[Biopython] Using a dictionary rather than list for hierachy in Bio.SCOP.Cla

[Peter]

Dear Biopythoneers - especially those using SCOP,

Jeffrey Finkelstein has proposed a change to the Record class in Bio.SCOP.Cla
to use a dictionary rather than a list for the hierarchy member to better match
the SCOP specification, see his email quoted below and Bug 3109 for details:
http://bugzilla.open-bio.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3109

This would be a backwards incompatible change, so feedback from anyone
using Biopython's SCOP module would be important in deciding how to
proceed. Comments please?

Thank you,

Peter

On the dev list Jeffrey Finkelstein wrote:
> I have submitted a bug report and a patch for a current feature of the
> Bio.SCOP.Cla module that makes using it somewhat difficult. Specifically,
> the Bio.Scop.Cla.Record class has a "hierarchy" member which is currently a
> list, but should be a dictionary, according to the SCOP parseable
> classification file format "specification" (it is an informal specification)
> here:
> http://scop.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/scop/release-notes.html#scop-parseable-files.
>
> For a usage example, see the comments I have made at:
> http://bugzilla.open-bio.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3109
>
> I have CC'ed the original author of the module. Gavin (or anyone else), do
> you have any objections to this change?
>
> Jeffrey

See http://lists.open-bio.org/pipermail/biopython-dev/2010-August/008134.html