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NAME

Bio::SeqFeatureI - Abstract interface of a Sequence Feature

SYNOPSIS

    # get a seqfeature somehow, eg,

    foreach $feat ( $seq->top_SeqFeatures() ) {
            print "Feature from ", $feat->start, "to ", 
                  $feat->end, " Primary tag  ", $feat->primary_tag, 
                  ", produced by ", $feat->source_tag(), "\n";

            if( $feat->strand == 0 ) {
                print "Feature applicable to either strand\n";
            } else {
                print "Feature on strand ", $feat->strand,"\n"; # -1,1
            }

            foreach $tag ( $feat->all_tags() ) {
                print "Feature has tag ", $tag, "with values, ",
                      join(' ',$feat->each_tag_value($tag)), "\n";
            }
            print "new feature\n" if $feat->has_tag('new');
            # features can have sub features
            my @subfeat = $feat->get_SeqFeatures();
        }

DESCRIPTION

This interface is the functions one can expect for any Sequence Feature, whatever its implementation or whether it is a more complex type (eg, a Gene). This object doesn\'t actually provide any implemention, it just provides the definitions of what methods one can call. See Bio::SeqFeature::Generic for a good standard implementation of this object

FEEDBACK

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://bugzilla.bioperl.org/

APPENDIX

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

SeqFeatureI specific methods

New method interfaces.

get_SeqFeatures

 Title   : get_SeqFeatures
 Usage   : @feats = $feat->get_SeqFeatures();
 Function: Returns an array of sub Sequence Features
 Returns : An array
 Args    : none

display_name

 Title   : display_name
 Usage   : $name = $feat->display_name()
 Function: Returns the human-readable name of the feature for displays.
 Returns : a string
 Args    : none

primary_tag

 Title   : primary_tag
 Usage   : $tag = $feat->primary_tag()
 Function: Returns the primary tag for a feature,
           eg 'exon'
 Returns : a string 
 Args    : none

source_tag

 Title   : source_tag
 Usage   : $tag = $feat->source_tag()
 Function: Returns the source tag for a feature,
           eg, 'genscan' 
 Returns : a string 
 Args    : none

has_tag

 Title   : has_tag
 Usage   : $tag_exists = $self->has_tag('some_tag')
 Function: 
 Returns : TRUE if the specified tag exists, and FALSE otherwise
 Args    :

get_tag_values

 Title   : get_tag_values
 Usage   : @values = $self->get_tag_values('some_tag')
 Function: 
 Returns : An array comprising the values of the specified tag.
 Args    :

get_all_tags

 Title   : get_all_tags
 Usage   : @tags = $feat->get_all_tags()
 Function: gives all tags for this feature
 Returns : an array of strings
 Args    : none

attach_seq

 Title   : attach_seq
 Usage   : $sf->attach_seq($seq)
 Function: Attaches a Bio::Seq object to this feature. This
           Bio::Seq object is for the *entire* sequence: ie
           from 1 to 10000

           Note that it is not guaranteed that if you obtain a feature
           from an object in bioperl, it will have a sequence
           attached. Also, implementors of this interface can choose
           to provide an empty implementation of this method. I.e.,
           there is also no guarantee that if you do attach a
           sequence, seq() or entire_seq() will not return undef.

           The reason that this method is here on the interface is to
           enable you to call it on every SeqFeatureI compliant
           object, and that it will be implemented in a useful way and
           set to a useful value for the great majority of use
           cases. Implementors who choose to ignore the call are
           encouraged to specifically state this in their
           documentation.

 Example :
 Returns : TRUE on success
 Args    : a Bio::PrimarySeqI compliant object

seq

 Title   : seq
 Usage   : $tseq = $sf->seq()
 Function: returns the truncated sequence (if there is a sequence attached) 
           for this feature
 Example :
 Returns : sub seq (a Bio::PrimarySeqI compliant object) on attached sequence
           bounded by start & end, or undef if there is no sequence attached
 Args    : none

entire_seq

 Title   : entire_seq
 Usage   : $whole_seq = $sf->entire_seq()
 Function: gives the entire sequence that this seqfeature is attached to
 Example :
 Returns : a Bio::PrimarySeqI compliant object, or undef if there is no
           sequence attached
 Args    : none

seq_id

 Title   : seq_id
 Usage   : $obj->seq_id($newval)
 Function: There are many cases when you make a feature that you
           do know the sequence name, but do not know its actual
           sequence. This is an attribute such that you can store
           the ID (e.g., display_id) of the sequence.

