rearrange()

 Usage    : n/a
 Function : Rearranges named parameters to requested order.
 Returns  : @params - an array of parameters in the requested order.
 Argument : $order : a reference to an array which describes the desired
                     order of the named parameters.
            @param : an array of parameters, either as a list (in
                     which case the function simply returns the list),
                     or as an associative array (in which case the
                     function sorts the values according to @{$order}
                     and returns that new array.
 Exceptions : carps if a non-recognised parameter is sent

get_param()

Usage : get_param('name',(-att1=>'ben',-name=>'the_name')) Function : Fetches a named parameter. Returns : The value of the requested parameter. Argument : $name : The name of the the parameter desired
           @param : an array of parameters, as an associative array  Exceptions : carps if a non-recognised parameter is sent

Based on rearrange(), which is originally from CGI.pm by Lincoln Stein and BioPerl by Richard Resnick. See rearrange() for details.

remove_duplicates

remove duplicate items from an array

 usage: remove_duplicates(\@arr)

affects the array passed in, and returns the modified array

merge_hashes

joins two hashes together

 usage: merge_hashes(\%h1, \%h2);

%h1 will now contain the key/val pairs of %h2 as well. if there are key conflicts, %h2 values will take precedence.

get_method_ref

 returns a pointer to a particular objects method
 e.g.   my $length_f = get_method_ref($seq, 'length');
        $len = &$length_f();

pset2hash

  Usage   - my $h = pset2hash([{name=>"id", value=>"56"}, {name=>"name", value=>"jim"}]);
  Returns - hashref
  Args    - arrayref of name/value keyed hashrefs

spell_greek

takes a word as a parameter and spells out any greek symbols encoded within (eg s/&agr;/alpha/g)

check_obj_graph

  Usage   -
  Returns - true if cycle detected
  Args    - any object