funded by 
Class Ring
The class Ring describes a ring chromosome of unknown origin.
Overview
Programming Language
-
Microsoft Visual Basic .Net.
Availability
Constructors
Public Sub New()
Instantiates a new Ring object. Its properties must are set to default
values (CountMin: 1, CountMax:
1, RingNumber: 1). They can be changed by accessing
the respective properties.
Public Sub New(ByVal Description As String)
Instantiates a new Ring object.
Parameters
-
Description: a textual description of the ring chromosome.
Exceptions
-
ArgumentException:
If the textual description of the ring chromosome does not meet the pattern
(regular expression) used to recognize the constituents of it, an ArgumentException
containing a description of the problem is thrown.
Remarks
-
The regular expression used for the analysis of the ring chromosome will
also accept several types of notation which are not allowed in the ISCN,
e.g. "2xr" instead of "+2r" or "+rx1-3" instead
of "+1~3r". The correct notation can be retireved by a call to
toString().
Examples
-
myRing = new Ring("+r") initializes a Ring object representing
one ring chromosome of unknown origing.
-
myRing = new Ring("+r1x2") initialies a Ring object representing
ring chromosome 1 which is duplicated.
Interfaces
IComparable
is implemented with the compareTo function.
ICloneable
is implemented with the clone function.
Enumerations
The class does not provide enumeration.
Properties
Properties can be changed at any time. No actions are taken to enforce
useful values.
CountMax As Integer
Gets or sets a value indicating the maximum copy number of this ring chromosome.
Property Value
-
a value indicating the maximum copy number of this ring chromosome.
Remarks
-
if no range is given, CountMax and CountMin will return equal values.
-
if no copy number is given when initialising the object, both CountMax
and CountMin will return 1 (default).
CountMin As Integer
Gets or sets a value indicating the minimum copy number of this ring chromosome.
Property Value
-
a value indicating the minimum copy number of this ring chromosome.
Remarks
-
if no range is given, CountMax and CountMin will return equal values.
-
if no copy number is given, both CountMax and CountMin will return 1 (default).
Public Property Metaphases() As Integer
Gets or sets the number of metaphases / cells the ring chromosome was found
in.
Property Value
-
the number of metaphases the ring chromosome was found in.
Remarks
-
The number of metaphases an abnormality was found in is an optional value
according to the ISCN manual (chapter 11.1.6).
-
It follows after the aberration proper in square brackets, e.g. "+2r[7]".
RingNumber As Integer
Gets or sets the number of the ring chromosome when ring chromosomes are
clonally distinguishable.
Property Value
-
the number of the ring chromosome.
Remarks
-
if ring chromosomes are not clonally distinguishable, this value is 0 (default).
Methods
Public Function clone() As Object Implements ICloneable.Clone
Returns a copy of the Ring object.
Return Value
-
A copy of the Ring object.
Implements
Remarks
-
The Ring object does not contain data of reference type, cloning is done
by copying all its class wide variables.
Public Function compareTo(ByVal obj As Object)
As Integer Implements IComparable.CompareTo
Compares this instance to a specified Ring object and returns an indication
of their relative values. Only the numbering of the ring chromosome is
compared.
Return Value
-
<0: This instance has a lower number.
-
0: The Ring objects have the same number.
-
>0: This instance has a higher number.
Parameters
-
obj: the Ring to be compared with this Ring.
Exceptions
Implements
Remarks
-
Rings are compared with their number only, their copy number does not matter.
If no number is given, the ring number is set to zero.
-
This compareTo method allows for ordering ring chromosomes of unknown origin
as defined in ISCN 1995.
Public Shadows Function toString() As String
Returns a textual description of the Ring chromosome fulfilling the specification
of ISCN 1995.
Return Value
-
a textual description of the Ring chromosome.
Remarks
-
Even when the input description did not fulfill the ISCN specification,
the value returned by this method will do.
Interaction with other classes
Classes using Ring
Ring objects are collected in the Rings object.
Transient use of Ring objects occurs in the Karyotype
object while the karyotype is analysed.