note 686 deleted from ref.imap by sniper

Note Submitter: mcdermam@potsdam.edu ---- The documentation on objects is sketchy for those of us (me) who don't do OOP. I searched for info on how to access parts of an object (properties) for a long time before finding the only e.g. in the manual, and it is not obvious what to do to actually implement these in code. I realize it isn't tough to figure out once you get started, but it is a black box without that tiny little hint which is not well presented. I also don't see anything about the bit masks for the flags nor anything about the flags themselves.