Secondary Delimiter

This feature enables you to specify the second string used to further separate values of the annotation category variable into distinct values, within major categories separated by the Primary Delimiter Separating Annotation Categories. This field is inactive until a primary delimiter is specified.

For example, for a column of annotations like those typically provided by Affymetrix, the string // separates subgroups of distinct categories. This is seen in the figure below:

The Pathway column, shown above, lists the functional pathways (metabolic and other) for a number of different gene products. Each row represents a separate gene. In those cases where a gene product functions in more than one pathway, the individual pathways are separated, or delimited, by three forward slashes (///). The name of each pathway is further delimited from the relevant database by two forward slashes ( // ).

Note: There are blanks at the beginning and ending to properly segment the categories.

To Specify a Delimiter:

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Type the delimiter in the text field.

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You must enclose the delimiter within double quotation marks.

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For example, to specify // as the delimiter, type “ // “ in the field. Be sure to include the blanks before and after the delimiter, within the quotation marks, as shown below.

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If you change your mind and would like to reset the field, click Clear.

Note: If you leave this field blank, then each row is assigned to only one category, which is the value of the Annotation Category Variable.