Editing Slot Properties

You can edit the properties of a newly created or existing slot using the Slot Form

Slot Name

To change the name of a slot, edit the text in the Name field. Slot names are case sensitive. To distinguish slot names from class names, a recommended convention is to make slot names lowercase. 

Cardinality

To change whether or not a slot can be composed of more than one item, select a different option from the Cardinality menu

NOTE: If you are editing the slot for a specific class, and the slot is inherited, you cannot change the cardinality from Single to Multiple.

Value Type

To change the value type of the slot, select a different type from the Value Type menu. The available types are summarized in the following table:

Type

Description

Examples

Any Any of the types below (logical Union)  
Boolean Logical Value True, False
Class Class in the knowledge base Organization
Float Number with a decimal point 1.0, 3.4e10, -0.3e-3
Instance Instance of a class in the knowledge base instance_00010
Integer Whole number 1, 2, -4
String List of alphanumeric characters, possibly including spaces "John Doe"
Symbol Enumerated list of values, which may not include spaces red, blue and green

NOTE: If you are editing the slot from a specific class, and the slot is inherited, the following restrictions apply:

When a value type of Class, Instance, or Symbol is selected, an additional pane appears below the Value Type menu, as follows:

Value Type Associated Pane
Class The Allowed Parents pane. See Allowed Parents in the Value Type menu for information on how to add and remove allowed parents.
Instance The Allowed Classes pane. See Allowed Classes in the Value Type menu for information on how to add and remove allowed classes.
Symbol The Allowed Values pane. See Allowed Values in the Value Type menu for information on how to add and remove allowed values.

For more information, see The Value Type Menu.

Constraints (optional)

Class constraints are defined programatically. See Constraints for more information. 

Defaults (optional)

Allows you to specify the default value(s) for a slot. When an instance is created for a class that has a slot with a defined default, the default value is automatically entered as the value of the slot. The default value can then be changed or overwritten.

For a slot with Single cardinality, Defaults must be a single value or no value; for a slot with Multiple cardinality, Defaults can be more than one item.

When present, any Defaults are displayed in the second-to-last column of the Template Slots pane in the Classes tab.

Minimum (optional)

For a slot of type Integer or Float, you can change the minimum value by typing the new value in the Minimum field. If you are editing the slot for a specific class, and the slot is inherited, the new minimum value must be greater than or equal to the inherited minimum.

Maximum (optional)

For a slot of type Integer or Float, you can change the maximum value by typing the new value in the Maximum field. If you are editing the slot for a specific class, and the slot is inherited, the new maximum value must be less than or equal to the inherited maximum. 

Documentation (optional)

You can change the text description of the slot directly in the documentation field.


Next: Removing a Slot From a Class

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