Frequently Asked Questions

General requirements Data set and format Data processing and analysis Further questions


General requirements

  • Is there any requirement for my browser?

    Browsers that support DHTML (Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS 2 (Cascade Stylesheet 2) should work properly. For example, Internet Explorer 6 and Firefox 2. These are the browsers that we have tested and are found compatible.

  • Do I need to login to run an analysis?

    No. You don't need to login to use our system. And currently, we have no plan to require user registration. As a result, we do not store your data with any identification except the job ID that we randomly generate.

  • Do I need to install Java to run an analysis?

    The analysis is run on the server side using the Java programming language. There is no need to have Java installed on client side. However, if you download our code and run the analysis on your own machine, then you will need to install the appropriate Java version and also the dependent libraries and programs, as described in the download section.

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Data set and format

  • What data formats do you support?

    Currently, we support the GenePix Results (GPR) format and the Phage Display Results (PEP/TXT) format. We are planning to support the Fasta format later. For more information about the formats, see the tutorial section.

  • Can I upload more than one data file?

    You can upload more than one data file at separate times. That means for each submission, you are only allowed to upload one data file. But after the submission, you can continue to upload other data files. However, please jot down the job IDs for your data files for later retrieval of the analysis results if you do not provide an email address to us for sending the results directly to you.

  • My data file is not supported, what can I do?

    If your data file is reported by our system that it is not supported and you believe that it is in right format, please contact us via email, attach your data file, and provide descriptions of the file such as what experiments it is for and where you got it.

  • How large can my data file be?

    To ensure our system could handle a certain number of requests simutaneously, we have limited the size of the data file that you can upload. The maximum size of the data file that we allow is 1 MB.

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Data processing and analysis

  • How long does it take to analyze my data?

    The time that our system takes to analyze your data depends on the size of your data set, the current number of jobs it is processing, and the complexity of its genome features. For example, a 500KB GPR data for the Yeast genome could take 2 to 3 minutes to complete an analysis while there are no other jobs in system.

  • I have submitted my data but I lost the job ID, what can I do?

    We do not store the data with any personal identification. In other words, we could not identify the data for you if you have lost the job ID. The only solution is to run the analysis again and get a new job ID. However, if you have provided us your email address in the submission, the job ID will be sent to you after your submission and the result will be delivered to your email box once it is available.

  • Why I have submitted my data for a long time but I couldn't see any result?

    There are several reasons that you cannot see your analysis result. For example, the job ID you have is invalid (this usually happens if you copy it down manually); the job is still being processed by our system and not yet completed (this usually happens if you have just submitted your job for several minutes especially when our system is busy); or your job has been completed for more than 24 hours and so has expired.

  • Am I required to provide an email address for the analysis?

    You are not required to provide an email address for the analysis. However, if you do give us your email address, the job ID will be sent to you automatically after you have submitted your data and the result will be delivered to your email box once it is available.

  • An error occurred during analyzing my data, how do I fix it?

    You may check to see if your data file is corrupted. If you believe that there is a bug in our system, please contact us and attach the data file that you have submitted. Normally, if there is an exception occurred during processing your data file, we will be notified by the system automatically and a fix will be scheduled as soon as possible if it is found to be a bug.

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Further questions

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