Figure 3

Assay design editor. An assay design describes the data fields imported from a run data file, the metadata collected from the user during import, and other properties of the assay, such as the location of the transform script run during data import. For each field, the design can define an expected range; default value; acceptable values; conditional formatting; display formatting; editability; and a range of other settings [47]. Custom, lab-specific fields can be defined at the batch, run, and analyte levels. If the transform script is customized to output new fields (such as calculated values) and these fields need to be stored in the database, corresponding destination fields must be added to the assay design.

This screenshot shows a portion of an assay design and illustrates how customization of such a design can facilitate collection of run-specific data from the user during data import. Here, the Isotype run metadata field (highlighted in gray) has been defined as a lookup to a pre-defined list (a simple table). This list, also called Isotype, populates a drop-down list of data entry options that are presented to the user during run import (as shown in Figure 4). The Isotype field has been further customized to default initially to IgA (one of the options defined by the lookup list), then after that to the Last entered value.