Provided by: libbio-perl-perl_1.7.8-1_all 
NAME
Bio::Root::Utilities - general-purpose utilities
SYNOPSIS
Object Creation
# Using the supplied singleton object:
use Bio::Root::Utilities qw(:obj);
$Util->some_method();
# Create an object manually:
use Bio::Root::Utilities;
my $util = Bio::Root::Utilities->new();
$util->some_method();
$date_stamp = $Util->date_format('yyy-mm-dd');
$clean = $Util->untaint($dirty);
$compressed = $Util->compress('/home/me/myfile.txt')
my ($mean, $stdev) = $Util->mean_stdev( @data );
$Util->authority("me@example.com");
$Util->mail_authority("Something you should know about...");
...and a host of other methods. See below.
DESCRIPTION
Provides general-purpose utilities of potential interest to any Perl script.
The ":obj" tag is a convenience that imports a $Util symbol into your namespace
representing a Bio::Root::Utilities object. This saves you from creating your own
Bio::Root::Utilities object via "Bio::Root::Utilities->new()" or from prefixing all method
calls with "Bio::Root::Utilities", though feel free to do these things if desired. Since
there should normally not be a need for a script to have more than one
Bio::Root::Utilities object, this module thus comes with it's own singleton.
INSTALLATION
This module is included with the central Bioperl distribution:
http://www.bioperl.org/wiki/Getting_BioPerl
ftp://bio.perl.org/pub/DIST
Follow the installation instructions included in the README file.
DEPENDENCIES
Inherits from Bio::Root::Root, and uses Bio::Root::IO and Bio::Root::Exception.
Relies on external executables for file compression/uncompression and sending mail. No
paths to these are hard coded but are located as needed.
SEE ALSO
http://bioperl.org - Bioperl Project Homepage
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This module was originally developed under the auspices of the Saccharomyces Genome
Database: http://www.yeastgenome.org/
AUTHOR Steve Chervitz
date_format
Title : date_format
Usage : $Util->date_format( [FMT], [DATE])
Purpose : -- Get a string containing the formatted date or time
: taken when this routine is invoked.
: -- Provides a way to avoid using `date`.
: -- Provides an interface to localtime().
: -- Interconverts some date formats.
:
: (For additional functionality, use Date::Manip or
: Date::DateCalc available from CPAN).
Example : $Util->date_format();
: $date = $Util->date_format('yyyy-mmm-dd', '11/22/92');
Returns : String (unless 'list' is provided as argument, see below)
:
: 'yyyy-mm-dd' = 1996-05-03 # default format.
: 'yyyy-dd-mm' = 1996-03-05
: 'yyyy-mmm-dd' = 1996-May-03
: 'd-m-y' = 3-May-1996
: 'd m y' = 3 May 1996
: 'dmy' = 3may96
: 'mdy' = May 3, 1996
: 'ymd' = 96may3
: 'md' = may3
: 'year' = 1996
: 'hms' = 23:01:59 # when not converting a format, 'hms' can be
: # tacked on to any of the above options
: # to add the time stamp: eg 'dmyhms'
: 'full' | 'unix' = UNIX-style date: Tue May 5 22:00:00 1998
: 'list' = the contents of localtime(time) in an array.
Argument : (all are optional)
: FMT = yyyy-mm-dd | yyyy-dd-mm | yyyy-mmm-dd |
: mdy | ymd | md | d-m-y | hms | hm
: ('hms' may be appended to any of these to
: add a time stamp)
:
: DATE = String containing date to be converted.
: Acceptable input formats:
: 12/1/97 (for 1 December 1997)
: 1997-12-01
: 1997-Dec-01
Throws :
Comments : If you don't care about formatting or using backticks, you can
: always use: $date = `date`;
:
: For more features, use Date::Manip.pm, (which I should
: probably switch to...)
See Also : file_date(), month2num()
month2num
Title : month2num
Purpose : Converts a string containing a name of a month to integer
: representing the number of the month in the year.
Example : $Util->month2num("march"); # returns 3
Argument : The string argument must contain at least the first
: three characters of the month's name. Case insensitive.
