=head1 gbrowse_img - CGI script to generate genome images via the Generic Genome Browser
=head1 SYNOPSIS
<img src="http://www.wormbase.org/db/seq/gbrowse_img/wormbase?name=mec-3;width=400">
Will generate this picture:
=begin text
[gbrowse_img/wormbase?name=mec-3;width=400]
=end text
=begin html
<img src="http://www.wormbase.org/db/seq/gbrowse_img/wormbase?name=mec-3;width=400"><br>
=end html
<a href="http://www.wormbase.org/db/seq/gbrowse_img?list=sources">list</a>
Will return this document:
## Sources
human
ws77
worm_pmap
embl
fly
briggsae
yeast
wormbase
<a href="http://www.wormbase.org/db/seq/gbrowse_img?list=types">types</a>
Will return this document:
## Feature types for source yeast
Genes Named gene default
ORFs ORF default
CDS CDS
tRNAs tRNAs default
Centro Centromeres
Transp Transposons
LTRs Long Terminal Repeats
TranslationF 3-frame translation (forward)
DNA/GC Content
TranslationR 3-frame translation (reverse)
ncRNA Noncoding RNAs
=head1 DESCRIPTION
This CGI script is an interface to the Generic Genome Browser for the
purpose of retrieving dynamic images of a region of the genome. It can
be used as the destination of an <img> tag like this:
<img src="http://www.wormbase.org/db/seq/gbrowse_img/wormbase?name=III:1 ..1000">
The script can also be used to superimpose one or more external
features onto the display, for example for the purpose of displaying
BLAST hits, an STS or a knockout in the context of the genome.
=head1 CGI arguments
The script recognizes the following CGI arguments, which can be passed
either as GET or POST argument=value pairs. Argument pairs must be
separated by semicolons (preferred) or by ampersands.
Argument Alias Description
name q genomic landmark or range
type t tracks to include in image
width w desired width of image
options o list of track options (compact, labeled, etc)
abs b display position in absolute coordinates
add a added feature(s) to superimpose on the image
style s stylesheet for additional features
keystyle k where to place the image key
overview force an overview-style display
flip f flip image left to right
embed generate full HTML for image and imagemap for use in an
embedded frame
format format for the image (use "SVG" for scaleable vector
graphics)
list get certain types of configuration information
source database name
The arguments are explained in more detail here
=over
=item name (Alias: q)
This argument specifies the region of the genome to be
displayed. Several forms are recognized:
name=Landmark
Display the landmark named "Landmark". Valid landmark names include
chromosomes, contigs, clones, STSs, predicted genes, and any other
landmark that the administrator has designated. Be careful when
fetching large landmarks such as whole chromosomes!
name=Landmark:start..end
Display the region between start and end relative to "Landmark".
name=Class:Landmark
Display "Landmark", restricting to a particular class, such as
"PCR_Product". The list of classes is under the control of the
database administrator and is not yet available through this
interface.
name=Class:Landmark:start..end
As above, but restricted to the designated range.
If you use multiple name options, then this script will generate an
overview image showing the position of each landmark. The alias "q"
can be used to shorten the length of the URL.
=item type (Alias: t)
This argument lists the feature types to display. The value of this
argument is a list of track names separated by spaces ("+" characters
when URL-escaped). For example:
<img src="http://www.wormbase.org/db/seq/gbrowse_img/wormbase?name=mec-3;
type=tRNA+NG+WABA+CG+ESTB">
Multiple type= arguments will be combined to form a single
space-delimited list. The alias "t" can be used to shorten the length
of the URL.
If the track name has a space in it, put quotes around the name:
type="microbe tRNA"+NG+WABA+CG+ESTB
=item width (Alias: w)
Width of the desired image, in pixels.
=item options (Alias: o)
A space-delimited list ("+" characters when URL-escaped) of
mnemonic/option pairs describing how features should be formatted.
Options are integers from 0 to 3, where 0=auto, 1=compact, 2=expanded,
3=expanded and labeled. For example, to specify that the tRNA and NG
tracks should always be expanded and labeled, but that the WABA track
should be compact, use:
options=tRNA+3+NG+3+WABA+1
The alias "o" can be used to shorten the length of the URL.
=item abs
Use absolute (chromosome) coordinates when displaying the image. An
argument of abs=1 will turn on absolute coordinate addressing. An
argument of abs=0 will use relative coordinate addressing (this is the
default).
