A thin opening or groove in something. A slot can be used for mail or to hold a card. It can also refer to a position on a physical reel, such as the one in a slot machine. There are many different types of slots, each with its own unique characteristics. Some are designed to pay out more often than others. While winning at slot machines is always a goal, it’s important to manage your bankroll wisely and know when to quit while you’re ahead.

The most common type of slot is a regular interval periodic slot. These slots display the part of a date that changes between rows (e.g., the month for a 1 Month interval). If the slot is configured to Lookup, it displays a single value per interval; if it is configured to Interpolate, it shows an intermediate value for each row and then interpolates between those values.

Another type of slot is the periodic table slot. This is a special kind of table slot that holds data that repeats at a specified time interval. For example, a set of evaporation coefficients for a reservoir may be held in a periodic slot because the rate of evaporation varies seasonally. Periodic table slots can be accessed from RPL using standard series syntax:

There are also scalar slot and expression slots that contain both a data set and an expression. These slots have an additional icon in the column heading to indicate that the slot contains an expression and can be edited. These slots can be docked onto a Slot Viewer to be displayed separately from the other slots. To do so, drag the slot’s icon on the Slot Viewer.

Slots that have an expression can be edited by using the Edit Slot dialog or by clicking on its icon in the column header. Alternatively, these slots can be opened with the File menu or by dragging them onto the viewer. See Slot Dialog Functionality for details.

Slots that have an expression also display information about their contents in the Selection Info Area, which can be shown by clicking on the icon in the slot’s column heading. The Selection Info Area includes statistics on the selected values, including sum, average, median, min, max, range and difference. It can also show the X-Y coordinates of a selected data point or its symbol. The Selection Info Area can be shown or hidden by using the Options menu.