[RASMB] AUC Database [was: DCDT+ reports]

[Borries Demeler]

Greetings,

> necessarily contain everything that is relevant. Two examples: (1) for
> absorbance data neither the scan nor log files say whether the data was
> collected in step or continuous mode (if you don't have that in your

It seems that newer versions of the Beckman Data Acqisition software
actually do record this information in the log files.  I get a file
called "CELLXABS.LOG", where X is the cell number and it does contain
this information:

"Continuous scan(s) from 5.8 - 7.3 cm @ 0.003 intervals and 1 replicate(s)"

...which brings up a different point I would like to discuss with those 
of you interested in this topic (probably mostly the analysis software
developers):

Tom Laue and I have discussed the development of an SQL database format
that may be integrated into future data analysis and acquisition software
that could keep track of such details for the user in a more organized
fashion.

Both Tom and I have already integrated prototypes of such databases into
our own software, each of us focusing on different aspects (Tom emphasizes
data acquisition items, I myself focus more on tokens relevant to data
analysis). We both realized that much could be gained by combining
our efforts for the creation of an open database format that all of
us could adhere and contribute to. I would like to start a discussion
among RASMB/AUC users about this topic, and would like to know what all
of you would like to see in such a database. We could then decide on a
standard that can be more easily supported by all of us developers. I
see that John Philo has already given a lot of thought into what needs
to go into a report and what should be stored elsewhere - this kind of
discussion could be very helpful to all of us.

If you feel this topic would be too specialized for RASMB forum
(Walter?) I could set up a separate developer's mailing list for
discussion of just this topic.

Anyway, I just wanted to bring this up and solicit your thoughts.

Thanks, -Borries
---
Borries Demeler, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Dept. of Biochemistry, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78229-3900
Voice: 210-567-6592, Fax: 210-567-4575, Email: demeler at biochem.uthscsa.edu