           This attribute should *not* be used in GFF dumping, as
           that should come from the collection in which the seq
           feature was found.
 Returns : value of seq_id
 Args    : newvalue (optional)

gff_string

 Title   : gff_string
 Usage   : $str = $feat->gff_string;
           $str = $feat->gff_string($gff_formatter);
 Function: Provides the feature information in GFF format.

           The implementation provided here returns GFF2 by default. If you
           want a different version, supply an object implementing a method
           gff_string() accepting a SeqFeatureI object as argument. E.g., to
           obtain GFF1 format, do the following:

                my $gffio = Bio::Tools::GFF->new(-gff_version => 1);
                $gff1str = $feat->gff_string($gff1io);

 Returns : A string
 Args    : Optionally, an object implementing gff_string().

_static_gff_formatter

 Title   : _static_gff_formatter
 Usage   :
 Function:
 Example :
 Returns : 
 Args    :

Bio::RangeI methods

List of interfaces inherited from Bio::RangeI (see Bio::RangeI for details).

start

 Title   : start
 Usage   : $start = $feat->start
 Function: Returns the start coordinate of the feature
 Returns : integer
 Args    : none

end

 Title   : end
 Usage   : $end = $feat->end
 Function: Returns the end coordinate of the feature
 Returns : integer
 Args    : none

strand

 Title   : strand
 Usage   : $strand = $feat->strand()
 Function: Returns strand information, being 1,-1 or 0
 Returns : -1,1 or 0
 Args    : none

Decorating methods

These methods have an implementation provided by Bio::SeqFeatureI, but can be validly overwritten by subclasses

spliced_seq

  Title   : spliced_seq

  Usage   : $seq = $feature->spliced_seq()
            $seq = $feature_with_remote_locations->spliced_seq($db_for_seqs)

  Function: Provides a sequence of the feature which is the most
            semantically "relevant" feature for this sequence. A
            default implementation is provided which for simple cases
            returns just the sequence, but for split cases, loops over
            the split location to return the sequence. In the case of
            split locations with remote locations, eg

            join(AB000123:5567-5589,80..1144)

            in the case when a database object is passed in, it will
            attempt to retrieve the sequence from the database object,
            and "Do the right thing", however if no database object is
            provided, it will generate the correct number of N's (DNA)
            or X's (protein, though this is unlikely).

            This function is deliberately "magical" attempting to
            second guess what a user wants as "the" sequence for this
            feature

            Implementing classes are free to override this method with
            their own magic if they have a better idea what the user
            wants

  Args    : [optional] A Bio::DB::RandomAccessI compliant object
  Returns : A Bio::Seq

RangeI methods

These methods are inherited from RangeI and can be used directly from a SeqFeatureI interface. Remember that a SeqFeature is-a RangeI, and so wherever you see RangeI you can use a feature ($r in the below documentation).

overlaps

  Title   : overlaps
  Usage   : if($feat->overlaps($r)) { do stuff }
            if($feat->overlaps(200)) { do stuff }
  Function: tests if $feat overlaps $r
  Args    : a RangeI to test for overlap with, or a point
  Returns : true if the Range overlaps with the feature, false otherwise

contains

  Title   : contains
  Usage   : if($feat->contains($r) { do stuff }
  Function: tests whether $feat totally contains $r
  Args    : a RangeI to test for being contained
  Returns : true if the argument is totaly contained within this range

equals

  Title   : equals
  Usage   : if($feat->equals($r))
  Function: test whether $feat has the same start, end, strand as $r
  Args    : a RangeI 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 triplets (start, stop, strand) from which new ranges could be built.

intersection

  Title   : intersection
  Usage   : ($start, $stop, $strand) = $feat->intersection($r)
  Function: gives the range that is contained by both ranges
  Args    : a RangeI to compare this one to
  Returns : nothing if they do not overlap, or the range that they do overlap

union

  Title   : union
  Usage   : ($start, $stop, $strand) = $feat->union($r);
          : ($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 containing all of the ranges

location

 Title   : location
 Usage   : my $location = $seqfeature->location()
 Function: returns a location object suitable for identifying location 
           of feature on sequence or parent feature  
 Returns : Bio::LocationI object
 Args    : none