Throws : Exception if the conversion fails.
num2month
Title : num2month
Purpose : Does the opposite of month2num.
: Converts a number into a string containing a name of a month.
Example : $Util->num2month(3); # returns 'Mar'
Throws : Exception if supplied number is out of range.
compress
Title : compress
Usage : $Util->compress(full-path-filename);
: $Util->compress(<named parameters>);
Purpose : Compress a file.
Example : $Util->compress("/usr/people/me/data.txt");
: $Util->compress(-file=>"/usr/people/me/data.txt",
: -tmp=>1,
: -outfile=>"/usr/people/share/data.txt.gz",
: -exe=>"/usr/local/bin/fancyzip");
Returns : String containing full, absolute path to compressed file
Argument : Named parameters (case-insensitive):
: -FILE => String (name of file to be compressed, full path).
: If the supplied filename ends with '.gz' or '.Z',
: that extension will be removed before attempting to compress.
: Optional:
: -TMP => boolean. If true, (or if user is not the owner of the file)
: the file is compressed to a temp file. If false, file may be
: clobbered with the compressed version (if using a utility like
: gzip, which is the default)
: -OUTFILE => String (name of the output compressed file, full path).
: -EXE => Name of executable for compression utility to use.
: Will supersede those in @COMPRESSION_UTILS defined by
: this module. If the absolute path to the executable is not provided,
: it will be searched in the PATH env variable.
Throws : Exception if file cannot be compressed.
: If user is not owner of the file, generates a warning and compresses to
: a tmp file. To avoid this warning, use the -o file test operator
: and call this function with -TMP=>1.
Comments : Attempts to compress using utilities defined in the @COMPRESSION_UTILS
: defined by this module, in the order defined. The first utility that is
: found to be executable will be used. Any utility defined in optional -EXE param
: will be tested for executability first.
: To minimize security risks, the -EXE parameter value is untained using
: the untaint() method of this module (in 'relaxed' mode to permit path separators).
See Also : uncompress()
uncompress
Title : uncompress
Usage : $Util->uncompress(full-path-filename);
: $Util->uncompress(<named parameters>);
Purpose : Uncompress a file.
Example : $Util->uncompress("/usr/people/me/data.txt");
: $Util->uncompress(-file=>"/usr/people/me/data.txt.gz",
: -tmp=>1,
: -outfile=>"/usr/people/share/data.txt",
: -exe=>"/usr/local/bin/fancyzip");
Returns : String containing full, absolute path to uncompressed file
Argument : Named parameters (case-insensitive):
: -FILE => String (name of file to be uncompressed, full path).
: If the supplied filename ends with '.gz' or '.Z',
: that extension will be removed before attempting to uncompress.
: Optional:
: -TMP => boolean. If true, (or if user is not the owner of the file)
: the file is uncompressed to a temp file. If false, file may be
: clobbered with the uncompressed version (if using a utility like
: gzip, which is the default)
: -OUTFILE => String (name of the output uncompressed file, full path).
: -EXE => Name of executable for uncompression utility to use.
: Will supersede those in @UNCOMPRESSION_UTILS defined by
: this module. If the absolute path to the executable is not provided,
: it will be searched in the PATH env variable.
Throws : Exception if file cannot be uncompressed.
: If user is not owner of the file, generates a warning and uncompresses to
: a tmp file. To avoid this warning, use the -o file test operator
: and call this function with -TMP=>1.
Comments : Attempts to uncompress using utilities defined in the @UNCOMPRESSION_UTILS
: defined by this module, in the order defined. The first utility that is
: found to be executable will be used. Any utility defined in optional -EXE param
: will be tested for executability first.
: To minimize security risks, the -EXE parameter value is untained using
: the untaint() method of this module (in 'relaxed' mode to permit path separators).
See Also : compress()
file_date
Title : file_date
Usage : $Util->file_date( filename [,date_format])
Purpose : Obtains the date of a given file.
: Provides flexible formatting via date_format().
Returns : String = date of the file as: yyyy-mm-dd (e.g., 1997-10-15)
Argument : filename = string, full path name for file
: date_format = string, desired format for date (see date_format()).
