Bio::ASN1::Sequence - Regular expression-based Perl Parser for ASN.1-formatted NCBI Sequences.


Bio-ASN1-EntrezGene documentation Contained in the Bio-ASN1-EntrezGene distribution.

Index


Code Index:

NAME

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Bio::ASN1::Sequence - Regular expression-based Perl Parser for ASN.1-formatted NCBI Sequences.

SYNOPSIS

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  use Bio::ASN1::Sequence;

  my $parser = Bio::ASN1::Sequence->new('file' => "downloaded.asn1");
  while(my $result = $parser->next_seq)
  {
    # extract data from $result, or Dumpvalue->new->dumpValue($result);
  }

  # a new way to get the $result data hash for a particular sequence id:
  use Bio::ASN1::Sequence::Indexer;
  my $inx = Bio::ASN1::Sequence::Indexer->new(-filename => 'seq.idx');
  my $seq = $inx->fetch_hash('AF093062');

  # for creation of .idx index files please refer to
  # Bio::ASN1::Sequence::Indexer perldoc

PREREQUISITE

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None.

INSTALLATION

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Bio::ASN1::Sequence is part of the Bio::ASN1::EntrezGene package. Bio::ASN1::EntrezGene package can be installed & tested as follows:

  perl Makefile.PL
  make
  make test
  make install

DESCRIPTION

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Bio::ASN1::Sequence is a regular expression-based Perl Parser for ASN.1-formatted NCBI sequences. It parses an ASN.1-formatted sequence record and returns a data structure that contains all data items from the sequence record.

The parser will report error & line number if input data does not conform to the NCBI Sequence annotation file format.

The sequence parser is basically a modified version of the high-performance Bio::ASN1::EntrezGene parser. However, I created a standalone module for sequence since it is more efficient to keep Sequence-specific code out of EntrezGene.pm.

In fact it is possible to provide reading of all NCBI's ASN.1-formatted files through simple variations of the Entrez Gene parser (I need more investigation to be sure, but at least the sequence parser works well).

Since demand for parsing NCBI ASN.1-formatted sequences is much lower than EntrezGene, this module is more like a beta version that works on the examples I checked, but I did not check all available records or data definitions. The error-reporting function of this module has to be useful sometimes. :)

SEE ALSO

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The parse_sequence_example.pl script included in this package (please see the Bio-ASN1-EntrezGene-x.xx/examples directory) shows the usage.

Please check out perldoc for Bio::ASN1::EntrezGene for more info.

AUTHOR

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Dr. Mingyi Liu <mingyi.liu@gpc-biotech.com>

COPYRIGHT

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CITATION

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Liu, M and Grigoriev, A (2005) "Fast Parsers for Entrez Gene" Bioinformatics. In press

OPERATION SYSTEMS SUPPORTED

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Any OS that Perl runs on.

METHODS

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new

  Parameters: maxerrstr => 20 (optional) - maximum number of characters after
                offending element, used by error reporting, default is 20
              file or -file => $filename (optional) - name of the file to be
                parsed. call next_seq to parse!
              fh or -fh => $filehandle (optional) - handle of the file to be
                parsed.
  Example:    my $parser = Bio::ASN1::Sequence->new();
  Function:   Instantiate a parser object
  Returns:    Object reference
  Notes:      Setting file or fh will reset line numbers etc. that are used
                for error reporting purposes, and seeking on file handle would 
                mess up linenumbers!

maxerrstr

  Parameters: $maxerrstr (optional) - maximum number of characters after
                offending element, used by error reporting, default is 20
  Example:    $parser->maxerrstr(20);
  Function:   get/set maxerrstr.
  Returns:    maxerrstr.
  Notes:

parse

  Parameters: $string that contains Sequence record,
              $trimopt (optional) that specifies how the data structure
                returned should be trimmed. 2 is recommended and 
                default
              $noreset (optional) that species that line number should not
                be reset
              DEPRECATED as external function!!! Do not call this function
                directly!  Call next_seq() instead
  Example:    my $value = $parser->parse($text); # DEPRECATED as
                # external function!!! Do not call this function
                # directly!  Call next_seq() instead
  Function:   Takes in a string representing Sequence record, parses
                the record and returns a data structure.
  Returns:    A data structure containing all data items from the sequence
                record.
  Notes:      DEPRECATED as external function!!! Do not call this function
                directly!  Call next_seq() instead
              $string should not contain 'Seq-entry ::= set' at beginning!

