12.2. Data file types

Each file type used by a platform must be registered as a data file type. For example, CEL and CDF files are file types used by the Affymetrix platform. There are several purposes of a data file type:

You can manage data file types by going to AdministratePlatformsData file types.

Figure 12.3. Data file type properties

Data file type properties

Name

The name of the file type.

External ID

An ID that is used to identify the file type. The ID must be unique and can't be changed once the file type has been created.

Item type

The type of item files of this file type can be attached to. This option can't be changed once the file type has been created.

File extension

The commonly used file extension for files of this type. Optional.

Generic type

The generic type of data that files of this type contains. For example, CEL files contains raw data and CDF files contains a reporter map (in BASE terms).

Validator

The name of the Java class that can be used to validate if a given file is a valid file of this type. The class must implement the DataFileValidator interface. See Section 26.6.5, “File validator and metadata reader plug-ins”.

Metadata reader

The name of the Java class that can be used to extract metadata from a file of this type. The class must implement the DataFileMetadataReader interface. See Section 26.6.5, “File validator and metadata reader plug-ins”.

Description

A description of the file type.