: Default = yyyy-mm-dd
Thows : Exception if no file is provided or does not exist.
Comments : Uses the mtime field as obtained by stat().
untaint
Title : untaint
Purpose : To remove nasty shell characters from untrusted data
: and allow a script to run with the -T switch.
: Potentially dangerous shell meta characters: &;`'\"|*?!~<>^()[]{}$\n\r
: Accept only the first block of contiguous characters:
: Default allowed chars = "-\w.', ()"
: If $relax is true = "-\w.', ()\/=%:^<>*"
Usage : $Util->untaint($value, $relax)
Returns : String containing the untained data.
Argument: $value = string
: $relax = boolean
Comments:
This general untaint() function may not be appropriate for every situation.
To allow only a more restricted subset of special characters
(for example, untainting a regular expression), then using a custom
untainting mechanism would permit more control.
Note that special trusted vars (like $0) require untainting.
mean_stdev
Title : mean_stdev
Usage : ($mean, $stdev) = $Util->mean_stdev( @data )
Purpose : Calculates the mean and standard deviation given a list of numbers.
Returns : 2-element list (mean, stdev)
Argument : list of numbers (ints or floats)
Thows : n/a
count_files
Title : count_files
Purpose : Counts the number of files/directories within a given directory.
: Also reports the number of text and binary files in the dir
: as well as names of these files and directories.
Usage : count_files(\%data)
: $data{-DIR} is the directory to be analyzed. Default is ./
: $data{-PRINT} = 0|1; if 1, prints results to STDOUT, (default=0).
Argument : Hash reference (empty)
Returns : n/a;
: Modifies the hash ref passed in as the sole argument.
: $$href{-TOTAL} scalar
: $$href{-NUM_TEXT_FILES} scalar
: $$href{-NUM_BINARY_FILES} scalar
: $$href{-NUM_DIRS} scalar
: $$href{-T_FILE_NAMES} array ref
: $$href{-B_FILE_NAMES} array ref
: $$href{-DIRNAMES} array ref
file_info
Title : file_info
Purpose : Obtains a variety of date for a given file.
: Provides an interface to Perl's stat().
Status : Under development. Not ready. Don't use!
delete
Title : delete
Purpose :
create_filehandle
Usage : $object->create_filehandle(<named parameters>);
Purpose : Create a FileHandle object from a file or STDIN.
: Mainly used as a helper method by read() and get_newline().
Example : $data = $object->create_filehandle(-FILE =>'usr/people/me/data.txt')
Argument : Named parameters (case-insensitive):
: (all optional)
: -CLIENT => object reference for the object submitting
: the request. Default = $Util.
: -FILE => string (full path to file) or a reference
: to a FileHandle object or typeglob. This is an
: optional parameter (if not defined, STDIN is used).
Returns : Reference to a FileHandle object.
Throws : Exception if cannot open a supplied file or if supplied with a
: reference that is not a FileHandle ref.
Comments : If given a FileHandle reference, this method simply returns it.
: This method assumes the user wants to read ascii data. So, if
: the file is binary, it will be treated as a compressed (gzipped)
: file and access it using gzip -ce. The problem here is that not
: all binary files are necessarily compressed. Therefore,
: this method should probably have a -mode parameter to
: specify ascii or binary.
See Also : get_newline()
get_newline
Usage : $object->get_newline(<named parameters>);
Purpose : Determine the character(s) used for newlines in a given file or
: input stream. Delegates to Bio::Root::Utilities::get_newline()
Example : $data = $object->get_newline(-CLIENT => $anObj,
: -FILE =>'usr/people/me/data.txt')
Argument : Same arguemnts as for create_filehandle().
Returns : Reference to a FileHandle object.
Throws : Propagates any exceptions thrown by Bio::Root::Utilities::get_newline().
See Also : taste_file(), create_filehandle()
taste_file
Usage : $object->taste_file( <FileHandle> );
: Mainly a utility method for get_newline().
Purpose : Sample a filehandle to determine the character(s) used for a newline.
Example : $char = $Util->taste_file($FH)
Argument : Reference to a FileHandle object.
