To import a FACSDiva experiment file:

 

1. Use the File tab→Open From→Import BD FACSDiva File... command.

 

2. Browse your directories to select the FACSDiva experiment file (.xml) to import. Click Open when you have located it.

 

3. The Import BD FACSDiva File Wizard appears, beginning with the Import Options page (Figure 24.1). The worksheets available in the FACSDiva experiment file are displayed, including their type (either Analysis worksheet or Acquisition template). In the Import column, check the box for the Worksheet(s) you want to load. You will need to select at least one Worksheet to continue.

 

 

 

4. Towards the bottom of the window, choose whether you want to load the FCS files corresponding to the experiment, and navigate to the folder containing the files (if different from the .xml-containing folder). If you do not want to load the FCS files, choose the Do not load the FCS files radio button. Click Next to continue.

 

5. The FCS Express FACSDiva configuration file page appears (Figure 24.2). You can choose to load an existing configuration file, or create a new one. If you choose to load an existing configuration file, select the Use an existing configuration file radio button, select the file, click Next, and proceed to Step 8. If you choose to create a new configuration file, select the Create a new configuration radio button, and click Next.

 

 

 

 

6. If you decided to create a new configuration, the Setting up the page size for the layout in FCS Express (Figure 24.3) will appear. Here, you set up how the plots from the FACSDiva experiment will be imported into the FCS Express layout.

 

 

 

 

The window is divided into two sections:

 

•Real Page Size (inches)

 

This section allows you to configure the page size of the layout. The default is 8.5 x 11 inches. You can also set the margin widths.

 

•Logical Page Size (pixels)

 

This section allows you to configure how the FACSDiva experiment file will be divided when it is imported into FCS Express. It displays all the dot plots and histograms from the FACSDiva experiment, using mock diagrams to represent the appropriate plot. By clicking in the representation of the FACSDiva experiment file page, you can divide the experiment into multiple pages. After the initial click, you will see a dotted vertical line which represents the right side of each layout page, and a horizontal dotted line, which represents the bottom of the layout page. If one of these lines is not visible, zoom in or out using the magnifying glass buttons.  If a plot extends across more than one page in the diagram, it will be placed on the layout page where its top-left corner exists in the diagram. By default, the ratio of the page is locked, which means that as the width of the page increases, so does the height.

 

 

When you have completed setting up how the FACSDiva experiment’s plots will be imported, click Next.

 

7. The next page of the wizard, Saving the configuration, allows you to choose whether or not to save the settings from the previous screen to a file. Saved configuration files can be used to import other FACSDiva experiments (in Step 5). Click Next to continue.

 

8. If, in Step 3, you chose to load an Analysis worksheet, then FCS Express will display the experiment. If you loaded an Acquisition template, along with the FCS data files, then the Select the Specimen and Tube dialog will appear (Figure 24.4). Expand the name headings, as appropriate, and select one FCS file from the list. After highlighting an FCS file name, click OK. If FCS Express cannot find the file, you will be prompted to locate it.

 

 

                         

 

9. For each worksheet with an acquisition template you selected in Step 3, you will see the above dialog to load FCS data file.

 

 

FCS Express will then display the imported FACSDiva experiment, which can be treated like any other layout.