Data is retrieved from an object using the call:
(slot-value object slotname)
where object is an instance object and slotname
is the name of the slot whose value is desired.
Data is stored into a slot using setf:
(setf (slot-value object slotname) value)
Since an instance is implemented as a symbol, with slot values stored on its property list, slot-value simply becomes a call to get, and set-slot-value becomes a call to setf around a call to get. A call to defsetf is provided so that setf can be used with slot-value.
It is good style to use slot-value only within methods for the class and to define messages for the external interface:
(defmethod x ((v xyvector))
(slot-value v 'x))