Bio::Ontology Ontology
SummaryIncluded librariesPackage variablesSynopsisDescriptionGeneral documentationMethods
Summary
Bio::Ontology::Ontology - standard implementation of an Ontology
Package variables
No package variables defined.
Included modules
Bio::Ontology::OntologyI
Bio::Ontology::SimpleOntologyEngine
Bio::Root::Root
Inherit
Bio::Ontology::OntologyI Bio::Root::Root
Synopsis
    use Bio::Ontology::Ontology;

    # create ontology object
    my $ont = Bio::Ontology::Ontology->new(-name => "OBF");

    # add terms, relationships ...
    my $bp = Bio::Ontology::Term->new(-name => "Bioperl");
    my $obf = Bio::Ontology::Term->new(-name => "OBF");
    my $partof = Bio::Ontology::RelationshipType->get_instance("PART_OF");
    $ont->add_term($bp);
    $ont->add_term($obf);
    $ont->add_relationship($bp, $obf, $partof);

    # then query
    my @terms = $ont->get_root_terms(); # "OBF"
    my @desc = $ont->get_descendant_terms($terms[0], $partof); # "Bioperl"
    # ... see methods for other ways to query

    # for advanced users, you can re-use the query engine outside of an
    # ontology to let one instance manage multiple ontologies
    my $ont2 = Bio::Ontology::Ontology->new(-name => "Foundations",
                                            -engine => $ont->engine());
Description
This is a no-frills implementation of Bio::Ontology::OntologyI.
The query functions are implemented by delegation to an
OntologyEngineI implementation.
Methods
newDescriptionCode
nameDescriptionCode
authorityDescriptionCode
definitionDescriptionCode
identifierDescriptionCode
closeDescriptionCode
engineDescriptionCode
add_termDescriptionCode
add_relationshipDescriptionCode
get_relationshipsDescriptionCode
get_predicate_termsDescriptionCode
get_child_termsDescriptionCode
get_descendant_termsDescriptionCode
get_parent_termsDescriptionCode
get_ancestor_termsDescriptionCode
get_leaf_termsDescriptionCode
get_root_termsDescriptionCode
get_all_termsDescriptionCode
find_termsDescriptionCode
relationship_factoryDescriptionCode
term_factoryDescriptionCode
Methods description
newcode    nextTop
 Title   : new
 Usage   : my $obj = new Bio::Ontology::Ontology();
 Function: Builds a new Bio::Ontology::Ontology object
 Returns : an instance of Bio::Ontology::Ontology
 Args    :
namecodeprevnextTop
 Title   : name
 Usage   : $obj->name($newval)
 Function: Get/set the name of the ontology.
 Example :
 Returns : value of name (a scalar)
 Args    : on set, new value (a scalar or undef, optional)
authoritycodeprevnextTop
 Title   : authority
 Usage   : $obj->authority($newval)
 Function: Get/set the authority for this ontology, for instance the
           DNS base for the organization granting the name of the
           ontology and identifiers for the terms.

           This attribute is optional and should not generally
           expected by applications to have been set. It is here to
           follow the rules for namespaces, which ontologies serve as
           for terms.

 Example :
 Returns : value of authority (a scalar)
 Args    : on set, new value (a scalar or undef, optional)
definitioncodeprevnextTop
 Title   : definition
 Usage   : $obj->definition($newval)
 Function: Get/set a descriptive definition of the ontology.
 Example :
 Returns : value of definition (a scalar)
 Args    : on set, new value (a scalar or undef, optional)
identifiercodeprevnextTop
 Title   : identifier
 Usage   : $id = $obj->identifier()
 Function: Get an identifier for this ontology.

           This is primarily intended for look-up purposes. The value
           is not modifiable and is determined automatically by the
           implementation.  Also, the identifier's uniqueness will only
           hold within the scope of a particular application's run
           time since it is derived from a memory location.

 Example :
 Returns : value of identifier (a scalar)
 Args    :
closecodeprevnextTop
 Title   : close
 Usage   :
 Function: Release any resources this ontology may occupy. In order
           to efficiently release unused memory or file handles, you
           should call this method once you are finished with an
           ontology.

