Developer Information

Supporting the GenePix Pro and pCLAMP file formats, and communicating with Digidata digitizers and MultiClamp 700 amplifiers.

Note: Although we are committed to the integrity of these programming tools, we will not provide direct technical support for writing programs using them.

Digidata Programming Support

Software testbeds are available to help programmers write data acquistion programs for Digidata digitizers.  These testbeds include sample code and DLL drivers for Windows programs.  For non-Windows programs, it is suggested that you write a C wrapper for our API.

Please note that technical support is not available for writing programs using these testbeds.

There are two testbeds currently available:

1. The Digidata 1440A Testbed [EXE] allows programs to be created to control the Digidata 1440A digitizer.  The sample application requires a Digidata 1440A digitizer to run.
2. The Digidata 132x Testbed [ZIP] allows programs to be created to control the Digidata 1320A, 1321A and 1322A digitizers.  Note that the Adaptec WinASPI layer is also required.

Generating output files that can be read by GenePix Pro software

The GenePix Array List (GAL) file format is a standard format for importing the following information about specific microarrays into GenePix Pro:

• printed substance (spot) IDs;
• printed substance (spot) names;
• block (grid) parameters, such as row and column spacing, absolute position, and spot diameter.

GAL files are tab-delimited text files and can be easily constructed in programs that support text file output, such as MS Excel, or implemented in arrayer software packages.

The GAL file format is published on the GenePix File Formats page.

Specific examples of valid GAL files for microarray and arrayer manufacturers are given on the GAL Examples page.

Please contact technical support if you have questions, or to receive a free copy of a test software application that will check the validity of your GAL file output.

Reading GenePix Results (GPR) files

The GenePix Results (GPR) file is a standard tab-delimited text file format for data that has been extracted from a microarray image. The GPR file format is described on the GenePix File Formats page, and a history of the various minor format changes, including example files in all the various formats, is available on the GPR Format History page.

MultiClamp 700 Telegraph Support

The MultiClamp Software Development Kit provides the tools for programmers who wish to develop software that is capable of collecting information about the state of the MultiClamp 700B or 700A amplifier (i.e., telegraph settings). This will be useful only to Windows software development, since the applications will communicate via a registered messaging interface.

The latest version of MultiClamp 700 Commander automatically install the files required for 3rd party support. Browse the "\Axon\MultiClamp 700x Commander" directory to locate the files.

Note: Although we are committed to the integrity of this SDK, Axon will not provide direct technical support for writing programs using the SDK.

pCLAMP and AxoScope File Support

Software libraries are available for programmers who want to write programs that read or write the Axon Instruments data file formats produced by the pCLAMP 10 (Clampex and AxoScope) data acquisition programs, and are still available for previous versions of the pCLAMP (Clampex and Fetchex), AxoScope, and AxoTape data acquisition programs.

Please note that technical support is not available for writing programs using these libraries.

For pCLAMP 10 (ABF 2):

1. The File Support Pack 2 for Windows (release build) [ZIP] allows Windows programs to support the ABF and ATF data file formats for AxoScope 1 to 10, Clampex 6 to 10, Fetchex 6 and AxoTape 2, via Windows DLLs. (This build corrects the library in the previous 3/12/07 zip file.)
2. The File Support Pack 2 for Windows (debug build) [ZIP] is the same as above, but includes extra error trapping code.
3. The ABF 2 Docs [ZIP] file, provides details of the ABF 2 file header for non-Windows OS support.
   (Additional information on header details has now been added.)

For previous versions of pCLAMP (ABF 1):

1. The File Support Pack 1 for Windows [ZIP] allows Windows programs to support the ABF and ATF data file formats for AxoScope 1 to 9.2, Clampex 6 to 9.2, Fetchex 6 and AxoTape 2, via Windows DLLs or header offsets.
   
2. The File Support Pack for DOS [EXE] allows DOS programs to support the ABF and ATF data file formats for Clampex 6, Fetchex 6, and AxoTape 2, and the EVL events list format for Fetchan 6 and pSTAT 6.