Using Metadata and Deep Queries in Byosphere® – Protein Metrics

As of Byosphere v4.3, it is possible for users to take advantage of metadata. So then, what is metadata, and, more importantly, what does it enable?

Metadata is defined as the data providing information about one or more aspects of the data. Essentially, it is data about data, which can be used to summarize basic information and can make tracking and working with specific data easier. Metadata can reveal relationships and organise data. Some examples of metadata that a user may want to track in Byosphere include: Molecule, stability studies, instrument, and many more.

Types of Metadata

There are two classifications of metadata that may be configured by administrators: Reserved metadata and Custom metadata. Metadata can be added automatically when the data loader runs.

For Reserved Metadata, there are 40 metadata fields that cover most needs. The administrator can select which of these fields they wish to be active and available to users in Byosphere. For these fields, it is possible to modify properties, such as to change the alias to a local nomenclature, add a description etc. An administrator may also create Custom metadata fields, that are completely novel, by going to the section for metadata and set the custom configurations. Here they can also select which metadata is available to users, customize, or even add set values to create a drop-down menu for users to choose from:

A user can add Metadata within Byosphere, either through the Byosphere Byos Client and or using the Web client.

Adding Metadata via the Byosphere Byos Client

The first way is to simply add metadata fields when submitting a job to the Byosphere queue for processing. A user can pick from a dropdown of metadata fields that have been enabled and/or customized by an administrator.

A user can also add metadata to a project when uploading from the Byos Client:

Adding Metadata via the Byosphere Web Client

If a user has the appropriate privileges, they can edit a file directly in the Web Client to add metadata fields:

Using the metadata to perform Queries

A user can utilize metadata values to perform an advanced search for files within Byosphere, using AND/OR operations on the metadata itself.

In the search, a user can add rules. In the example below, we are using AND, so in this case, the search will return all files that contain “waters” AND “pacq” in the filename:

An OR search would return everything that either contains “waters” OR “pacq”

From this search it is possible to dig even deeper with the additional filters on the left:

Another useful aspect of the search function is the ability to create groups. Each group must satisfy their own conditions, then come under the main AND/OR operator.

For example:

Each of these query search conditions can also be saved as a custom query and can be shared between groups depending on permissions for individual users within Byosphere.

Byosphere v4.3+ allows users to monitor and search their data based on metadata, which is a valuable tool for organization to interrogate their data across multiple projects, molecules, CQAs, and much more.

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