======================
Description
======================

firebrowse: python bindings for the Broad Institute TCGA GDAC FireBrowse Portal.

This module facilitates programmatic interaction with TCGA data and analyses in
firebrowse.org, through Python and the UNIX command line.  It offers 3 sets of
features:

1) Low-level object-oriented Python wrappers to the FireBrowse RESTful API.
Methods in the low level interface by default return 1 page of query results per 
call, in JSON form. TSV, CSV, and Python dicts may be returned by specifying a 
suitable format= parameter, and multiple pages may be selected with a suitable 
page= parameter. See the set_codec() and param_values() functions for more 
details on these and other parameters.

2) A higher level Python interface that provides simplified access for common
bioinformatic use cases. For example, objects do not need to be explicitly 
instantiated and functions by default return all pages of query results per
call, in TSV format.

3) And the fbget tool, for accessing the high level interface directly from
the UNIX command line.

For more details, documentation, and examples, see

	https://confluence.broadinstitute.org/display/GDAC/fbget

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Release Notes
======================

See the the following pages on Broad Institute TCGA GDAC Firehose pages

		https://confluence.broadinstitute.org/display/GDAC/Analysis+Run+Release+Notes
		https://confluence.broadinstitute.org/display/GDAC/Standardized+Data+Run+Release+Notes

for up-to-date release notes.  By summer of 2015 FireBrowse.org will host its own set
of independent release notes.