Returns : String containing an octal represenation of the newline character string.
: Unix = "\012" ("\n")
: Win32 = "\012\015" ("\r\n")
: Mac = "\015" ("\r")
Throws : Exception if no input is read within $TIMEOUT_SECS seconds.
: Exception if argument is not FileHandle object reference.
: Warning if cannot determine neewline char(s).
Comments : Based on code submitted by Vicki Brown (vlb@deltagen.com).
See Also : get_newline()
file_flavor
Usage : $object->file_flavor( <filename> );
Purpose : Returns the 'flavor' of a given file (unix, dos, mac)
Example : print "$file has flavor: ", $Util->file_flavor($file);
Argument : filename = string, full path name for file
Returns : String describing flavor of file and handy info about line endings.
: One of these is returned:
: unix (\n or 012 or ^J)
: dos (\r\n or 015,012 or ^M^J)
: mac (\r or 015 or ^M)
: unknown
Throws : Exception if argument is not a file
: Propagates any exceptions thrown by Bio::Root::Utilities::get_newline().
See Also : get_newline(), taste_file()
mail_authority
Title : mail_authority
Usage : $Util->mail_authority( $message )
Purpose : Syntactic sugar to send email to $Bio::Root::Global::AUTHORITY
See Also : send_mail()
authority
Title : authority
Usage : $Util->authority('admin@example.com');
Purpose : Set/get the email address that should be notified by mail_authority()
See Also : mail_authority()
send_mail
Title : send_mail
Usage : $Util->send_mail( named_parameters )
Purpose : Provides an interface to mail or sendmail, if available
Returns : n/a
Argument : Named parameters: (case-insensitive)
: -TO => e-mail address to send to
: -SUBJ => subject for message (optional)
: -MSG => message to be sent (optional)
: -CC => cc: e-mail address (optional)
Thows : Exception if TO: address appears bad or is missing.
: Exception if mail cannot be sent.
Comments : Based on TomC's tip at:
: http://www.perl.com/CPAN/doc/FMTEYEWTK/safe_shellings
:
: Using default 'From:' information.
: sendmail options used:
: -t: ignore the address given on the command line and
: get To:address from the e-mail header.
: -oi: prevents send_mail from ending the message if it
: finds a period at the start of a line.
See Also : mail_authority()
find_exe
Title : find_exe
Usage : $Util->find_exe(name);
Purpose : Locate an executable (for use in a system() call, e.g.))
Example : $Util->find_exe("gzip");
Returns : String containing executable that passes the -x test.
Returns undef if an executable of the supplied name cannot be found.
Argument : Name of executable to be found.
: Can be a full path. If supplied name is not executable, an executable
: of that name will be searched in all directories in the currently
: defined PATH environment variable.
Throws : No exceptions, but issues a warning if multiple paths are found
: for a given name. The first one is used.
Comments : TODO: Confirm functionality on all bioperl-supported platforms.
May get tripped up by variation in path separator character used
for splitting ENV{PATH}.
See Also :
yes_reply
Title : yes_reply()
Usage : $Util->yes_reply( [query_string]);
Purpose : To test an STDIN input value for affirmation.
Example : print +( $Util->yes_reply('Are you ok') ? "great!\n" : "sorry.\n" );
: $Util->yes_reply('Continue') || die;
Returns : Boolean, true (1) if input string begins with 'y' or 'Y'
Argument: query_string = string to be used to prompt user (optional)
: If not provided, 'Yes or no' will be used.
: Question mark is automatically appended.
request_data
Title : request_data()
Usage : $Util->request_data( [value_name]);
Purpose : To request data from a user to be entered via keyboard (STDIN).
Example : $name = $Util->request_data('Name');
: # User will see: % Enter Name:
Returns : String, (data entered from keyboard, sans terminal newline.)
Argument: value_name = string to be used to prompt user.
: If not provided, 'data' will be used, (not very helpful).
: Question mark is automatically appended.
quit_reply
Title : quit_reply
Usage :
Purpose :
verify_version
Purpose : Checks the version of Perl used to invoke the script.
: Aborts program if version is less than the given argument.
Usage : verify_version('5.000')