=item add (Alias: a)
Superimpose one or more additional features on top of the view.
Features are specified as space ("+") delimited lists in the following
format:
add=Landmark+Type+Name+start..end,start..end,start..end
"Landmark" is the landmark name, "Type" is a descriptive type that
will be printed in the image caption, "Name" is a name for the feature
to be printed above it, and start..end is a comma-delimited list of
ranges for discontinuous feature. Names that contain white space must
be quoted, for example "BLAST hit". Note that this all has to be
URL-escaped, so an additional feature named "Your Sequence", type
"Blast Hit", that is located on chromosome III in a gapped range
between 20000 and 22000, will be formatted as:
add=III+%22Blast%20Hit%22+%22Your%20Sequence%22+20000..21000,21550..22000
One or both of the type and name can be omitted. If omitted, type will
default to "Your Features" and the name will default to "Feature XX"
where XX is an integer. This allows for a very simple feature line:
add=III+20000..21000,21550..22000
Multiple add= arguments are allowed. The alias "a" can be used to
shorten the length of the URL.
=item style
The style argument can be used to control the rendering of additional
features added with "add". It is a flattened version of the style
configuration sections described in [1]this document For example, if
you have added a "Blast Hit" annotation, then you can tell the
renderer to use a red arrow for this glyph in this way:
style=%22Blast%20Hit%22+glyph=arrow+fgcolor=red
=item keystyle (Alias: k)
Controls the positioning of the track key. One of "right", "left",
"between" (default) or "bottom"
=item overview
Ordinarily the image will show the detail panel if the query region
corresponds to a single region, and the overview panel if multiple
regions match (or if a region that is too large to show
matches). Setting overview=1 will force the overview to be shown in
all cases.
=item flip (Alias: f)
Flip the image left to right. Arguments are 0=don't flip (default),
and 1=flip.
=item embed
Generate image and a corresponding HTML imagemap in a form suitable
for embedding into a frame.
=item highlight (Alias: h)
Highlight (in yellow) all features whose names match the indicated
value.
=item format
Specify the format for the image file. Either "GD" (the default) or
"GD::SVG" for scaleable vector graphics.
=item list
If this argument is present, it will cause the script to dump out
various types of information in plain text form. Currently the two
values for this argument are sources, to dump out the list of data
sources, and types, to dump out the list of configured types. For
list=sources, the script will return a simple text list of the data
source names. For list=types, the script will return a three-column
tab-delimited list giving the track names and feature types
corresponding to the currently-selected data source. The format is as
follows:
Mnemonic <tab> Full description of feature <tab> [default]
The third column contains the word "default" if the track will be
shown by default when no type argument is provided.
=item source
This argument specifies the database for the images. The list of
sources can be found using list=sources.
=back
Putting it all together, here's a working (very long) URL:
http://www.wormbase.org/db/seq/gbrowse_img/wormbase?name=B0001;add=B0001+pcr
+pcr1+20000..333000;add=B0001+%22cool%20knockout%22+kn2+30000..20000,10000..500
0;type=add+CG+WTP;style=pcr+glyph=primers;style=%22cool%20knockout%22+glyph=tra
nscript2+bgcolor=orange;abs=1
If you wish to associate the image with an imagemap so that clicking
on a feature takes the user to the destination configured in the
gbrowse config file, you may do so by placing the URL in an <iframe>
section and using the embed=1 flag:
<iframe
src="http://localhost/cgi-bin/gbrowse_img/wormbase?name=B0001;embed=1"
width="100%" height="250">
<img
src="http://localhost/cgi-bin/gbrowse_img/wormbase?name=B0001"/>
</iframe>
Placing an <img> tag inside the <iframe> tag arranges for older
browsers that don't know about iframes to display the static image
instead. You may need to adjust the width and height attributes in
order to avoid browsers placing scrollbars around the frame.
=head1 KNOWN BUGS
The configuration options for plugins are not correctly stored, so
tracks generated by annotation plugins, such as the Restriction site
annotator, will not display correctly when the image URL is generated
on one machine and then viewed on another. Uploaded files will
transfer correctly, however.
=head1 AUTHOR
Lincoln Stein lstein@cshl.org
Copyright (c) 2002 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the same terms as Perl itself.
For additional help, see The GMOD Project pages.