input_file

  Parameters: $filename for file that contains Sequence record(s)
  Example:    $parser->input_file($filename);
  Function:   Takes in name of a file containing Sequence records.
              opens the file and stores file handle
  Returns:    none.
  Notes:      Attemps to open file larger than 2 GB even on Perl that
                does not support 2 GB file (accomplished by calling
                "cat" and piping output. On OS that does not have "cat"
                error message will be displayed)

next_seq

  Parameters: $trimopt (optional) that specifies how the data structure
                returned should be trimmed. option 2 is recommended and
                default
  Example:    my $value = $parser->next_seq();
  Function:   Use the file handle generated by input_file, parses the next
                the record and returns a data structure.
  Returns:    A data structure containing all data items from the sequence
                record.
  Notes:      Must pass in a filename through new() or input_file() first!
              For details on how to use the $trimopt data trimming option
                please see comment for the trimdata method. An option
                of 2 is recommended and default
              The acceptable values for $trimopt include:
                1 - trim as much as possibile
                2 (or 0, undef) - trim to an easy-to-use structure
                3 - no trimming (in version 1.06, prior to version
                    1.06, 0 or undef means no trimming)

trimdata

  Parameters: $hashref or $arrayref
              $trimflag (optional, see Notes)
  Example:    trimdata($datahash); # using the default flag
  Function:   recursively process all attributes of a hash/array
              hybrid and get rid of any arrayref that points to
              one-element arrays (trims data structure) depending on
              the optional flag.
  Returns:    none - trimming happenes in-place
  Notes:      This function is useful to compact a data structure produced by
                Bio::ASN1::Sequence::parse.
              The acceptable values for $trimopt include:
                1 - trim as much as possibile
                2 (or 0, undef) - trim to an easy-to-use structure
                3 - no trimming (in version 1.06, prior to version
                    1.06, 0 or undef means no trimming)
              This function is duplicate to EntrezGene.pm's and code should
                be compressed in the future (using util module & subclass).

fh

  Parameters: $filehandle (optional)
  Example:    trimdata($datahash); # using the default flag
  Function:   getter/setter for file handle
  Returns:    file handle for current file being parsed.
  Notes:      Use with care!
              Line number report would not be corresponding to file's line 
                number if seek operation is performed on the file handle!

rawdata

  Parameters: none
  Example:    my $data = $parser->rawdata();
  Function:   Get the sequence data file that was just parsed
  Returns:    a string containing the ASN1-formatted sequence record
  Notes:      Must first parse a record then call this function!
              Could be useful in interpreting line number value in error
                report (if user did a seek on file handle right before parsing 
                call)


Bio-ASN1-EntrezGene documentation Contained in the Bio-ASN1-EntrezGene distribution.
package Bio::ASN1::Sequence;

use strict;
use Carp qw(carp croak);
use vars qw ($VERSION);

$VERSION = '1.10';

sub new
{
  my $class = shift;
  $class = ref($class) if(ref($class));
  my $self = { maxerrstr => 20, @_ };
  bless $self, $class;
  map { $self->input_file($self->{$_}) if($self->{$_}) } qw(file -file);
  map { $self->fh($self->{$_}) if($self->{$_}) } qw(fh -fh);
  return $self;
}

sub maxerrstr
{
  my ($self, $value) = @_;
  $self->{maxerrstr} = $value if $value > 0;
  return $self->{maxerrstr};
}


sub parse
{
  my ($self, $input, $compact, $noreset) = @_;
  $input || croak "must have input!\n";
  $self->{input} = $input;
  $self->{filename} = "input" unless $self->{filename};
  $self->{linenumber} = 1 unless $self->{linenumber} && $noreset;
  $self->{depth} = 0;
  my $result;
  eval
  {
    $result = $self->_parse(); # no need to reset $self->{depth} or linenumber
  };
  if($@)
  {
    if($@ !~ /^Data Error:/)
    {
      croak "non-conforming data broke parser on line $self->{linenumber} in $self->{filename}\n".
            "possible cause includes randomly inserted brackets in input file before line $self->{linenumber}\n".
            "first $self->{maxerrstr} (or till end of input) characters including the non-conforming data:\n" .
            substr($self->{input}, pos($self->{input}), $self->{maxerrstr}) . "\nRaw error mesg: $@\n";
    }
    else { die $@ }
  }
  trimdata($result, $compact);
  return $result;
}

sub input_file
{
  my ($self, $filename) = @_;
  # in case user's Perl system can't handle large file. Assuming Unix, otherwise raise error
  local *IN; # older styled code to enable module to work with perl 5.005_03
  open(*IN, $filename) ||
  ($! =~ /too large/i && open(*IN, "cat $filename |")) ||
    croak "can't open $filename! -- $!\n";
  $self->{fh} = *IN;
  $self->{filename} = $filename;
  $self->{linenumber} = 0; # reset line number
}

sub next_seq
{
  my ($self, $compact) = @_;
  $self->{fh} || croak "you must pass in a file name or handle through new() or input_file() first before calling next_seq!\n";
  local $/ = "Seq-entry ::= set {"; # set record separator
  while($_ = readline($self->{fh}))
  {
    chomp;
    next unless /\S/;
    my $tmp = (/^\s*Seq-entry ::= set ({.*)/si)? $1 : "{" . $_; # get rid of the 'Seq-entry ::= set ' at the beginning of Sequence record
    return $self->parse($tmp, $compact, 1); # 1 species no resetting line number
  }
}

