Dspec classes provide a set of handlers, to allow uniform handling of different types of definitions by other parts of the system, such as the editor and various browsers.
The most important handlers are those for testing if a dspec is currently defined and for undefining a dspec. See
dspec:dspec-defined-p
and
dspec:dspec-undefiner
in the
LispWorks Reference Manual
for details.
New dspec classes are defined using
dspec:define-dspec-class
.
Dspec classes can be subclassed. The top-level classes correspond to distinct global namespaces (such as
variable
for variables and constants and
function
for functions and macros), and at each level, all the subclasses are distinct from each other (but they do not have to form a complete partition of the superclass). See "7.5 Details of dspec classes and aliases" for the full hierarchy of system-provided classes.
You are allowed to define new top-level classes and subclass them, but you cannot add new subclasses to a system-provided class. However, see "7.3.2 Dspec aliases" for how to add new ways of making existing definitions.