# Introduction

This document describes blast4, an ASN.1 interface to BLAST. The National Center for Biotechnology Information provides free BLAST services to the public using this interface (over HTTP) and others. NCBI's BLAST source code is in the public domain, so other organizations may choose to run their own BLAST servers.

The functionality provided by this interface is similar to that provided by the URL API. Either interface will work for many applications, but application programmers may find this interface to be more convenient.

For more information on using NCBI's public BLAST servers using this interface, please refer to Appendix 2: Using NCBI's BLAST Servers.

We welcome your suggestions, comments, and questions about this specification. Please email them to us at toolbox@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

# Protocol

blast4 clients send `Blast4-request` objects and receive `Blast4-reply` objects. Each request is answered with one reply. The particular encoding used for requests and replies depends on the communication mechanism used and is not part of this specification. Depending on the communication mechanism used, a session may consist of one request and one reply or of multiple requests and their replies.

# Requests

A `Blast4-request` consists of an optional `ident`, which identifies the application sending the request, and a `body`, which contains one of several specific requests:

    Blast4-request ::= SEQUENCE {
        ident                   VisibleString OPTIONAL,
        body                    Blast4-request-body
    }

    Blast4-request-body ::= CHOICE {
        finish-params           Blast4-finish-params-request,
        get-databases           NULL,
        get-matrices            NULL,
        get-parameters          NULL,
        get-programs            NULL,
        get-search-results      Blast4-get-search-results-request,
        get-sequences           Blast4-get-sequences-request,
        queue-search            Blast4-queue-search-request
    }

The structure of `Blast4-reply` is similar:

    Blast4-reply ::= SEQUENCE {
        errors                  SEQUENCE OF Blast4-error OPTIONAL,
        body                    Blast4-reply-body
    }

    Blast4-reply-body ::= CHOICE {
        finish-params           Blast4-finish-params-reply,
        get-databases           Blast4-get-databases-reply,
        get-matrices            Blast4-get-matrices-reply,
        get-parameters          Blast4-get-parameters-reply,
        get-programs            Blast4-get-programs-reply,
        get-search-results      Blast4-get-search-results-reply,
        get-sequences           Blast4-get-sequences-reply,
        queue-search            Blast4-queue-search-reply
    }

`errors` contains any informational, warning, or error messages related to the processing of the request. Warnings indicate that the server processed the request successfully, but that the results may be different than the user anticipated. Errors indicate that the server was unable, in whole or in part, to process the request.

Although there are many requests, the `queue-search` and `get-search-results` requests are most important.

# queue-search

The `queue-search` request is used to initiate a BLAST search:

    Blast4-queue-search-request ::= SEQUENCE {
        program                 VisibleString,
        service                 VisibleString,
        queries                 Bioseq-set,
        subject                 Blast4-subject,
        paramset                VisibleString OPTIONAL,
        params                  Blast4-parameters OPTIONAL
    }

`program` and `service` select a program in the BLAST family and a service offered by that program. The complete set of programs and services offered is returned by the `get-programs` request.

`queries` specifies the sequences to be searched.

`subject` specifies the sequences against which the query sequences will be searched. The sequences can be specified indirectly, through `databases`, or directly, through `sequences`:

    Blast4-subject ::= CHOICE {
        database                VisibleString,
        sequences               SEQUENCE OF Bioseq
    }

`paramset` is used to include a named set of parameters. Including a named set of parameters is equivalent to prepending the parameters in the set to `params`.

`params` is used to override default parameter settings selected by the server or parameter settings included via `paramset`. There are many parameters that can be specified, but none are required; the server will attempt to set reasonable values for those that are not specified. For more information, refer to Appendix 1: Search Parameters. To learn more about default values set by the server, please refer to the finish-params request.

The reply to a `queue-search` request contains a `request-id`, which can be used later to retrieve the results of the search:

    Blast4-queue-search-reply ::= SEQUENCE {
        request-id              VisibleString OPTIONAL
    }

# get-search-results

The `get-search-results` request is used to retrieve the results of a BLAST search:

    Blast4-get-search-results-request ::= SEQUENCE {
        request-id              VisibleString
    }

    Blast4-get-search-results-reply ::= SEQUENCE {
        alignments              Seq-align-set OPTIONAL,
        phi-alignments          Blast4-phi-alignments OPTIONAL,
        mask                    Blast4-mask OPTIONAL,
        ka-blocks               SEQUENCE OF Blast4-ka-block OPTIONAL,
        search-stats            SEQUENCE OF VisibleString OPTIONAL
    }

The elements returned are all optional; which ones are included depends on the particular search.

# finish-params

With the `queue-search` request, the actual parameter values may be different than those explicitly specified by the user; some may be read from a parameter set (a paramset), while others may be set, by default, by the server. For some applications and users, it may be important to know exactly which values the server will use to execute a search. The `finish-params` request takes arguments similar to those of the `queue-search` request and returns a complete, or finished, set of parameters:

    Blast4-finish-params-request ::= SEQUENCE {
        program                 VisibleString,
        service                 VisibleString,
        paramset                VisibleString OPTIONAL,
        params                  Blast4-parameters OPTIONAL
    }

    Blast4-finish-params-reply ::= Blast4-parameters

    Blast4-parameters ::= SEQUENCE OF Blast4-parameter

The `params` returned in the reply show the values of all search parameters whose values are not zero, false, the empty string, or null.

