/ 
bioperl-0.7.0
/ Bio::RangeI

NAME

Bio::RangeI - Range interface

SYNOPSIS

None.

DESCRIPTION

This provides a standard BioPerl range interface that should be implemented by any object that wants to be treated as a range. This serves purely as an abstract base class for implementers and can not be instantiated.

Ranges are modeled as having (start, end, length, strand). They use Bio-coordinates - all points >= start and <= end are within the range. End is always greater-than or equal-to start, and length is greather than or equal to 1. The behaviour of a range is undefined if ranges with negative numbers or zero are used.

So, in summary:

length = end - start + 1
end >= start
strand = (-1 | 0 | +1)

FEEDBACK

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          - General discussion
http://bio.perl.org/MailList.html             - About the mailing lists

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 email or the web:

bioperl-bugs@bio.perl.org
http://bio.perl.org/bioperl-bugs/

AUTHOR - Heikki Lehvaslaiho

Email: heikki@ebi.ac.uk

APPENDIX

The rest of the documentation details each of the object methods. Internal methods are usually preceded with a _

Abstract methods

These methods must be implemented in all subclasses.

new

  Title   : new
  Function: confesses if you try to instantiate a RangeI
          : RangeI is an interface, so RangeI->new should never be called
	  : To make a range, instantiate one of the implementing classes. e.g.
	  : $range = Bio::Range->new(-start=>20, -end=>2000, -strand=>1)

start

Title   : start
Usage   : $start = $range->start();
Function: get/set the start of this range
Returns : the start of this range
Args    : optionaly allows the start to be set
        : using $range->start($start)

end

Title   : end
Usage   : $end = $range->end();
Function: get/set the end of this range
Returns : the end of this range
Args    : optionaly allows the end to be set
        : using $range->end($end)

length

Title   : length
Usage   : $length = $range->length();
Function: get/set the length of this range
Returns : the length of this range
Args    : optionaly allows the length to be set
        : using $range->length($length)

strand

Title   : strand
Usage   : $strand = $range->strand();
Function: get/set the strand of this range
Returns : the strandidness (-1, 0, +1)
Args    : optionaly allows the strand to be set
        : using $range->strand($strand)

Boolean Methods

These methods return true or false. They throw an error if start and end are not defined.

$range->overlaps($otherRange) && print "Ranges overlap\n";

overlaps

Title   : overlaps
Usage   : if($r1->overlaps($r2)) { do stuff }
Function: tests if $r2 overlaps $r1
Args    : arg #1 = a range to compare this one to (mandatory)
          arg #2 = strand option ('strong', 'weak', 'ignore') (optional)
Returns : true if the ranges overlap, false otherwise

contains

  Title   : contains
  Usage   : if($r1->contains($r2) { do stuff }
  Function: tests whether $r1 totally contains $r2 
  Args    : arg #1 = a range to compare this one to (mandatory)
	             alternatively, integer scalar to test
            arg #2 = strand option ('strong', 'weak', 'ignore') (optional)
  Returns : true if the argument is totaly contained within this range

equals

Title   : equals
Usage   : if($r1->equals($r2))
Function: test whether $r1 has the same start, end, length as $r2
Args    : a range to test for equality
Returns : true if they are describing the same range

Geometrical methods

These methods do things to the geometry of ranges, and return Bio::RangeI compliant objects or triplets (start, stop, strand) from which new ranges could be built.

intersection

Title   : intersection
Usage   : ($start, $stop, $strand) = $r1->intersection($r2)
Function: gives the range that is contained by both ranges
Args    : arg #1 = a range to compare this one to (mandatory)
          arg #2 = strand option ('strong', 'weak', 'ignore') (optional)
Returns : undef if they do not overlap, 
          or the range that they do overlap (in an objectlike the calling one)

union

Title   : union
Usage   : ($start, $stop, $strand) = $r1->union($r2);
        : ($start, $stop, $strand) = Bio::RangeI->union(@ranges);
Function: finds the minimal range that contains all of the ranges
Args    : a range or list of ranges to find the union of
Returns : the range object containing all of the ranges

overlap_extent

Title   : overlap_extent
Usage   : ($a_unique,$common,$b_unique) = $a->overlap_extent($b)
Function: Provides actual amount of overlap between two different
          ranges.
Example :
Returns : array of values for 
          - the amount unique to a
          - the amount common to both
          - the amount unique to b
Args    :