Sample Metadata

Metadata can be added to samples to give them any additional information required by users.

A sample cannot have metadata with the same key, and metadata added by an analysis cannot be overwritten by a user.

View Metadata

1. From the left sidebar, select Projects
2. Select the project
3. From the left sidebar, select Samples
4. Click the toggle beside Metadata

The samples table will update with all the samples' metadata.

To view individual sample metadata:

5. Select the sample
6. Click the Metadata tab

Add Metadata

Prerequisites:

• You must have at least a Maintainer role for the sample's project
• A sample added to the project

1. From the left sidebar, select Projects
2. Select the project
3. From the left sidebar, select Samples
4. Select the sample
5. Click the Metadata tab
6. Click Add Metadata

A dialog will pop-up where you can add new metadata.

Update Metadata

Prerequisites:

• You must have at least a Maintainer role for the sample's project
• A sample with existing metadata added to the project

1. From the left sidebar, select Projects
2. Select the project
3. From the left sidebar, select Samples
4. Select the sample
5. Click the Metadata tab
6. Click the Update link of the metadata you'd like to update

A dialog will pop-up where you can update the metadata.

Learn About Importing Metadata

Importing metadata allows you to add multiple metadata fields to multiple samples all at once. This requires a spreadsheet in .csv, .tsv, .xls, or .xlsx format.

This is an example of the expected spreadsheet format:

Sample Name	MetadataField1	MetadataField2	MetadataField3
Sample 1	value1	value2	value3
Sample 2	value4	value5	value6

The following metadata will be added:

• Sample 1:

  Key	Value
  MetadataField1	value1
  MetadataField2	value2
  MetadataField3	value3

• Sample 2:

  Key	Value
  MetadataField1	value4
  MetadataField2	value5
  MetadataField3	value6

When creating the spreadsheet, you are required to have a column that contains a sample identifier. The identifier is case-sensitive and can contain either the sample names or IDs. When importing metadata from a project, the sample identifier can be either the sample name or ID. If importing metadata from a group, the sample identifier must be the sample ID.

An important note: When importing a metadata spreadsheet, you will be asked if you'd like to Ignore empty values. If this is selected, any metadata fields without an associated value will be ignored and those metadata keys will not be removed from the sample if present. However, if this not selected, any samples with the metadata key and empty value will be deleted.

For example, if the metadata above was imported and added to Sample 1 and Sample 2, and the following spreadsheet was then imported:

Sample Name	MetadataField1	MetadataField2	MetadataField3	MetadataField4
Sample 1		newValue2	newValue3	anotherValue1
Sample 2	newValue4		newValue6	anotherValue2

This would result in the following sample metadata:

• If Ignore empty values was checked:

  • Sample 1:

    Key	Value
    MetadataField1	value1
    MetadataField2	newValue2
    MetadataField3	newValue3
    MetadataField4	anotherValue1

  • Sample 2:

    Key	Value
    MetadataField1	newValue4
    MetadataField2	value5
    MetadataField3	newValue6
    MetadataField4	anotherValue2

• If Ignore empty values was not checked:

  • Sample 1:

    Key	Value
    MetadataField2	newValue2
    MetadataField3	newValue3
    MetadataField4	anotherValue1

  • Sample 2:

    Key	Value
    MetadataField1	newValue4
    MetadataField3	newValue6
    MetadataField4	anotherValue2

Steps to Import Metadata

Prerequisites:

• You must have at least a Maintainer role for the sample's project or group
• A sample added to the project or group

1. From the left sidebar, select Projects or Groups
2. Select the project or group
3. From the left sidebar, select Samples
4. Click Import Metadata

A dialog will pop-up to select the spreadsheet to be imported. After selecting the spreadsheet file, identify which column contains the sample identifier and whether you'd like to Ignore empty values.

Delete Metadata

Prerequisites:

• You must have at least a Maintainer role for the sample's project
• A sample with existing metadata added to the project

1. From the left sidebar, select Projects
2. Select the project
3. From the left sidebar, select Samples
4. Select the sample
5. Click the Metadata tab
6. Click the checkboxes of the metadata you'd like to delete.
7. Click Delete Metadata