# get-databases

The `get-databases` request is used to enumerate the names of databases known to the server. These names are the domain of the `subject.database` element of a `queue-search` request.

    Blast4-get-databases-reply ::= SEQUENCE OF Blast4-database-info

    Blast4-database-info ::= SEQUENCE {
        database                Blast4-database,
        description             VisibleString,
        last-updated            VisibleString,
        total-length            BigInt,
        num-sequences           BigInt
    }

# get-matrices

The `get-matrices` request is used to enumerate the scoring matrices known to the server. These are the matrices that can be specified by name in the matrix search parameter.

    Blast4-get-matrices-reply ::= SEQUENCE OF Blast4-matrix-id

    Blast4-matrix-id ::= SEQUENCE {
        residue-type            Blast4-residue-type,
        name                    VisibleString
    }

# get-parameters

The `get-parameters` request is used to enumerate the search parameters known by the server. This request is not intended to be initiated directly by an end user, and the results are not intended to be displayed to an end user; rather, this request helps clients to construct a user interface dynamically so they can accomodate changes in the set of known search parameters without modification. Clients are not required to use this request; they may choose instead to support just those search parameters that are known when they are written.

    Blast4-get-matrices-reply ::= SEQUENCE OF Blast4-matrix-id

    Blast4-matrix-id ::= SEQUENCE {
        residue-type            Blast4-residue-type,
        name                    VisibleString
    }

# get-paramsets

The `get-paramsets` request is used to enumerate the named sets of search parameters (the "parsets") known to the server. Parsets may make it easier for users to tailor their searches to achieve specific results, but they are never required.

    Blast4-get-paramsets-reply ::= SEQUENCE OF Blast4-paramset-info

    Blast4-paramset-info ::= SEQUENCE {
        program                 VisibleString,
        name                    VisibleString
    }

Names of paramsets are unique (within the scope of a particular program) and are designed to be descriptive enough that no separate description is needed. Names are not required to follow any particular form.

# get-programs

The `get-programs` request is used to enumerate the combinations of `program` and `name` that may be specified in a `queue-search` request.

    Blast4-program-info ::= SEQUENCE {
        program                 VisibleString,
        services                SEQUENCE OF VisibleString
    }

Names of paramsets are unique (within the scope of a particular program) and are designed to be descriptive enough that users will be able to make reasonable choices based on program and name alone. Names are not required to follow any particular form and may be relatively long (perhaps 40 characters or more).

# Appendix 1: Search Parameters

Search parameters are specified as name-value pairs:

    Blast4-parameter ::= SEQUENCE {
        name                    VisibleString,
        value                   Blast4-value
    }

    Blast4-value ::= CHOICE {
        -- scalar types:
        big-integer             BigInt,
        bioseq                  Bioseq,
        boolean                 BOOLEAN,
        cutoff                  Blast4-cutoff,
        integer                 INTEGER,
        matrix                  Blast4-matrix,
        real                    REAL,
        seq-align               Seq-align,
        seq-id                  Seq-id,
        seq-loc                 Seq-loc,
        strand-type             Blast4-strand-type,
        string                  VisibleString,
        -- lists of scalar types:
        big-integer-list        SEQUENCE OF BigInt,
        bioseq-list             SEQUENCE OF Bioseq,
        boolean-list            SEQUENCE OF BOOLEAN,
        cutoff-list             SEQUENCE OF Blast4-cutoff,
        integer-list            SEQUENCE OF INTEGER,
        matrix-list             SEQUENCE OF Blast4-matrix,
        real-list               SEQUENCE OF REAL,
        seq-align-list          SEQUENCE OF Seq-align,
        seq-id-list             SEQUENCE OF Seq-id,
        seq-loc-list            SEQUENCE OF Seq-loc,
        strand-type-list        SEQUENCE OF Blast4-strand-type,
        string-list             SEQUENCE OF VisibleString,
        -- imported collection types:
        bioseq-set              Bioseq-set,
        seq-align-set           Seq-align-set
    }

The following table shows the legal `name`'s and their corresponding `value` types:

