Metadata file overview

A metadata file provides metadata describing cells in the study. The metadata provided in this file will be interpreted as either "group" (categorical/factor) or "numeric" (continuous) data. These metadata are available throughout the visualization portal.

Metadata will be available to paint cell plots. Categorical metadata will paint the cells with discrete color panels (as discrete groups, each with their own color). Continuous metadata will paint cells as a gradient of color. These metadata not only determine color on plots of cells but also are used when viewing genes across cells.

If categorical metadata is currently being viewed and a gene is searched, the gene will be viewed as boxplots, each boxplot of cells a group in the metadata. If continuous metadata is currently being viewed, the gene will be plotted against the metadata as a scatter plot.

There is no restriction on the amount of metadata to make available. The metadata will be globally available to all plots (for metadata with more than one and up to two hundred unique values); if you would like metadata to be restricted to a specific plot of cells, include it in the cluster file used to make that specific plot. To make metadata available for advanced search, submit metadata in SCP Conventional File Format.

Note: A properly formatted metadata file is required for study visualization.