# NCBI's Apr 05, 2005 format change forced much usage of lookahead, which would for
# sure slows parser down.  But can't code efficiently without it.
sub _parse
{
  my ($self, $flag) = @_;
  my $data;
  while(1)
  {
    # changing orders of regex if/elsif statements made little difference. current order is close to optimal
    if($self->{input} =~ /\G[ \t]*,?[ \t]*\n/cg) # cleanup leftover
    {
      $self->{linenumber}++;
      next;
    }
    if($self->{input} =~ /\G[ \t]*}/cg)
    {
      if(!($self->{depth}--) && $self->{input} =~ /\S/)
      {
        croak "Data Error: extra (mismatched) '}' found on line $self->{linenumber} in $self->{filename}!\n";
      }
      return $data
    }
    elsif($self->{input} =~ /\G[ \t]*{/cg)
    {
      $self->{depth}++;
      push(@$data, $self->_parse())
    }
    elsif($self->{input} =~ /\G[ \t]*([\w-]+)(\s*)/cg)
    {
      my ($id, $lines) = ($1, $2);
      # we're prepared for NCBI to make the format even worse:
      # note: to count line numbers right for text files on different OS, I'm sacrificing much speed (maybe I shouldn't worry so much)
      $self->{linenumber} += $lines =~ s/\n//g || $lines =~ s/\r//g; # count by *NIX/Win or Mac
      my ($tmp, $tmp1);
      # we put \s* in lookahead for linenumber counting purpose (which slows things down)
      if(($self->{input} =~ /\G"((?:[^"]+|"")*)"(?=\s*[,}])/cg && ++$tmp) ||
         ($self->{input} =~ /\G'([^']+)'\s*H/icg && ++$tmp1) || # this is the only difference b/w sequence and entrez gene formats so far
         $self->{input} =~ /\G([\w-]+)(?=\s*[,}])/cg)
      {
        my $value = $1;
        if($tmp) # slight speed optimization, not really necessary since regex is fast enough
        {
          $value =~ s/""/"/g;
          $self->{linenumber} += $value =~ s/\n//g || $value =~ s/\r//g; # count by *NIX/Win or Mac
          $value =~ s/[\r\n]+//g; # in case it's Win format
        }
        elsif($tmp1) # slight speed optimization, not really necessary since regex is fast enough
        {
          $value =~ tr/fF8421/NNTGCA/; # good for NCBI4na.  But if NCBI8na was used, then more needs to be transliterated
          $self->{linenumber} += $value =~ s/\n//g || $value =~ s/\r//g; # count by *NIX/Win or Mac
          $value =~ s/[\r\n0]+//g; # in case it's Win format (get rid of '0' at end of seq too)
        }
        if(ref($data->{$id})) { push(@{$data->{$id}}, $value) } # hash value is not a terminal (or have multiple values), create array to avoid multiple same-keyed hash overwrite each other
        elsif($data->{$id}) { $data->{$id} = [$data->{$id}, $value] } # hash value has a second terminal value now!
        else { $data->{$id} = $value } # the first terminal value
      }
      elsif($self->{input} =~ /\G{/cg)
      {
        $self->{depth}++;
        push(@{$data->{$id}}, $self->_parse());
      }
      elsif($self->{input} =~ /\G(?=[,}])/cg) { push(@$data, $id) }
      else # must be "id value value" format
      {
        $self->{depth}++;
        push(@{$data->{$id}}, $self->_parse(1))
      }
      if($flag)
      {
        if(!($self->{depth}--) && $self->{input} =~ /\S/)
        {
          croak "Data Error: extra (mismatched) '}' found on line $self->{linenumber} in $self->{filename}!\n";
        }
        return $data;
      }
    }
    elsif($self->{input} =~ /\G[ \t]*"((?:[^"]+|"")*)"(?=\s*[,}])/cg)
    {
      my $value = $1;
      $value =~ s/""/"/g;
      $self->{linenumber} += $value =~ s/\n//g || $value =~ s/\r//g; # count by *NIX/Win or Mac
      $value =~ s/[\r\n]+//g; # in case it's Win format
      push(@$data, $value)
    }
    else # end of input
    {
      my ($pos, $len) = (pos($self->{input}), length($self->{input}));
      if($pos != $len && $self->{input} =~ /\G\s*\S/cg) # problem with parsing, must be non-conforming data
      {
        croak "Data Error: none conforming data found on line $self->{linenumber} in $self->{filename}!\n" .
              "first $self->{maxerrstr} (or till end of input) characters including the non-conforming data:\n" .
              substr($self->{input}, $pos, $self->{maxerrstr}) . "\n";
      }
      elsif($self->{depth} > 0)
      {
        croak "Data Error: missing '}' found at end of input in $self->{filename}!";
      }
      elsif($self->{depth} < 0)
      {
        croak "Data Error: extra (mismatched) '}' found at end of input in $self->{filename}!";
      }
      return $data;
    }
  }
}