parameter | type | description
cutoff | cutoff | Only hits with e-values below the cutoff e-value or normalized scores above the cutoff score will be reported.
db-genetic-code | integer | Code used to translate database from nucleotide to protein. See Table of Genetic Codes.
culling | boolean | If true, hit lists are culled by keeping at most a certain number (hsp-range-max?) of HSP's in a range. (where is the size of the range set?)
ungapped-alignment | boolean | If true, ungapped alignments are allowed.
entrez-query | string | Used to construct an oid list. (which is used how?)
i-thresh | integer | E-value threshold for inclusion in a PSI-BLAST multiple alignment. (See Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: a new generation of protein database search programs and Improving the accuracy of PSI-BLAST protein database searches with composition-based statistics and other refinements.)
filter | string | A string that specifies when and how the query sequences are to be masked. Please refer to Appendix 3: Filter Strings.
first-db-seq, final-db-seq | integer | Only sequences with oid's between first-db-seq and final-db-seq will be searched.
gap-open, gap-extend | integer | Penalties applied for opening and extending gaps, respectively. The penalty for a gap of N residues is gap-open + N * gap-extend. Meaningful only if gapped-alignment is true.
gi-list | integer_list | collection of sequences, specified by a list of gi numbers, against which queries will be compared.
hitlist-size | integer | maximum number of database sequences for which to save hits.
hsp-range-max | integer | maximum number of HSP's to save in any region. Meaningful only when culling is true.
matrix | string, matrix | Substitution matrix containing similarity scores for all possible pairs of residues, specified by either name or value. (See Basic local alignment search tool and Table of Genetic Codes.)
perc-ident | real | Only alignments in which at least this percentage of query residues are identical to the corresponding subject residues will be reported.
nucl-penalty, nucl-reward | integer | Penalty for a nucleotide mismatch and reward for a nucleotide match, respectively. Called the scores for mismatches and identities in DNA sequence comparisons in Basic local alignment search tool.
phi-pattern | string | TBD
pseudocount-weight | integer | Called "beta" in Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: a new generation of protein database search programs. (See Equation 5.)
genetic-code | integer | Code used to translate query from nucleotide to protein. (See Table of Genetic Codes.)
query-mask | seq_loc_list | Locations of query residues to be masked. Words spanning these locations are not included in the initial word table. With hard masking, these locations are also treated as unknown residues during extension.
required-start, required-end | integer | Only alignments which contain this region will be reported.
searchsp-eff | real | User-specified search space; overrides value calculated by BLAST.
strand-option | strand_type | Specifies whether to search the forward strand, the reverse strand, or both strands of the query sequences.
template-length | integer | Length of a megablast discontiguous words template. Meaningful only for service=megablast.
template-type | integer | Type of a megablast discontiguous words template. Legal values are TBD. Meaningful only for service=megablast.
use-comp-based-stats | boolean | If true, uses composition-based statistics as described in Improving the accuracy of PSI-BLAST protein database searches with composition-based statistics and other refinements
window-size | integer | Called "w" in Basic local alignment search tool, "W" in Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: a new generation of protein database search programs.
word-threshold | integer | Called "T" in Basic local alignment search tool.

# Appendix 2: Using NCBI's BLAST Servers

NCBI provides a C++ wrapper to this interface (`ncbi::blast::CRemoteBlast`, as part of the `xblast` library). The C++ wrapper automatically encodes requests, decodes replies, and handles communication with the server. The C++ wrapper is the only supported way to use this interface.

# Appendix 3: Filter Strings

Filter strings consist of any number of the following options, separated by spaces or semicolons. For options that take parameters, parameters follow the letter which specifies the option and are separated, from the option letter and from each other, by spaces. Default values are shown in parentheses.

Options:

m
  Soft masking: residues specified by query-mask are masked only while building initial words, not during extension. (The default is hard masking, in which residues are also masked during extension.)
F
  No filtering.
T
  Normal filtering (DUST for blastn, SEG for others).
C
  Coiled-coiled filter, based on the work of Lupas et al. (Science, vol 252, pp. 1162-4 (1991)) and written by John Kuzio (Wilson et al., J Gen Virol, vol. 76, pp. 2923-32 (1995)). Optional parameters: window (22), cutoff (40.0), linker (32).
S
  SEG filter. Optional parameters: window (12), locut (2.2), hicut (2.5).

  Examples:

  C 28 40.0 32
    Coiled-coiled with window = 28, locut = 40.0, and hicut = 32.
  C;S
    SEG and coiled-coiled.
  m S
    SEG filter with default arguments masks query, but only while the initial words are being built.

# References

- Basic local alignment search tool
  Altschul SF, Gish W, Miller W, Myers EW, Lipman DJ
  J Mol Biol. 1990 Oct 5;215(3):403-10.
  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2231712&dopt=Abstract
- Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: a new generation of protein database search programs
  Altschul SF, Madden TL, Schaffer AA, Zhang J, Zhang Z, Miller W, Lipman DJ
  Nucleic Acids Res. 1997 Sep 1;25(17):3389-402.
  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9254694&dopt=Abstract
- Improving the accuracy of PSI-BLAST protein database searches with composition-based statistics and other refinements
  Schaffer AA, Aravind L, Madden TL, Shavirin S, Spouge JL, Wolf YI, Koonin EV, Altschul SF
  Nucleic Acids Res. 2001 Jul 15;29(14):2994-3005.
  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11452024&dopt=Abstract
- Table of Genetic Codes
  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Utils/wprintgc.cgi?mode=c
- Substitution Scoring Matrices —Data
  ftp://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/blast/matrices
- The ASN.1 Consortium
  http://www.asn1.org
- ASN Information Site
  http://asn1.elibel.tm.fr/en/index.htm
- RFC 2616: Hypertext Transfer Protocol—HTTP/1.1
  ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc2616.pdf