Denotations represent the meaning of symbols and named types. The following diagram shows how the principal types of denotations and their denoting entities relate to each other. Lines ending in a down-arrow v are member methods. The two methods shown in the diagram are "symbol" and "deref". Both methods are parameterized by the current context, and are effectively indexed by current period.

Lines ending in a horizontal line mean subtying (right is a subtype of left).

NamedType------TermRefWithSignature | | Symbol---------ClassSymbol | | | | | denot | denot | denot | denot v v v v Denotation-+-----SingleDenotation-+------SymDenotation-+----ClassDenotation | | +-----MultiDenotation | | +--UniqueRefDenotation +--JointRefDenotation

Here's a short summary of the classes in this diagram.

NamedType A type consisting of a prefix type and a name, with fields prefix: Type name: Name It has two subtypes: TermRef and TypeRef TermRefWithSignature A TermRef that has in addition a signature to select an overloaded variant, with new field sig: Signature Symbol A label for a definition or declaration in one compiler run ClassSymbol A symbol representing a class Denotation The meaning of a named type or symbol during a period MultiDenotation A denotation representing several overloaded members SingleDenotation A denotation representing a non-overloaded member or definition, with main fields symbol: Symbol info: Type UniqueRefDenotation A denotation referring to a single definition with some member type JointRefDenotation A denotation referring to a member that could resolve to several definitions SymDenotation A denotation representing a single definition with its original type, with main fields name: Name owner: Symbol flags: Flags privateWithin: Symbol annotations: List[Annotation] ClassDenotation A denotation representing a single class definition.