A slot is a dynamic placeholder that either waits passively for content to be called upon (a passive slot) or calls out for the content to be placed in it (an active slot). Slots work together with scenarios and renderers to deliver content to the page; slots are dynamic while scenarios are deterministic.
Depending on the type of slot, each machine can hold a different amount of money per pull and may have one or multiple reels. A slot may have a progressive jackpot level or special game features that can increase the player’s chances of winning. Players place cash or paper tickets with barcodes into a slot on the machine and activate it by pulling a lever or pressing a button. The reels then rotate and stop to rearrange the symbols and pay out credits based on the machine’s paytable. The amount of money paid out depends on the number and combination of matching symbols, the machine’s theme, and whether any bonus levels or jackpots are activated.
In an electromechanical slot machine, the slot might have a tilt switch that makes or breaks a circuit when the machine is tilted or otherwise tampered with, triggering an alarm or a door switch in the wrong state. Modern machines no longer have this feature, but a malfunction of any kind could be considered a “tilt.”
Another use of the word slot is in reference to a position or job: He had the editorial slot at the newspaper for 20 years.
The term is also used to refer to a specific time of day: She booked the next available time slot.
Slots are part of BigQuery’s capacity scheduling system, which is a dynamic DAG that continuously re-evaluates queries’ resource demands. This allows resources to be allocated and paused in a fair and efficient manner. In addition, BigQuery automatically re-evaluates the query’s available slots as the DAG changes to determine if the slot is still available and if more capacity is needed.
The concept of slots is particularly important for offer management in ATG. In the case of ATG personalization, slot properties allow for flexible customization and are essential for delivering content to end users. For example, a slot might contain a filterable array that can be appended to a native filter in the UI. This allows the user to easily filter the content that is displayed to them, without having to go through a separate action or process. In addition, the ability to create and rename slots is critical for the flexibility of the offer management system. By having the capability to rename and change the defaults of slots, the system can provide the flexibility required by both internal and external teams. This capability is especially important for organizations that deal with both internal and external partners. By using ATG’s offer management system, organizations can make it easier for each partner to access and use the information they need to meet their goals.