🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Oct13.181308.24194@umbc3.umbc.edu> cs631114@umbc8.umbc.edu (cs631114) writes:
>Hmm, I finally got around to trying to use doc strings on slots, and much
>to my embarrassment realized I didn't know how to retrieve them! Assumedly
>I am overloooking the obvious. Hints, anyone?

No, you're not overlooking anything.  As it says in the Notes section of
the dpANS description of DOCUMENTATION:

    This standard prescribes no means to retrieve the \term{documentation
    strings} for individual slots specified in a \macref{defclass} form,
    but \term{implementations} might still provide debugging tools and/or
    programming language extensions which manipulate this information.
    Implementors wishing to provide such support are encouraged to consult
    the \term{Metaobject Protocol} for suggestions about how this might be
    done.

In most implementations you should be able to get the documentation strings
with the MOP, presumably using an accessor on the slot-description object.
-- 
Barry Margolin
System Manager, Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar@think.com          {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar

In article <1bf7hrINNg9g@early-bird.think.com> barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin) writes:
>
>No, you're not overlooking anything.  As it says in the Notes section of
>the dpANS description of DOCUMENTATION:
>
>    This standard prescribes no means to retrieve the \term{documentation
>    strings} for individual slots specified in a \macref{defclass} form,
>    but \term{implementations} might still provide debugging tools and/or
>    programming language extensions which manipulate this information.
>    Implementors wishing to provide such support are encouraged to consult
>    the \term{Metaobject Protocol} for suggestions about how this might be
>    done.

Has this been changed?  On p. 840 of Steele 2nd edition, it defines
that a DOCUMENTATION method should be specialized on
"STANDARD-SLOT-DESCRIPTION", which I presume was meant to be the
equivalent of the current STANDARD-SLOT-DEFINITION.

In any case, in July 92 PCL you can get the documentation of an
effective or direct slot definition object through (PCL::DOCUMENTATION
<slot-def>).

Getting the slot definition object itself is of course a simple matter
of searching along the CLASS-SLOTS of a class for the slot definition
with appropriate SLOT-DEFINITION-NAME.  (In PCL one can use
(PCL::FIND-SLOT-DEFINITION <class> 'slot-name)).

- Trent Lange