What Is a Slot?
A slot is a narrow opening, often in the form of a hole or groove. A slot can be used to pass something through, such as a paper, card, or coin. A slot can also be a position, as in “the slot” on a team’s roster or in a job interview. It can also refer to a place or position in a sequence, series, or set of data.
In football, the slot is a wide receiver’s position that varies depending on the formation. It is generally located near the sideline and is a good option for quick gainers who can make defenders miss. A player in the slot catches fewer passes than other positions but can gain yards quickly because defenders have to move out of the way to avoid getting hit by other players.
The term slot is also used to describe a pattern that does not extend far down the field or into the center. This is a more specialized type of route, and it requires the receiver to catch the ball in a tight window. A slot receiver gains 8-15 yards at the most, and cannot break a long gain unless they can catch the ball in a part of the field where defenders are not paying attention.
When a slot is selected, its configuration options appear in the View menu. The default configuration for a scalar slot is to display the value and use units, although it can be configured differently. In addition, the Slot Viewer and its associated dialogs are different for each slot type. Some types, such as expression slots and Series Slots with Periodic Input, have special ornamentation on the column heading to indicate their specific interface.
Some slots have a Compression Mode menu, which can be used to control the number of times a number is displayed on the screen. The value of a compressed slot is computed from a number stored internally using either an integer or floating point number scheme. This number is compared to the values of other slots, and if it is within convergence of a stored value, the corresponding slot’s number is displayed.
The Selection Info Area (View, Show Selection Statistics) displays information on the selected slots, including a list of the slot names and their values, the sum of the value in each slot, the average, median, minimum, maximum, range, and difference. The Selection Info Area is also used to provide an overview of the selected values in a slot, and it can be used as a reference for editing the values in a scalar slot. If the Compress Repeated Values mode is enabled, editing the selected values will also edit the compressed values. This mode is useful when the data in a slot contains large numbers of repeated values. When this mode is disabled, editing of the scalar values will only update the slot’s current value. To change the slot’s value, highlight it and enter a new number or click the Set Slot Value button to select another value.