Importing Metadata

End-User Documentation

This page is intended for users importing metadata during interactive analysis.

Two ways to add metadata

GenomeSpy supports two import workflows:

1. Upload metadata for ad hoc files (TSV/CSV and similar tabular data).
2. Import metadata from source for preconfigured metadata sources provided by the visualization author (see metadata source configuration).

Both workflows add attributes to the metadata panel and are tracked in provenance, so you can undo or replay them.

Upload metadata

Use this when your data is in a local file and not preconfigured in the visualization.

TODO screenshot: Upload metadata dialog

Typical flow:

1. Open the metadata menu and choose Upload metadata.
2. Select your file and confirm delimiter/header settings.
3. Check sample-id matching in the preview step.
4. Finish import.

If sample IDs only partially match, import can still continue for matched samples.

Import metadata from source

Use this when the visualization already defines metadata sources (for example, clinical or expression data).

TODO screenshot: Import metadata from source menu

Typical flow:

1. Open Import metadata from source.
2. Select a source (or open directly if only one source is available).
3. Enter one column id per line in Columns to import.
4. Optionally adjust the target metadata group path.
5. Import.

TODO screenshot: Import metadata from source dialog

Notes:

• Column names are validated before import.
• Unknown column IDs block import and are shown as validation errors.
• If sample-id alignment has caveats, they are shown in the dialog.
• A hard limit of 100 columns is applied per import action.

Troubleshooting

If import is blocked:

1. Check that sample IDs use the same naming convention as the current sample set.
2. Verify column IDs exactly match source columns (including case when applicable).
3. Retry with a smaller set of columns.