Track Panel Versions Across Runs
Link each batch of tubes to the panel it was stained with, and see which version of that panel it was run under. A dye that moves partway through a study then shows up on every run it affects, marker by marker.
See What Was Run On It
Upload a set of .fcs files and the upload dialog box names the panel they match on the right, under the destination, with All N dyes in this panel appear in these files underneath.
It names a panel only when every dye on the panel is present and no other panel fits as well. A batch it cannot place leaves the field on Choose a panel for you to set. Uploading into a dataset that's already linked to a panel keeps that panel, and the tubes join it as it stands.
The Panel Band on a Dataset
The panel is linked once, to the dataset. Open the dataset and a band under its name carries:
- the panel's emission curves drawn small, and a tag for every marker and the dye it's on, which is the legend for every file in the table below
- the instrument the panel was designed for, and how many markers it holds
- the version these tubes were acquired under
- how many other datasets ran it
- who signed the panel off, if anyone has
A panel past nine markers folds, and the link at the end of that row opens the rest. On a phone, Show markers takes the place of the tags.
The panel's name in the band opens a menu holding everything you can do to the panel from here.
| Menu item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Open panel | Goes to the panel's own page. |
| Change panel… | Opens a search over every panel in the project, each row showing its emission curves, its instrument, how many markers it holds, and how many datasets already run it. Click a row to see its markers and dyes, who signed it off, and its Connections and Activity tabs. Use this panel links it, and names the panel it replaces. |
| Change version | Corrects which version these tubes were run under. |
| Remove panel | Unlinks the panel from the dataset, after asking first. |
A view-only member keeps Open panel and none of the rest. A dataset that names no panel yet has Set panel in its header instead, which opens the same search. Adding more files to a dataset that already names a panel leaves that panel alone.
From the Panel's Side
On the panel's own page, Runs on this panel in the ⋮ menu of the editor's top bar lists every dataset acquired under the panel, with its file count, and each one opens in Cytometry. It shows the same version states as the band, and counts how many ran on an earlier version, so you can see from the panel whether any run needs revisiting.
Add datasets there links several at once, for a panel designed before its tubes were uploaded. It offers every dataset in the project that this panel does not already hold. A dataset that names another panel shows which one, and adding it here moves it, because a dataset is linked to one panel. To unlink one, open the dataset, press the panel's name in the band and choose Remove panel.
Emptying a panel from the trash unlinks its runs. Every dataset that named it goes back to Set panel. Trashing it alone changes nothing, so a panel restored from the trash comes back with its runs still pointing at it.
Know Which Version a Run Used
A panel stays editable after tubes have been run on it, so a dye can move partway through a study. Conspecta freezes the sheet each time a dataset is linked to a panel, then compares that frozen copy against the panel as it stands now. The band under the dataset's name shows the result.
| What it says | What it means |
|---|---|
| Acquired under v1.0.0 | The markers and dyes are what they were when these tubes were run. |
| Edited since v1.0.0 | A marker moved to a different dye after v1.0.0 was linked to these tubes. |
| Version unknown | These tubes were acquired before Conspecta kept panel versions. |
When a dye has moved, the band reads Edited since v1.0.0 was linked to these tubes, with What moved beside it. That opens a table of what moved, marker by marker, with the dye each one was on At acquisition and the dye it's on Now. A marker the panel has since dropped reads Off the panel. Decide from it whether a bridging study is needed.
Only a marker and its dye count as a change. Correcting a titer, fixing a clone, writing a note, and renaming the panel all leave every run where it is.
Change a dye and the runs already acquired read as changed immediately. The new number arrives with the next dataset linked to the panel, or when you publish a version.
The Panel's Own History
Beside the panel's name in the editor's top bar, a button names the version the sheet stands at, on both the worksheet and the design view. It reads v1.1.0 · edited once a dye has moved and no tubes have been run since, which tells you before an upload that the next dataset will start a new version.
Pressing it, or choosing Version history from the ⋮ menu, opens a side panel. It lists every version with when its runs were acquired and how many there were, and marks the current one The panel today.
A version is saved the first time a dataset is acquired under the panel, so a panel still being designed has an empty history, with a note on how the first version gets saved. Saving the sheet doesn't create a version on its own.
Number a Revision Yourself
Publish new version, at the foot of the history, saves the sheet as it stands whenever you choose, so you can number a revision before any tubes are run on it. Choose how much changed.
| Level | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Major | A different panel, with markers added or dropped |
| Minor | A marker moved to a different dye, or titers re-derived across the sheet |
| Patch | A correction that leaves the design as it was |
A panel's first version is always v1.0.0, with nothing to choose. Any note you write is saved with the version, so the history shows why each version exists. Publishing a version of a panel still marked Draft marks it Ready, since a numbered version is the panel you mean to run.
You can number a revision that moved no dye, such as a titration pass, which acquiring tubes would never number. Runs already linked keep reading as current after it, because only a marker changing dye counts as a change to them. A second publish with nothing edited since the last one is refused with a message.
Correct the Version Linked to a Run
The frozen copy is taken when the dataset is linked to the panel, which is usually when you upload the files. Tubes run on Monday, a dye corrected on Tuesday and files uploaded on Wednesday leave the dataset linked to Wednesday's sheet. There are two ways to correct it.
| The tubes were stained with | Do this |
|---|---|
| The panel as it stands now | Press Link the current version in the table of what moved. The dataset then reads Acquired under the current version. |
| Any other version | Press the panel's name in the band and choose Change version. Each version is listed with the runs already linked to it, when they were acquired and how many there are, and the markers that would move, so you can pick by a date you remember. Choose one and press Link this version. |
Both leave a row in the dataset's activity trail naming the version they replaced. A view-only member reads both without the buttons.
Change version is there whatever the band says, because a dataset reading Acquired under v1.2.0 may still hold tubes that were stained with a different version.
When you upload files whose acquisition date falls in a window an older version was in use for, a line under the panel field offers to link them to that version. Ignore it and the files upload as usual, and the version can still be corrected afterwards. Files with no acquisition date, which some cytometers leave out, get no line.