The Template Slots Pane

The Template Slots pane at the bottom of the Class Form displays the direct and inherited slots for the selected class. Slots, which represent properties of your class, are a crucial part of your knowledge base. 

The Template Slots pane provides the following information:

  1. The Template Slot Buttons, which allow you to view, create, clear, and add slots.
  2. The Template Slot Menu, which has the same actions as the Template Slot Buttons.
  3. The Slot Icons, which give information about the slot.
  4. The Slot Summary Columns, which summarize the information which was entered or edited in the Slot Form or Slots Tab.

In the example, Editor has several slots which appear in the Template Slots pane.

The Template Slot Buttons

The buttons at the upper right of the Template Slots pane allow you to edit, override, add, and remove slots. See the separate Template Slot Buttons topic for more information.

You can also view, create, and delete slots, as well as view back-references, directly from the Slots Tab. See the Slot Buttons for more information.

The Template Slot Menu

Right-clicking anywhere in the Template Slots pane brings up the Template Slot menu, which allows you to edit, override, add, and remove slots. These are the same actions provided by the Template Slot Buttons. See the Template Slot Buttons topic for more information.

The Slot Icons

The icons at the left of the column indicate where the slot was created. 

A gray icon means that the slot is inherited from one of the selected class's ancestors. Inherited slots can be edited but not deleted. byname is an inherited slot. 
A blue icon means that the slot is "direct", that is, it was created directly on the selected class. responsible_for is a direct slot.

An icon to the right of the column indicates a slot that has been modified:

An O (override) means that the slot has been modified at the class. If the slot was created directly and modified later, this icon is still displayed.
An I (inverse) means the slot has an inverse slot. Inverse slots allow you to link two slots in a reciprocal relationship. See Understanding Inverse Slots for more information.

Slot Summary Columns

The remaining columns in the Slot Templates Pane summarize the information that was entered or edited in the Slot Form or Slots Tab.

Column Meaning
Slot Name Displays the name of the slot.
Type
Indicates the kind of values that the slot may hold. Available types are: Any, Boolean, Class, Float, Instance, Integer, String, and Symbol. See The Value Type Menu for more information.
Cardinality Indicates whether a slot value can consist of Multiple items or must be a Single item.
Other Facets Displays any other facets defined in the Slot Form or Slots Tab. The content of this column depends on the type of the slot. For type Integer slots, for example, the range can be displayed in the last column. For type Instance slots the allowed classes are displayed. The published_in slot is an Instance slot with an allowed class of Newspaper. This column also indicates any required values or defaults.

Next: The Template Slot Buttons

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