Bio::OntologyIO(3)

NAME
Bio::OntologyIO - Parser factory for Ontology formats

SYNOPSIS
    use Bio::OntologyIO;

    my $parser = Bio::OntologyIO->new(-format => "go",
                                      -file=> $file);

    while(my $ont = $parser->next_ontology()) {
         print "read ontology ",$ont->name()," with ",
               scalar($ont->get_root_terms)," root terms, and ",
               scalar($ont->get_leaf_terms)," leaf terms\n";
    }

DESCRIPTION
This is the parser factory for different ontology sources and formats. Conceptually, it is very similar to Bio::SeqIO, but the difference is that the chunk of data returned as an object is an entire ontology.

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/MailList.shtml  - 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.bioperl.org/

AUTHOR - Hilmar Lapp
Email hlapp at gmx.net

Describe contact details here

CONTRIBUTORS
Additional contributors names and emails here

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

  new
 Title   : new
 Usage   : my $parser = Bio::OntologyIO->new(-format => 'go', @args);
 Function: Returns a stream of ontologies opened on the specified input
           for the specified format.
 Returns : An ontology parser (an instance of Bio::OntologyIO) initialized
           for the specified format.
 Args    : Named parameters. Common parameters are

              -format    - the format of the input; the following are
                           presently supported:
                  goflat: DAG-Edit Gene Ontology flat files
                  go    : synonymous to goflat
                  soflat: DAG-Edit Sequence Ontology flat files
                  so    : synonymous to soflat
                  simplehierarchy: text format with one term per line
                          and indentation giving the hierarchy
                  evoc  : synonymous to simplehierarchy
                  interpro: InterPro XML
                  interprosax: InterPro XML - this is actually not a
                          Bio::OntologyIO compliant parser; instead it
                          persists terms as they are encountered.
                          L<Bio::OntologyIO::Handlers::InterPro_BioSQL_Handler>
              -file      - the file holding the data
              -fh        - the stream providing the data (-file and -fh are
                          mutually exclusive)
              -ontology_name - the name of the ontology
              -engine    - the L<Bio::Ontology::OntologyEngineI> object
                          to be reused (will be created otherwise); note
                          that every L<Bio::Ontology::OntologyI> will
                          qualify as well since that one inherits from the
                          former.
              -term_factory - the ontology term factory to use. Provide a
                          value only if you know what you are doing.

           DAG-Edit flat file parsers will usually also accept the
           following parameters.

              -defs_file - the name of the file holding the term
                          definitions
              -files     - an array ref holding the file names (for GO,
                          there will usually be 3 files: component.ontology,
                          function.ontology, process.ontology)

           Other parameters are specific to the parsers.

  next_ontology
 Title   : next_ontology
 Usage   : $ont = $stream->next_ontology()
 Function: Reads the next ontology object from the stream and returns it.
 Returns : a L<Bio::Ontology::OntologyI> compliant object, or undef at the
           end of the stream
 Args    : none

  term_factory
 Title   : term_factory
 Usage   : $obj->term_factory($newval)
 Function: Get/set the ontology term factory to use.

           As a user of this module it is not necessary to call this
           method as there will be default. In order to change the
           default, the easiest way is to instantiate
           L<Bio::Ontology::TermFactory> with the proper -type
           argument. Most if not all parsers will actually use this
           very implementation, so even easier than the aforementioned
           way is to simply call
           $ontio->term_factory->type("Bio::Ontology::MyTerm").

 Example :
 Returns : value of term_factory (a Bio::Factory::ObjectFactoryI object)
 Args    : on set, new value (a Bio::Factory::ObjectFactoryI object, optional)

Private Methods
  Some of these are actually 'protected' in OO speak, which means you
  may or will want to utilize them in a derived ontology parser, but
  you should not call them from outside.

  _load_format_module
 Title   : _load_format_module
 Usage   : *INTERNAL OntologyIO stuff*
 Function: Loads up (like use) a module at run time on demand
 Example :
 Returns :
 Args    :