HeatMapViewer (v11)

A configurable heat map viewer that provides users with several options for manipulating and visualizing array-based data

Author: Joshua Gould, The Broad Institute

Contact:

gp-help@broadinstitute.org

Algorithm Version:

Summary

The HeatMapViewer displays values in a heat map format where by default the largest values are displayed as the reddest (hot), the smallest values are displayed as the bluest (cool), and intermediate values are a lighter color of either blue or red. This is a very convenient way to display three-dimensional data (samples, features, and values).

Display Options

There are a number of options controlling the appearance of the heat map that can be set by selecting View>View Options

  • You can choose between radio buttons for Relative and Global color schemes. When the relative choice is selected, the heat map converts values to colors using the mean, minimum, and maximum values in each row. When the global choice is selected the heat map converts values to colors using the mean, minimum, and maximum values in the entire dataset. To display the color legend, select View>Color Scheme Legend.
  • You can choose between the radio buttons Use Color Gradient and Use Discrete Colors. The heat map uses linear color gradient to convert values to colors when the Use Color Gradient button is selected, while a discrete color map is used if the Use Discrete Colors button is selected. A color map can optionally be loaded by clicking on Load Color Map. This color map is a file containing three colors with one color per line. The first color is the color for the minimum values and the last color is the color for the maximum values. The colors can be specified as either a decimal, octal, hexadecimal integer, or r:g:b triplet (e.g. #9900FF, 0:0:0, 171).
  • The Show Grid checkbox controls whether a grid is drawn around each element.
  • The Show Profile checkbox controls whether the profile is shown in the table for each feature.
  • The row size and column size sliders control the size of each element in the heat map. When the Maintain Square Aspect checkbox is selected, the row and column sizes are kept in synch.
  • You can choose to hide (show) feature descriptions, feature names and sample names by deselecting (selecting) the corresponding checkbox.
  • The Feature Label Width slider controls the size of feature labels. Similarly, the Sample Label Height slider controls the size of sample labels. These controls do not appear unless you have features and/or samples loaded. To load features, select File>Label Features. To load samples, select File>Label Samples

Saving Images

Users can save the heat map image to a file by selecting File>Save Image. Supported formats are bmp, eps, jpeg, png, and tiff.

Saving Datasets

You can use the viewer to create a new dataset.

  1. Select File>Save Dataset. A window appears.
  2. Choose the features and samples to include in the dataset by selecting the features and sample names in the viewer.
  3. Choose a location and name for the new dataset.
  4. Click Save to save the new dataset. 

Feature Labels

Feature labels use color to annotate features in the heat map.
To use feature labels:

  1. Create a grp, gmx, or gmt file. A complete description of these formats is available on the GenePattern website.
  2. Select File>Label Features to open your feature set file. You have the option to restrict the view to features in your feature set. To return to the full view, select View>Reset Dataset. A color bar appears next to each feature in the feature set in the table.
  3. Select Edit>Feature Labels to edit the color or close the feature set.
  4. In the Feature Labels window, select your feature set from the drop-down list. The color assigned to that feature list appears in the box to the right.
    • To change the color, click the box and select a new color.
    • To delete the feature set and remove the color bars from the table, click Delete.

The feature annotations legend can be saved to a file by selecting File>Save Feature Labels Legend.

Sample Labels

Sample labels use color to annotate samples in the heat map.
To use sample labels:

  1. Create a cls file or sample info file. A complete description of these formats is available on the GenePattern website
  2. Select File>Label Samples to open your cls or sample info file. A color bar appears below each sample name.
  3. Select Edit>Sample Labels to edit the color or close the sample info file.
  4. In the Sample Labels window, select your sample class from the drop-down list. The color assigned to that sample class appears in the box to the right.
    • To change the color, click the box and select a new color.
    • To delete the sample class and remove the color bars from the table, click Delete.

The sample annotations legend can be saved to a file by selecting File>Save Sample Labels Legend.

Loading Descriptions - Support for GeneCruiser ended in March 2016

Please see the GenePattern blog for more information.

