NAME

       EMBOSS::ACD - parse EMBOSS ACD (AJAX Command Definition) files

AUTHOR

       Luke McCarthy <lukem@gene.pbi.nrc.ca>

SYNOPSIS

         use EMBOSS::ACD;

         $acd = EMBOSS::ACD->new($acdfile);

         $application = $acd->name;

         $description = $acd->documentation;

         @groups = $acd->groups;

         foreach $parameter ($acd->param) {
               while (($attribute, $value) = each %$parameter) {
                       ...
               }
         }

DESCRIPTION

       EMBOSS::ACD parses EMBOSS Ajax Command Definition files and provides object-oriented
       access to the data contained therein.

       For a complete specification of the ACD format, see
       http://emboss.sourceforge.net/developers/acd

       Note that no checks are performed to ensure that the ACD file is semantically valid.
       Specifically, datatypes and attributes that aren't defined in the specification can occur
       in the file and will be parsed as normal.  This is a good thing, as the module remains
       useful even if new datatypes are added by local developers or the EMBOSS crew.

       Public methods are described below:

       new($acdfile)
           Parses the specified ACD file.  Returns a new EMBOSS::ACD object on success, and dies
           on failure.

           $acdfile is the full path to a valid ACD file.

       name()
           Returns the name of the application whose ACD file was parsed.

       documentation()
           Returns a short description of the application whose ACD file was parsed.

       groups()
           Returns a list of functional groups to which the application belongs.  For a list of
           possible groups, see http://emboss.sourceforge.net/developers/acd/syntax.html#sect2214

       param($param)
           Returns a reference to a hash describing the specified parameter.  The hash contains
           key-value pairs corresponding to the attributes specified in the ACD file, plus the
           keys 'name' and 'datatype'.  The value of the 'datatype' key is the canonical name of
           the data type, regardless of any abbreviation in the ACD file.  For a list of possible
           data types, see http://emboss.sourceforge.net/developers/acd/syntax.html#sect23

           If no parameter is specified, a list of all parameters is returned.  The members of
           the list are hash references as described above.

           Note that, in accordance with the ACD specification, attribute names are not expanded
           if they are abbreviated in the ACD file.

           $param is either undefined (see above) or the name of the desired parameter.

       canonical_datatype($datatype)
           Returns the canonical name of the specified abbreviated datatype, or undefined if the
           abbreviation is ambiguous or not recognized.

BUGS

       None that I know of...

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2004 Luke McCarthy.  All rights reserved.  This program is free software.
       You may copy or redistribute it under the same terms as Perl itself.