7.2 Examining slot information

When the Class Browser is first invoked, the default view is the slots view. You can also click the Slots tab to swap to it from another view. The slots view is shown in Examining slots in the Class Browser.

Examining slots in the Class Browser

7.1 Simple use of the Class Browser introduced you to the slots view in the Class Browser. This section gives a complete description of this view. For completeness, some information may be repeated.

The areas available in the slots view are described below.

7.2.1 Class box

You enter the name of the class you want to browse in the Class text box. You can type in a class name explicitly, or you can transfer a class to the Class Browser using the Class standard action command in another tool, or by pasting a class in explicitly.

Note: You can use Edit > Paste to paste a class name into this area, even if the clipboard currently contains the string representation of the class name, rather than a class object itself. This lets you copy class names from other applications directly into the Class Browser. See 3.3.3 Using the Object operations with the clipboard for a complete description of the way the LispWorks IDE clipboard operates, and how it interacts with the system clipboard.

7.2.2 Filter area

The Filter area lets you restrict the information displayed in the Slots list. See 3.12 Filtering information for a description of how to use the Filter area in any tool, and 7.1.3 Filtering slot information for an example of how to use it in the Class Browser.

7.2.3 Slots list

The main section of the slots view lists the slot names of the current class. Selecting a slot in this list displays a description of it in the Description list, and you can operate on any number of selected slots using the commands in the Slots menu.

The number of items listed in the Slots area is printed in the Matches box.

If Include Inherited Slots is selected, slots inherited from the superclasses of the current class are listed as well as those explicitly defined on the current class. Deselect this button to see only those slots defined on the current class. You can also configure the default setting of this option. To do this raise the Preferences dialog as described in 3.2 Setting preferences, then select Class Browser in the list on the left side of the Preferences dialog, and then select the Slots/Functions tab to see the Include Inherited Slots option.

7.2.4 Description list

This list displays a description of the selected slot. The following information is printed:

From Classes	The classes that this slot is defined in.
Slot Name	The name of the slot.
Type	The slot type.
Initargs	The initargs, if any, which can be used to refer to the slot.
Initform	The initform, or initial value, of the slot.
Readers	The readers of the slot. These are the names of any functions which can be used to read the current value of the slot.
Writers	The writers of the slot. These are the setf methods which may be used to change the slot value.
Allocation	The allocation of the slot.

To operate on any of the items displayed in this area, select them and choose a command from the Description menu. This menu contains the standard action commands described in 3.8 Performing operations on selected objects. You can operate on more than one item at once by making multiple selections in this area.

7.2.5 Performing operations on the current class

You can operate on the current class using the commands in the Classes menu. The standard action commands described in 3.8 Performing operations on selected objects are available in this submenu.

Choose Classes > Browse Metaclass to select, and describe in the normal way, the class of the current class.