 Example :
 Returns : TRUE on success and FALSE otherwise
 Args    : none
enginecodeprevnextTop
 Title   : engine
 Usage   : $engine = $obj->engine()
 Function: Get/set the ontology engine to which all the query methods
           delegate.
 Example :
 Returns : an object implementing Bio::Ontology::OntologyEngineI
 Args    : on set, new value (an object implementing
           Bio::Ontology::OntologyEngineI, or  undef)
add_termcodeprevnextTop
 Title   : add_term
 Usage   : add_term(TermI term): TermI
 Function: Adds TermI object to the ontology engine term store

           If the ontology property of the term object was not set,
           this implementation will set it to itself upon adding the
           term.

 Example : $oe->add_term($term)
 Returns : its argument.
 Args    : object of class TermI.
add_relationshipcodeprevnextTop
 Title   : add_relationship
 Usage   : add_relationship(RelationshipI relationship): RelationshipI
  add_relatioship(TermI subject, TermI predicate, TermI object)
 Function: Adds a relationship object to the ontology engine.
 Example :
 Returns : Its argument.
 Args    : A RelationshipI object.
get_relationshipscodeprevnextTop
 Title   : get_relationships
 Usage   : get_relationships(TermI term): RelationshipI[]
 Function: Retrieves all relationship objects in the ontology, or all
           relationships of a given term.
 Example :
 Returns : Array of Bio::Ontology::RelationshipI objects
 Args    : Optionally, a Bio::Ontology::TermI compliant object
get_predicate_termscodeprevnextTop
 Title   : get_predicate_terms
 Usage   : get_predicate_terms(): TermI[]
 Function: Retrieves all relationship types.
 Example :
 Returns : Array of TermI objects
 Args    :
get_child_termscodeprevnextTop
 Title   : get_child_terms
 Usage   : get_child_terms(TermI term, TermI[] predicate_terms): TermI[]
 Function: Retrieves all child terms of a given term, that satisfy a
           relationship among those that are specified in the second
           argument or undef otherwise. get_child_terms is a special
           case of get_descendant_terms, limiting the search to the
           direct descendants.

           Note that a returned term may possibly be in another
           ontology than this one, because the underlying engine may
           manage multiple ontologies and the relationships of terms
           between them. If you only want descendants within this
           ontology, you need to filter the returned array.

 Example :
 Returns : Array of TermI objects.
 Args    : First argument is the term of interest, second is the list
           of relationship type terms.
get_descendant_termscodeprevnextTop
 Title   : get_descendant_terms
 Usage   : get_descendant_terms(TermI term, TermI[] rel_types): TermI[]
 Function: Retrieves all descendant terms of a given term, that
           satisfy a relationship among those that are specified in
           the second argument or undef otherwise.

           Note that a returned term may possibly be in another
           ontology than this one, because the underlying engine may
           manage multiple ontologies and the relationships of terms
           between them. If you only want descendants within this
           ontology, you need to filter the returned array.

 Example :
 Returns : Array of TermI objects.
 Args    : First argument is the term of interest, second is the list
           of relationship type terms.
get_parent_termscodeprevnextTop
 Title   : get_parent_terms
 Usage   : get_parent_terms(TermI term, TermI[] predicate_terms): TermI[]
 Function: Retrieves all parent terms of a given term, that satisfy a
           relationship among those that are specified in the second
           argument or undef otherwise. get_parent_terms is a special
           case of get_ancestor_terms, limiting the search to the
           direct ancestors.

           Note that a returned term may possibly be in another
           ontology than this one, because the underlying engine may
           manage multiple ontologies and the relationships of terms
           between them. If you only want descendants within this
           ontology, you need to filter the returned array.

 Example :
 Returns : Array of TermI objects.
 Args    : First argument is the term of interest, second is the list
           of relationship type terms.
get_ancestor_termscodeprevnextTop
 Title   : get_ancestor_terms
 Usage   : get_ancestor_terms(TermI term, TermI[] predicate_terms): TermI[]
 Function: Retrieves all ancestor terms of a given term, that satisfy
           a relationship among those that are specified in the second
           argument or undef otherwise.

           Note that a returned term may possibly be in another
           ontology than this one, because the underlying engine may
           manage multiple ontologies and the relationships of terms
           between them. If you only want descendants within this
           ontology, you need to filter the returned array.

 Example :
 Returns : Array of TermI objects.
 Args    : First argument is the term of interest, second is the list
           of relationship type terms.
get_leaf_termscodeprevnextTop
 Title   : get_leaf_terms
 Usage   : get_leaf_terms(): TermI[]
 Function: Retrieves all leaf terms from the ontology. Leaf term is a
           term w/o descendants.