# following copied directly from my Pipeline::Util::util just to make this module
# more self-sufficient. Changes should be made over in that module though.

# trims arrayrefs that points to one-element array to slims the
# data structure down (calls Pipeline::Util::util::trimdata)
# something like
#    'comments' => ARRAY(0x898be94)
#       0  ARRAY(0x883fc54)
#          0  ARRAY(0x886aef4)
#             0  HASH(0x884d554)
#                'heading' => 'LocusTagLink'
#                'source' => ARRAY(0x8810714)
#                   0  ARRAY(0x8a7df18)
#                      0  ARRAY(0x889f940)
#                         0  HASH(0x886ada4)
#                            'src' => ARRAY(0x88454fc)
#                               0  ARRAY(0x8845598)
#                                  0  HASH(0x898c0ec)
#                                     'db' => 'HGNC'
#                                     'tag' => ARRAY(0x898bfb4)
#                                        0  HASH(0x898c164)
#                                           'id' => 5
# becomes this if $flag == 1:
#    'comments' => ARRAY(0x8840014)
#       0  HASH(0x884d8a4)
#          'heading' => 'LocusTagLink'
#          'source' => HASH(0x8a9869c)
#             'src' => HASH(0x884534c)
#                'db' => 'HGNC'
#                'tag' => HASH(0x88453c4)
#                   'id' => 5
# so now  $hash->{comments}->[0]->[0]->[0]->{source}->[0]->[0]->[0]->{src}->[0]->[0]->{tag}->[0]->{id}
# becomes $hash->{comments}->[0]->{source}->{src}->{tag}->{id}
# this may create problem as array might suddenly change to hash depending on whether it
# has multiple elements or not.  So set $flag to 2 or 0/undef would disallow trimming that 
# would lead to data type change, thus resulting in data structure like:
#    'comments' => ARRAY(0x88617e8)
#       0  HASH(0x889d578)
#          'heading' => 'LocusTagLink'
#          'source' => ARRAY(0x8912244)
#             0  HASH(0x8a5d648)
#                'src' => ARRAY(0x8a2203c)
#                   0  HASH(0x8a1af10)
#                      'db' => 'HGNC'
#                      'tag' => ARRAY(0x8a1add8)
#                         0  HASH(0x8a1af88)
#                            'id' => 5
# still not the safest, but saves some hassle writing code

sub trimdata
{
  my ($ref, $flag) = @_;
  $flag = 2 unless $flag;
  return if $flag == 3 || !ref($ref);
  if(ref($ref) ne 'ARRAY') # allows for object refs
  {
    my @keys;
    eval { @keys = keys %$ref }; # let's be careful and check if it can work as a hash
    return if $@;
    foreach my $key (@keys)
    {
      my $tmp = $ref->{$key};
      while(ref($tmp) eq 'ARRAY' && @$tmp == 1)
      {
        last if($flag == 2 && ref($tmp->[0]) ne 'ARRAY');
        $tmp = $tmp->[0]
      }
      $ref->{$key} = $tmp;
      trimdata($ref->{$key}, $flag) if(ref($ref->{$key}))
    }
  }
  else
  {
    # since the only situations where we would get an array of array is
    # when ASN file has a bracket of brackets (otherwise we'd get at least
    # a hash), it makes sense to reduce the arrayrefs to one level
    foreach my $item (@$ref)
    {
      my $tmp = $item;
      while(ref($tmp) eq 'ARRAY' && @$tmp == 1)
      {
        $tmp = $tmp->[0];
      }
      $item = $tmp;
      trimdata($item, $flag) if(ref($item))
    }
  }
}

sub fh
{
  my ($self, $filehandle) = @_;
  if($filehandle)
  {
    $self->{fh} = $filehandle;
    $self->{linenumber} = 0; # reset line number
  }
  return $self->{fh};
}

sub rawdata
{
  my $self = shift;
  return "Seq-entry ::= set $self->{input}";
}

1;