/ 
Bio-Phylo-0.17_RC5
River stage two • 9 direct dependents • 18 total dependents
/ Bio::Phylo

NAME

Bio::Phylo - Phylogenetic analysis using perl.

SYNOPSIS

# verbosity goes from 0, only fatal messages, to 4: everything from
# fatal -> error -> warning -> info -> debug (which is a lot)
use Bio::Phylo verbose => 1;

DESCRIPTION

This is the base class for the Bio::Phylo OO package. In this file, methods are defined that are performed by other objects in the Bio::Phylo release, i.e. objects that inherit from this class.

For general information on how to use Bio::Phylo, consult the manual (Bio::Phylo::Manual); for information on using Bio::Phylo in combination with Bioperl (http://www.bioperl.org) and Bio::Nexus (http://search.cpan.org/~tjhladish/Bio-NEXUS), consult the object compatibility document (Bio::ObjectCompat).

If you come here because you are trying to debug a problem you run into in using Bio::Phylo, you may be interested in the "exceptions" system as discussed in Bio::Phylo::Util::Exceptions. In addition, you may find the logging system that is discussed in this base class of use.

Documentation on the various scripts included in this release is embedded in their respective source files, which, like all perldoc can be viewed in various ways using the nroff-like formatter perldoc <filename> or using one of the many pod2* convertors such as pod2text, pod2html, pod2latex and so on. In addition, the scripts generally have a -h or --help or -? option.

METHODS

CONSTRUCTOR

new()

The Bio::Phylo root object itself, and thus its constructor, is rarely, if ever, used directly. Rather, all other objects in this package inherit its methods, and call its constructor internally. The arguments shown here can thus also be passed to any of the child classes' constructors, which will pass them on up the inheritance tree. Generally, constructors in Bio::Phylo subclasses can process as arguments all methods that have set_* in their names. The arguments are named for the methods, but "set_" has been replaced with a dash "-", e.g. the method "set_name" becomes the argument "-name" in the constructor.

Type    : Constructor
Title   : new
Usage   : my $phylo = Bio::Phylo->new;
Function: Instantiates Bio::Phylo object
Returns : a Bio::Phylo object
Args    : -name    => (object name)
          -desc    => (object description)
          -score   => (numerical score)
          -generic => (generic key/value pair, hash ref)

MUTATORS

set_name()

Sets invocant name.

Type    : Mutator
Title   : set_name
Usage   : $obj->set_name($name);
Function: Assigns an object's name.
Returns : Modified object.
Args    : Argument must be a string, will be single 
          quoted if it contains [;|,|:\(|\)] 
          or spaces. Preceding and trailing spaces
          will be removed.
set_desc()

Sets invocant description.

Type    : Mutator
Title   : set_desc
Usage   : $obj->set_desc($desc);
Function: Assigns an object's description.
Returns : Modified object.
Args    : Argument must be a string.
set_score()

Sets invocant score.

Type    : Mutator
Title   : set_score
Usage   : $obj->set_score($score);
Function: Assigns an object's numerical score.
Returns : Modified object.
Args    : Argument must be any of
          perl's number formats, or undefined
          to reset score.
set_generic()

Sets generic key/value pair(s).

Type    : Mutator
Title   : set_generic
Usage   : $obj->set_generic( %generic );
Function: Assigns generic key/value pairs to the invocant.
Returns : Modified object.
Args    : Valid arguments constitute:

          * key/value pairs, for example:
            $obj->set_generic( '-lnl' => 0.87565 );

          * or a hash ref, for example:
            $obj->set_generic( { '-lnl' => 0.87565 } );

          * or nothing, to reset the stored hash, e.g.
               $obj->set_generic( );

ACCESSORS

get_name()

Gets invocant's name.

Type    : Accessor
Title   : get_name
Usage   : my $name = $obj->get_name;
Function: Returns the object's name.
Returns : A string
Args    : None
get_internal_name()

Gets invocant's 'fallback' name (possibly autogenerated).

Type    : Accessor
Title   : get_internal_name
Usage   : my $name = $obj->get_internal_name;
Function: Returns the object's name (if none was set, the name
          is a combination of the $obj's class and its UID).
Returns : A string
Args    : None
get_desc()

Gets invocant description.

Type    : Accessor
Title   : get_desc
Usage   : my $desc = $obj->get_desc;
Function: Returns the object's description (if any).
Returns : A string
Args    : None
get_score()

Gets invocant's score.

Type    : Accessor
Title   : get_score
Usage   : my $score = $obj->get_score;
Function: Returns the object's numerical score (if any).
Returns : A number
Args    : None
get_generic()

Gets generic hashref or hash value(s).

Type    : Accessor
Title   : get_generic
Usage   : my $value = $obj->get_generic($key);
          or
          my %hash = %{ $obj->get_generic() };
Function: Returns the object's generic data. If an
          argument is used, it is considered a key
          for which the associated value is returned.
          Without arguments, a reference to the whole
          hash is returned.
Returns : A string or hash reference.
Args    : None
get_id()

Gets invocant's UID.

Type    : Accessor
Title   : get_id
Usage   : my $id = $obj->get_id;
Function: Returns the object's unique ID
Returns : INT
Args    : None

PACKAGE METHODS

get()

Attempts to execute argument string as method on invocant.

Type    : Accessor
Title   : get
Usage   : my $treename = $tree->get('get_name');
Function: Alternative syntax for safely accessing
          any of the object data; useful for
          interpolating runtime $vars.
Returns : (context dependent)
Args    : a SCALAR variable, e.g. $var = 'get_name';
clone()

Clones invocant.

Type    : Utility method
Title   : clone
Usage   : my $clone = $object->clone;
Function: Creates a copy of the invocant object.
Returns : A copy of the invocant.
Args    : none.
Comments: Currently not implemented
VERBOSE()

Getter and setter for the verbose level. This comes in five levels: 0 = only fatal messages (though, when something fatal happens, you'll most likely get an exception object), 1 = errors (hopefully recoverable), 2 = warnings (recoverable), 3 = info (useful diagnostics), 4 = debug (every method call)

Type    : Accessor
Title   : VERBOSE()
Usage   : Bio::Phylo->VERBOSE( -level => $level )
Function: Sets/gets verbose level
Returns : Verbose level
Args    : 0 <= $level && $level <= 4
Comments:
CITATION()

Returns suggested citation.

Type    : Accessor
Title   : CITATION
Usage   : $phylo->CITATION;
Function: Returns suggested citation.
Returns : Returns suggested citation.
Args    : None
Comments:
VERSION()

Gets version number (including revision number).

Type    : Accessor
Title   : VERSION
Usage   : $phylo->VERSION;
Function: Returns version number
          (including SVN revision number).
Alias   :
Returns : SCALAR
Args    : NONE
Comments:

DESTRUCTOR

DESTROY()

Invocant destructor.

Type    : Destructor
Title   : DESTROY
Usage   : $phylo->DESTROY
Function: Destroys Phylo object
Alias   :
Returns : TRUE
Args    : none
Comments: You don't really need this,
          it is called automatically when
          the object goes out of scope.

SEE ALSO

Also see the manual: Bio::Phylo::Manual.

REVISION

$Id: Phylo.pm 4251 2007-07-19 14:21:33Z rvosa $