# $Id: AnnotationCollectionI.pm 16123 2009-09-17 12:57:27Z cjfields $ # # BioPerl module for Bio::AnnotationCollectionI # # Please direct questions and support issues to # # Cared for by Ewan Birney # # Copyright Ewan Birney # # You may distribute this module under the same terms as perl itself # POD documentation - main docs before the code =head1 NAME Bio::AnnotationCollectionI - Interface for annotation collections =head1 SYNOPSIS # get an AnnotationCollectionI somehow, eg $ac = $seq->annotation(); foreach $key ( $ac->get_all_annotation_keys() ) { @values = $ac->get_Annotations($key); foreach $value ( @values ) { # value is an Bio::AnnotationI, and defines a "as_text" method print "Annotation ",$key," stringified value ",$value->as_text,"\n"; # also defined hash_tree method, which allows data orientated # access into this object $hash = $value->hash_tree(); } } =head1 DESCRIPTION Annotation Collections are a way of storing a series of "interesting facts" about something. We call an "interesting fact" in Bioperl an Annotation (this differs from a Sequence Feature, which is called a Sequence Feature and may or may not have an Annotation Collection). A benefit of this approach is that all sorts of simple, interesting observations can be collected, the possibility is endless. The Bioperl approach is that the "interesting facts" are represented by Bio::AnnotationI objects. The interface Bio::AnnotationI guarantees two methods $obj->as_text(); # string formated to display to users and $obj->hash_tree(); # hash with defined rules for data-orientated discovery The hash_tree method is designed to play well with XML output and other "nested-tag-of-data-values", think BoulderIO and/or Ace stuff. For more information see L. Annotations are stored in AnnotationCollections, each Annotation under a different "tag". The tags allow simple discovery of the available annotations, and in some cases (like the tag "gene_name") indicate how to interpret the data underneath the tag. The tag is only one tag deep and each tag can have an array of values. In addition, AnnotationCollections are guaranteed to maintain consistent types of objects under each tag - at least that each object complies to one interface. The "standard" AnnotationCollection insists the following rules are set up: Tag Object --- ------ comment Bio::Annotation::Comment dblink Bio::Annotation::DBLink description Bio::Annotation::SimpleValue gene_name Bio::Annotation::SimpleValue ontology_term Bio::Annotation::OntologyTerm reference Bio::Annotation::Reference These tags are the implict tags that the SeqIO system needs to round-trip GenBank/EMBL/Swissprot. However, you as a user and us collectively as a community can grow the "standard" tag mapping over time and specifically for a particular area. =head1 FEEDBACK =head2 Mailing Lists User feedback is an integral part of the evolution of this and other Bioperl modules. Send your comments and suggestions preferably to one of the Bioperl mailing lists. Your participation is much appreciated. bioperl-l@bioperl.org =head2 Support Please direct usage questions or support issues to the mailing list: I rather than to the module maintainer directly. Many experienced and reponsive experts will be able look at the problem and quickly address it. Please include a thorough description of the problem with code and data examples if at all possible. =head2 Reporting Bugs Report bugs to the Bioperl bug tracking system to help us keep track the bugs and their resolution. Bug reports can be submitted via the web: http://bugzilla.open-bio.org/ =head1 AUTHOR - Ewan Birney Email birney@ebi.ac.uk =head1 APPENDIX The rest of the documentation details each of the object methods. Internal methods are usually preceded with a _ =cut # Let the code begin... package Bio::AnnotationCollectionI; use strict; # Interface preamble - inherits from Bio::Root::RootI use base qw(Bio::Root::RootI); =head1 ACCESSOR METHODS Use these for Bio::AnnotationI object access. =cut =head2 get_all_annotation_keys() Usage : $ac->get_all_annotation_keys() Function: gives back a list of annotation keys, which are simple text strings Returns : list of strings Args : none =cut sub get_all_annotation_keys{ shift->throw_not_implemented(); } =head2 get_Annotations() Usage : my @annotations = $collection->get_Annotations('key') Function: Retrieves all the Bio::AnnotationI objects for a specific key Returns : list of Bio::AnnotationI - empty if no objects stored for a key Args : string which is key for annotations =cut sub get_Annotations{ shift->throw_not_implemented(); } =head2 add_Annotation() Usage : $self->add_Annotation('reference',$object); $self->add_Annotation($object,'Bio::MyInterface::DiseaseI'); $self->add_Annotation($object); $self->add_Annotation('disease',$object,'Bio::MyInterface::DiseaseI'); Function: Adds an annotation for a specific key. If the key is omitted, the object to be added must provide a value via its tagname(). If the archetype is provided, this and future objects added under that tag have to comply with the archetype and will be rejected otherwise. Returns : none Args : annotation key ('disease', 'dblink', ...) object to store (must be Bio::AnnotationI compliant) [optional] object archetype to map future storage of object of these types to =cut sub add_Annotation { shift->throw_not_implemented(); } =head2 remove_Annotations() Usage : Function: Remove the annotations for the specified key from this collection. Returns : an list of Bio::AnnotationI compliant objects which were stored under the given key(s) Args : the key(s) (tag name(s), one or more strings) for which to remove annotations (optional; if none given, flushes all annotations) =cut sub remove_Annotations{ shift->throw_not_implemented(); } =head2 get_num_of_annotations() Usage : my $count = $collection->get_num_of_annotations() Function: Returns the count of all annotations stored in this collection Returns : integer Args : none =cut sub get_num_of_annotations{ shift->throw_not_implemented(); } 1;