The Metadata Utility can facilitate the creation of the tab-delimited text files for an ISA archive. This page describes how to save these files for continued development at a later time, or for import into CSSI DCC.
- Create or import an investigation, as described in one of the following pages:
- Add or edit items, as described in one of the following pages:
In the Action panel, click Save ISA TAB Investigation.
The system performs a validation check.
- If the investigation fails validation, a message appears requesting your confirmation. If you save the investigation with validation errors, you might not be able to import the resulting investigation file. To save anyway, click Save.
- After the validation check, a dialog box appears for saving the investigation. Navigate to and select the folder in which you want to save the investigation. The recommended filename for the investigation is i_investigation.txt. Click Save.
The system saves the following tab-delimited text files to the specified location:
- One file for the ISA Tab Investigation.
- One file for each study, with a file name as specified in the Study File Name field.
- One file for each assay, with a file name as specified in the Study Assay File Name field.
If you change the filename of a study or assay and then save the investigation, the system creates a new file for the renamed study or assay. If you import an investigation, rename a study or assay, and save the investigation to the same folder, multiple copies of your study/assay files remain in your investigation folder, (one copy with the current filename and one copy with each previous filename).
To create a set of files for import into DCC:
- Discard copies of study/assay files with old filenames, by saving the investigation to an empty folder.
- Add your data files to the same folder.
- Compress that folder to a file in
.zipformat.
For instructions on uploading the resulting ISA archive, refer to Uploading Investigation Data and Making it Open Access.
