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Investigation Description Format (IDF)

.idf

Provides general information about the experiment, including its name, a brief description, the investigator‘s contact details, bibliographic references, and ontologies/databases referenced.

Yes. Parsed, validated before import

Sample and Data Relationship Format (SDRF)

.sdrf

An SDRF file describes relationships between samples, arrays, data files, protocols, factor values, etc. Each row in the table represents a hybridization channel, and the columns represent the steps of the experiment, read from left to right. An SDRF contains all of the information linking the samples to your data files, (for example, Affymetrix CEL, Affymetrix CHP). See example in the following figure.

Yes. Parsed, validated before import

Array Design Format (ADF)

.adf

Defines each array type used. In caArray 2.4, ADF files can be uploaded but they are not parsed. Not required in a caArray experiment.

Can be uploaded, but are not parsed. Vendor-specific ADF files required instead.

Data Matrix (ADF)

.txt or other

Contains processed array data files in tab-delimited text format.

Only copy number data matrix files parsed