 Example : @leaf_terms = $obj->get_leaf_terms()
 Returns : Array of TermI objects.
 Args    :
get_root_terms()codeprevnextTop
 Title   : get_root_terms
 Usage   : get_root_terms(): TermI[]
 Function: Retrieves all root terms from the ontology. Root term is a
           term w/o descendants.

 Example : @root_terms = $obj->get_root_terms()
 Returns : Array of TermI objects.
 Args    :
get_all_termscodeprevnextTop
 Title   : get_all_terms
 Usage   : get_all_terms: TermI[]
 Function: Retrieves all terms from the ontology.

           We do not mandate an order here in which the terms are
           returned. In fact, the default implementation will return
           them in unpredictable order.

 Example : @terms = $obj->get_all_terms()
 Returns : Array of TermI objects.
 Args    :
find_termscodeprevnextTop
 Title   : find_terms
 Usage   : ($term) = $oe->find_terms(-identifier => "SO:0000263");
 Function: Find term instances matching queries for their attributes.

           An implementation may not support querying for arbitrary
           attributes, but can generally be expected to accept
           -identifier and -name as queries. If both are provided,
           they are implicitly intersected.

 Example :
 Returns : an array of zero or more Bio::Ontology::TermI objects
 Args    : Named parameters. The following parameters should be recognized
           by any implementations:

              -identifier    query by the given identifier
              -name          query by the given name
relationship_factorycodeprevnextTop
 Title   : relationship_factory
 Usage   : $fact = $obj->relationship_factory()
 Function: Get (and set, if the engine supports it) the object
           factory to be used when relationship objects are created by
           the implementation on-the-fly.

 Example : 
 Returns : value of relationship_factory (a Bio::Factory::ObjectFactoryI
           compliant object)
 Args    :
term_factorycodeprevnextTop
 Title   : term_factory
 Usage   : $fact = $obj->term_factory()
 Function: Get (and set, if the engine supports it) the object
           factory to be used when term objects are created by
           the implementation on-the-fly.

 Example : 
 Returns : value of term_factory (a Bio::Factory::ObjectFactoryI
           compliant object)
 Args    :
Methods code
newdescriptionprevnextTop
sub new {
    my($class,@args) = @_;

    my $self = $class->SUPER::new(@args);
    my ($name,$auth,$def,$id,$engine) =
	$self->_rearrange([qw(NAME
			      AUTHORITY
			      DEFINITION
			      IDENTIFIER
			      ENGINE)
			   ],
			  @args);
    defined($name) && $self->name($name);
    defined($auth) && $self->authority($auth);
    defined($def) && $self->definition($def);
    defined($id) && $self->identifier($id);
    $engine = Bio::Ontology::SimpleOntologyEngine->new() unless $engine;
    $self->engine($engine);

    return $self;
}
namedescriptionprevnextTop
sub name {
    my $self = shift;

    return $self->{'name'} = shift if @_;
    return $self->{'name'};
}
authoritydescriptionprevnextTop
sub authority {
    my $self = shift;

    return $self->{'authority'} = shift if @_;
    return $self->{'authority'};
}
definitiondescriptionprevnextTop
sub definition {
    my $self = shift;

    return $self->{'definition'} = shift if @_;
    return $self->{'definition'};
}
identifierdescriptionprevnextTop
sub identifier {
    my $self = shift;

    if(@_) {
	$self->throw("cannot modify identifier for ".ref($self))
	    if exists($self->{'identifier'});
	my $id = shift;
	$self->{'identifier'} = $id if $id;
    }
    if(! exists($self->{'identifier'})) {
	($self->{'identifier'}) = "$self" =~ /(0x[0-9a-fA-F]+)/;
    }
    return $self->{'identifier'};
}
closedescriptionprevnextTop
sub close {
    my $self = shift;

    # if it is in the ontology store, remove it from there
    my $store = Bio::Ontology::OntologyStore->get_instance();
    $store->remove_ontology($self);
    # essentially we need to dis-associate from the engine here
    $self->engine(undef);
    return 1;
}
enginedescriptionprevnextTop
sub engine {
    my $self = shift;

    if(@_) {
	my $engine = shift;
	if($engine && (! (ref($engine) &&
			  $engine->isa("Bio::Ontology::OntologyEngineI")))) {
	    $self->throw("object of class ".ref($engine)." does not implement".
			 " Bio::Ontology::OntologyEngineI. Bummer!");
	}
	$self->{'engine'} = $engine;
    }
    return $self->{'engine'};
}
add_termdescriptionprevnextTop
sub add_term {
    my $self = shift;
    my $term = shift;

