# File lib/bio/io/flatfile/index.rb, line 714
        def self.create(size, key, val)
          self.new(self.to_string(size, key, val))
        end

# File lib/bio/io/flatfile/index.rb, line 696
        def initialize(str, size = nil)
          a = str.split("\t")
          a.each { |x| x.to_s.gsub!(/[\000 ]+\z/, '') }
          @key = a.shift.to_s
          @val = a
          @size = (size or str.length)
          #DEBUG.print "key=#{@key.inspect},val=#{@val.inspect},size=#{@size}\n"
        end

# File lib/bio/io/flatfile/index.rb, line 710
        def self.to_string(size, key, val)
          sprintf("%-*s", size, key + "\t" + val.join("\t"))
        end

# File lib/bio/io/flatfile/index.rb, line 718
        def ==(x)
          self.to_s == x.to_s
        end

# File lib/bio/io/flatfile/index.rb, line 706
        def to_s
          self.class.to_string(@size, @key, @val)
        end