GeneCruiser retrieves information about Affymetrix probe identifiers and adds the information to the feature table.
To use GeneCruiser annotations:

  1. Select File>GeneCruiser.
  2. Select the features that you want to retrieve annotations for in the table.
  3. Choose which fields to retrieve from GeneCruiser in the GeneCruiser dialog.
  4. The annotations appear in additional columns in the table.

You can also load descriptions from a csv (comma separated values) file. To load descriptions from a csv file, select File>Load Descriptions From Csv File.

Finding Features

To find a feature in the heat map, select Edit>Find. You can choose whether to match the case of the text you’re searching for by selecting the Match case checkbox at the bottom of the find dialog. You can also choose whether to include the description column in your search by selecting the Include Descriptions In Search checkbox.

Profile Plot

The expression profile for a feature plots expression value per sample.
To display an expression profile:

  1. Select one or more features and optionally select one or more samples.
  2. Click View>Profile. Alternatively, right-click and select Profile from the context menu or click the profile plot column in the feature table.

Centroid Plot

The centroid plot shows the mean expression value for each sample. The error bars represent the standard deviation.
To display a centroid plot:

  1. Select two or more features and optionally select one or more samples.
  2. Click View>Centroid Plot. Alternatively, right-click and select Centroid Plot from the context menu.

Histogram

The histogram plot shows the distributions of expression values. The vertical axis represents number of occurrences. The horizontal axis represents the binned expression values.
To display a histogram:

  1. Select one or more features and optionally select one or more samples.
  2. Click View>Histogram. Alternatively, right-click and select Histogram from the context menu.

Nearest Neighbors

The nearest neighbors item shows other features whose expression values follow similar trends to the selected feature. There are four choices for the distance metric: Cosine, Euclidean, Manhattan, and Pearson.
To display the nearest neighbors:

  1. Select one feature.
  2. Click View>Nearest Neighbors. Alternatively, right-click and select Nearest Neighbors from the context menu.

Scatter Plot

The scatter plot lets you compare expression values in two samples.
To display a scatter plot:

  1. Select two samples.
  2. Optionally select one or more features.
  3. Click View>Scatter Plot. Alternatively, right-click and select Scatter Plot from the context menu.

Sorting Features

The sort features item lets you order features in the heat map by differential expression based on either T-Test or Signal To Noise calculations. To sort features:

  1. Label features as described in the Label Features section (if you have not already done so).
  2. Select View>Sort Features.
  3. Select the feature label to use for sorting, the test statistic to use, and whether to sort in ascending or descending order.
  4. To return to the original order, select View>Reset Dataset.

Sorting Samples

The sort samples item lets you order samples in the heat map by class. To sort samples:

  1. Label samples as described in the Label Samples section (if you have not already done so).
  2. Select View>Sort Samples.
  3. Select the sample label to use for sorting.
  4. To return to the original order, select View>Reset Dataset.

Keyboard Shortcuts

You can use your keyboard to quickly accomplish many tasks. To find the shortcuts for common commands, look in the menus or select Help>Keyboard Shortcuts to see a list of available shortcuts.

Parameters

Name Description
dataset * The dataset to display - .gct, .res, .odf

* - required

Platform Dependencies

Task Type:
Visualizer

CPU Type:
any

Operating System:
any

Language:
Java

Version Comments

Version Release Date Description
11 2013-06-21 Fixes Java 7 launching issues.
10 2010-08-04 Fixed bug with incorrect scores listed for features in the Nearest Neighbors table
9 2010-03-18 Fixed bug in calculating standard deviation for centroid plot.
8 2007-09-05 Fixed bug in color scheme legend dialog. Added gene neighbors analysis.
6 2007-08-13 Additional additional plots, keyboard shortcuts, and ability to label samples from sample info file.
5 2006-10-05 Plot selected samples only in profile plot
4 2006-09-25 Added eps output file format
3 2006-08-08 Save row names with image
2 2005-06-07 Annotated for GP 1.4.
1 2004-12-22