NAME

Bio::Ontology::PathI - Interface for a path between ontology terms

SYNOPSIS

# see documentation of methods and an implementation, e.g.,
# Bio::Ontology::Path

DESCRIPTION

This is the minimal interface for a path between two terms in an ontology. Ontology engines may use this.

Essentially this is a very thin extension of the Bio::Ontology::RelationshipI interface. It basically adds an attribute distance(). For a RelationshipI, you can think of distance as equal to zero (subject == object) or 1 (subject != object).

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 the Bioperl mailing list. Your participation is much appreciated.

bioperl-l@bioperl.org                  - General discussion
http://bioperl.org/wiki/Mailing_lists  - About the mailing lists

Reporting Bugs

Report bugs to the Bioperl bug tracking system to help us keep track of the bugs and their resolution. Bug reports can be submitted via the web:

http://bugzilla.open-bio.org/

AUTHOR - Hilmar Lapp

Email hlapp at gmx.net

APPENDIX

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

distance

Title   : distance
Usage   : $obj->distance($newval)
Function: Get (and set if the implementation allows it) the distance
          between the two terms connected by this path.

Example : 
Returns : value of distance (a scalar)
Args    : on set, new value (a scalar or undef, optional)

Bio::Ontology::RelationshipI Methods

subject_term

Title   : subject_term
Usage   : $subj = $rel->subject_term();
Function: Set/get for the subject term of this Relationship.

          The common convention for ontologies is to express
          relationships between terms as triples (subject, predicate,
          object).

Returns : The subject term [Bio::Ontology::TermI].
Args    : 

object_term

Title   : object_term
Usage   : $object = $rel->object_term();
Function: Set/get for the object term of this Relationship.

          The common convention for ontologies is to express
          relationships between terms as triples (subject, predicate,
          object).

Returns : The object term [Bio::Ontology::TermI].
Args    : 

predicate_term

Title   : predicate_term
Usage   : $type = $rel->predicate_term();
Function: Set/get for the predicate of this relationship.

          For a path the predicate (relationship type) is defined as
          the greatest common denominator of all predicates
          (relationship types) encountered along the path. I.e., if
          predicate A is-a predicate B, the greatest common
          denominator for a path containing both predicates A and B is B

Returns : The predicate term [Bio::Ontology::TermI].
Args    : 

ontology

Title   : ontology
Usage   : $ont = $obj->ontology()
Function: Get the ontology that defined this relationship.
Example : 
Returns : an object implementing Bio::Ontology::OntologyI
Args    : 

See Bio::Ontology::OntologyI.