DNA sequences and character strings are now handled using AVL trees.

src/obitypes.h

@@ -56,6 +56,12 @@ typedef double obifloat_t;
 typedef char obichar_t;
 // TODO same for obistr_t and obiseq_t ?
 
+
+typedef char byte_t;		/**< Defining byte type since the data referred to by AVL trees is stored in bits
+							 *	 and char (stored on one byte) is the smallest addressable unit.
+ 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 */
+
+
 /**
  * @brief Union used to compute the NA value of the OBI_FLOAT OBIType.
  */