\name{read.nexus}
\alias{read.nexus}
\title{Read Tree File in Nexus Format}
\usage{
read.nexus(file, tree.names = NULL)
}
\arguments{
  \item{file}{a file name specified by either a variable of mode character,
    or a double-quoted string.}
  \item{tree.names}{if there are several trees to be read, a vector of
    mode character giving names to the individual trees (by default,
    this uses the labels in the NEXUS file if these are present).}
}
\description{
  This function reads one or several trees in a NEXUS file.
}
\details{
  The present implementation tries to follow as much as possible the
  NEXUS standard (but see the restriction below on TRANSLATION
  tables). Only the block ``TREES'' is read; the other data can be read
  with other functions (e.g., \code{\link{read.dna}},
  \code{\link[utils]{read.table}}, \dots).

  If a TRANSLATION table is present it is assumed that only the tip
  labels are translated and they are all translated with integers
  without gap. Consequently, if nodes have labels in the tree(s) they
  are read as they are and not looked for in the translation table. The
  logic behind this is that in the vast majority of cases, node labels
  will be support values rather than proper taxa names. This is
  consistent with \code{\link{write.nexus}} which translates only the
  tip labels.

  `read.nexus' tries to represent correctly trees with a badly
  represented root edge (i.e. with an extra pair of parentheses). For
  instance, the tree "((A:1,B:1):10);" will be read like "(A:1,B:1):10;"
  but a warning message will be issued in the former case as this is
  apparently not a valid Newick format. If there are two root edges
  (e.g., "(((A:1,B:1):10):10);"), then the tree is not read and an error
  message is issued.
}
\value{
  an object of class \code{"phylo"} or of class \code{"multiPhylo"}.
}
\references{
  Maddison, D. R., Swofford, D. L. and Maddison, W. P. (1997) NEXUS: an
  extensible file format for systematic information. \emph{Systematic
    Biology}, \bold{46}, 590--621.
}
\author{Emmanuel Paradis}
\seealso{
  \code{\link{read.tree}}, \code{\link{write.nexus}},
  \code{\link{write.tree}}, \code{\link{read.nexus.data}},
  \code{\link{write.nexus.data}}
}
\keyword{manip}
\keyword{IO}