In the simple case, a class maps onto a database table, an instance of the class maps onto a record in the table, and a slot in the class maps onto an attribute in the table.
In general, however, a class maps onto a database view, an instance of the class maps onto a collection of records in the view, and a slot in the class is either:
If an instance maps onto more than one record in the view then for each record, all the key attributes from each table in the view are the same.