NAME
Microarray::File::Data - An object oriented Perl module describing microarray data files
SYNOPSIS
use Microarray::File::Data;
my $oFile = data_file->new('/results.txt');
DESCRIPTION
Microarray::File::Data provides methods for retrieving data from microarray data file objects.
METHODS
Object creation
If you know the type of data file you are dealing with, then you should use the appropriate file module. However, if for some reason you don't know, you can create a data_file
object and the module will attempt to create a file object of the correct type for you. But be warned, this can fall down in certain circumstances.
Spot object methods
Spot object creation
The module can create individual Microarray::Spot objects for you, either on-mass, or individually as you want them. The overhead for doing this is not huge, so if you have replicates that you want to handle using the Microarray::Reporter module, this is a handy way to fill the reporter container.
$oFile->spot_object(123); # sets and gets object for spot index 123
$oFile->set_spot_objects; # sets all spot objects
my $oSpot = $oFile->spot_object(1234); # spot object for spot index 1234
- set_spot_objects
-
Creates spot objects for all spots.
- spot_object
-
Pass a spot index to this method to return the relevant spot object. If
set_spot_objects
has not been called, this will create and return only this object. - number_spots
-
Returns the total number of spot objects created by
set_spot_objects()
. - get_spots
-
Returns the spot objects as an array, where each index of the array matches that of the spot. (Therefore there is not a spot at index[0]!)
Other methods
- image_file_names, fluor_names, laser_powers, pmt_voltages
-
Returns the relevant values for each analysed channel as a list. Will only work for file types that return the relevant information (for instance, BlueFuse does not return laser/PMT information).
- guess_barcode
-
In the event that a barcode is not present in the data file, will parse the file name and assume that the first portion of the name (using an underscore or hyphen as a delimiter) is the barcode.
- num_channels
-
Defaults to two in the event that a file type is used which does not return the number of channels.
And many other methods that need no explanation;
- analysis_software, pixel_size, channel1_name, channel2_name, channel1_signal, channel2_signal, channel1_snr, channel2_snr, channel_quality, channel_sat, bad_flags
-
Once again, not all file types will return the relevant information (BlueFuse does not return channel saturation or SNR).
TESTING
This distribution does not include data files for testing purposes, since those used for the test are very large. If you would like to run the full test you can download the files at http://www.instituteforwomenshealth.ucl.ac.uk/trl/pipeline/download.html.
SEE ALSO
Microarray, Microarray::File, Microarray::Spot
AUTHOR
Christopher Jones, Translational Research Laboratories, Institute for Women's Health, University College London.
http://www.instituteforwomenshealth.ucl.ac.uk/trl
c.jones@ucl.ac.uk
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright 2007 by Christopher Jones, University College London
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.