The basic version of FCS Express can load FCS files from BD FACSDiva™ software, similar to loading data files from any other instrument. However, the FACSDiva Importer add-on allows you to import your entire experiment (FACSDiva version 4 and above) as well.

 

A FACSDiva experiment file, which has the extension .xml, is created when you export your data using the FACSDiva software (see "Exporting Experiments" in the FACSDiva Software Reference Manual for information). The FACSDiva experiment file contains information on plots, gates, and compensation settings.

 

The following FACSDiva experiment information will be maintained when the file is imported into FCS Express:

 

All acquisition templates and analysis worksheets.

The native, high resolution, floating point FCS data.

All gates with the proper gating hierarchy.

All compensation settings.

All markers and quadrants.

 

Because the FACSDiva experiment file does not contain information about the pages its plots should appear on, FCS Express needs additional data to import the file properly. In particular, FCS Express needs to know how you want the plots distributed across your layout pages. For example, a given FACSDiva experiment file has three plots laid out horizontally. This file could be imported into FCS Express such that each plot exists on its own layout page, or all three plots could be placed on a single layout page. If you leave the size of the FCS layout page at the standard 8.5 x 11 inches, then importing the three plots may cause the size of the plots to shrink, in order to fit them on a single page. However, while importing, you can configure the size of the FCS Express layout page to contain more plots of standard size.

 

Once you have set up the page size for the FACSDiva experiment file import, along with the distribution of the plots on the layout page, you can save the configuration for use again with other FACSDiva experiment files. The configuration is saved to an FCS Express FACSDiva configuration file.