    # set ontology if not set already
    $term->ontology($self) if $term && (! $term->ontology());
    return $self->engine->add_term($term,@_);
}
add_relationshipdescriptionprevnextTop
sub add_relationship {
    my $self = shift;
    my $rel = shift;

    if($rel && $rel->isa("Bio::Ontology::TermI")) {
	# we need to construct the relationship object on the fly
	my ($predicate,$object) = @_;
	$rel = Bio::Ontology::Relationship->new(-subject_term   => $rel,
						-object_term    => $object,
						-predicate_term => $predicate,
						-ontology       => $self);
    }
    # set ontology if not set already
    $rel->ontology($self) unless $rel->ontology();
    return $self->engine->add_relationship($rel);
}
get_relationshipsdescriptionprevnextTop
sub get_relationships {
    my $self = shift;
    my $term = shift;
    if($term) {
	# we don't need to filter in this case
	return $self->engine->get_relationships($term);
    } 
    # else we need to filter by ontology
    return grep { my $ont = $_->ontology;
		  # the first condition is a superset of the second, but
		  # we add it here for efficiency reasons, as many times
		  # it will short-cut to true and is supposedly faster than
		  # string comparison
		  ($ont == $self) || ($ont->name eq $self->name);
	      } $self->engine->get_relationships(@_);
}
get_predicate_termsdescriptionprevnextTop
sub get_predicate_terms {
    my $self = shift;
    return grep { $_->ontology->name eq $self->name;
	      } $self->engine->get_predicate_terms(@_);
}
get_child_termsdescriptionprevnextTop
sub get_child_terms {
    return shift->engine->get_child_terms(@_);
}
get_descendant_termsdescriptionprevnextTop
sub get_descendant_terms {
    return shift->engine->get_descendant_terms(@_);
}
get_parent_termsdescriptionprevnextTop
sub get_parent_terms {
    return shift->engine->get_parent_terms(@_);
}
get_ancestor_termsdescriptionprevnextTop
sub get_ancestor_terms {
    return shift->engine->get_ancestor_terms(@_);
}
get_leaf_termsdescriptionprevnextTop
sub get_leaf_terms {
    my $self = shift;
    return grep { my $ont = $_->ontology;
		  # the first condition is a superset of the second, but
		  # we add it here for efficiency reasons, as many times
		  # it will short-cut to true and is supposedly faster than
		  # string comparison
		  ($ont == $self) || ($ont->name eq $self->name);
	      } $self->engine->get_leaf_terms(@_);
}
get_root_termsdescriptionprevnextTop
sub get_root_terms {
    my $self = shift;
    return grep { my $ont = $_->ontology;
		  # the first condition is a superset of the second, but
		  # we add it here for efficiency reasons, as many times
		  # it will short-cut to true and is supposedly faster than
		  # string comparison
		  ($ont == $self) || ($ont->name eq $self->name);
	      } $self->engine->get_root_terms(@_);
}
get_all_termsdescriptionprevnextTop
sub get_all_terms {
    my $self = shift;
    return grep { my $ont = $_->ontology;
		  # the first condition is a superset of the second, but
		  # we add it here for efficiency reasons, as many times
		  # it will short-cut to true and is supposedly faster than
		  # string comparison
		  ($ont == $self) || ($ont->name eq $self->name);
	      } $self->engine->get_all_terms(@_);
}
find_termsdescriptionprevnextTop
sub find_terms {
    my $self = shift;
    return grep { $_->ontology->name eq $self->name;
	      } $self->engine->find_terms(@_);
}
relationship_factorydescriptionprevnextTop
sub relationship_factory {
    return shift->engine->relationship_factory(@_);
}
term_factorydescriptionprevnextTop
sub term_factory {
    return shift->engine->term_factory(@_);
}
General documentation
FEEDBACKTop
Mailing ListsTop
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 BugsTop
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 LappTop
Email hlapp at gmx.net
CONTRIBUTORSTop
Additional contributors names and emails here
APPENDIXTop
The rest of the documentation details each of the object methods.
Internal methods are usually preceded with a _
Methods from Bio::Ontology::OntologyITop
Implementation-specific public methodsTop
Methods defined in Bio::Ontology::OntologyEngineITop
Factory for relationships and termsTop