information that 
+refers to that user. This will not cause an error, but it is 
+important to understand what happens to Zope objects whose owners 
+no longer exist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This is most important for "executable" objects. Usually, the 
+abilities of executable objects are constrained by the abilities 
+of the object's owner as well as the user causing the object to 
+execute. If Zope cannot find the user that the executable's ownership 
+information refers to when it tries to execute the object, it will 
+use the special <tt>nobody</tt> or anonymous user instead. The 
+<tt>nobody</tt> user has very minimal priveleges, so you should take 
+this into account when deciding what to do about a user's owned 
+objects when you delete the user. If the user had DTML documents or 
+other executable objects that depended upon their owner to have a 
+higher level of privilege than the <tt>nobody</tt> user, they will 
+not work correctly until their ownership has been reassigned to 
+another user with sufficient privileges.
+</p>
+
 <dtml-var standard_html_footer>