+
+(defun to-slot-name (slot)
+ "try to turn what we got representing the slot into a slot name"
+ (etypecase slot
+ (symbol slot)
+ (slot-definition (slot-definition-name slot))))
+
+(defun to-class (it)
+ (etypecase it
+ (class it)
+ (symbol (find-class it))
+ (standard-object (class-of it))))
+
+(defun to-class-name (o)
+ (etypecase o
+ (symbol o)
+ (standard-class (class-name o))
+ (standard-object (class-name (class-of o)))))
+
+(defun easy-slot-value (obj slot)
+ "like slot-value except it accepts slot-names or defs
+ and returns nil when the slot is unbound"
+ (let ((n (to-slot-name slot)))
+ (when (and obj (slot-boundp obj n))
+ (slot-value obj n))))
+
+(defun (setf easy-slot-value) (new obj slot)
+ "like slot-value except it accepts slot-names or defs"
+ (setf (slot-value obj (to-slot-name slot)) new))
+
+(defun delist-if-single (x)
+ "if this is a single item in a list return it"
+ (if (and (listp x) (= 1 (length x)))
+ (first x)
+ x))