/**
  * retrieves an appointment and the corresponding slot
  */
 public function get_slot_appointment($appointmentid)
 {
     global $DB;
     $appointrec = $DB->get_record('scheduler_appointment', array('id' => $appointmentid), '*', MUST_EXIST);
     $slotrec = $DB->get_record('scheduler_slots', array('id' => $appointrec->slotid), '*', MUST_EXIST);
     $slot = new scheduler_slot($this);
     $slot->load_record($slotrec);
     $appointment = new scheduler_appointment($slot);
     $appointment->load_record($appointrec);
     return array($slot, $appointment);
 }