slash (/)
Description
The slash operator (which is expressed using /) is a header operator that can be used when two or more fields contain the same forms, to avoid writing out all of the forms multiple times.
Unlike other operators, which precede the field name, the slash operator is inserted between two or more field names in a single column header.
Usage examples
For the table Root below, we have two fields (text and gloss) that are identical (i.e., contain exactly the same forms):
| Root = | text | gloss |
|---|---|---|
| call | call | |
| jump | jump |
We can wewrite this using the slash operator to join the two field names in the header (text/gloss):
| Root = | text/gloss |
|---|---|
| call | |
| jump |
If you had a third field, word (also identical), you could write text/gloss/word.
Why would we want to use this?
That means we don't have to write the same thing twice. (Writing things twice can be bad because the two versions can sometimes get out-of-sync with each other. This makes sure they're always the same.) After all, not-writing-things-a-bunch-of-times is the whole reason we're writing a program!