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It may just be FL1, or maybe the filter set, like 525/50. The $PnN is the parameter name, but isn’t often very useful, as this is a default name set up on the cytometer.
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These can be found in the sample information menu under $PnN usually. This can be a little challenging in that you will need to know the channels.
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If you forget to name a stain properly, add the $PnS keyword and put in the name. However, FlowJo does allow you to add them as a column in the workspace and edit them for that workspace. Keywords are embedded into the FCS files, so you can’t edit them.
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FlowJo has a full list of keywords on their website, here. These are just examples of commonly used keywords.
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They can help with troubleshooting, if you are having trouble in the analysis program, but for the most part, not many people need these keywords. Many of these keywords have little value to you, as the user. $TOT Total number of events in the data set. $PnB Number of bits reserved for parameter number n. $NEXTDATA Byte offset to next data set in the file. $MODE Data mode (list mode – preferred, histogram – deprecated). $ENDSTEXT Byte-offset to the last byte of a supplemental TEXT segment.
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$ENDDATA Byte-offset to the last byte of the DATA segment. $ENDANALYSIS Byte-offset to the last byte of the ANALYSIS segment. $DATATYPE Type of data in DATA segment (ASCII, integer, floating point). $BYTEORD Byte order for data acquisition computer. $BEGINSTEXT Byte-offset to the beginning of a supplemental TEXT segment. $BEGINDATA Byte-offset to the beginning of the DATA segment. $BEGINANALYSIS Byte-offset to the beginning of the ANALYSIS segment. This is the list of primary keywords required: When it comes to annotating your flow cytometry data with keywords, there are 3 things you need to know… 1. Certain keywords are “required” by the Flow Cytometry Standard (FCS). You can read more about the FCS file format here. These include information on the parameters, scaling, FCS file format, date, file name, and numerous others. The purpose of this was so that no matter who manufactured the instrument, or the analysis software, files could be created and read in any system.Īs part of this FCS standard, ISAC created a set of core keywords that MUST be used. The flow cytometry standard file formats (FCS) was developed by the International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC) to create a standard file format for all cytometers to use. FlowJo makes this easy to do.įirst off, what are keywords and why do you want to use keywords? Most people don’t take advantage of the keywords embedded in the FCS (Flow Cytometry Standard) files to annotate their data.
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