ValidateVariants

Validate VCF

Category Variant Evaluation and Refinement

Overview

Validate a VCF file with a strict set of criteria

This tool is designed to validate the adherence of a file to VCF format. The tool will validate .g.vcf GVCF format files as well. For VCF specifications, see https://samtools.github.io/hts-specs/. Besides standard adherence to the VCF specification, this tool performs additional strict validations to ensure that the information contained within the file is correctly encoded. These include:

REF - correctness of the reference base(s)
CHR_COUNTS - accuracy of AC and AN values
IDS - tests against rsIDs when a dbSNP file is provided (requires a dbsnp VCF provided via `--dbsnp`).
ALLELES - that all alternate alleles are present in at least one sample

By default the tool applies all the strict validations unless you indicate which one should be excluded using `--validation-type-to-exclude`. You can exclude as many types as you want. Furthermore, you can exclude all strict validations with the special code `ALL`. In this case the tool will only test for adherence to the VCF specification.

Input

A VCF file to validate.

Usage examples

Minimally validate a file for adherence to VCF format:

gatk ValidateVariants \ -V cohort.vcf.gz

Validate a GVCF for adherence to VCF format, including REF allele match:

gatk ValidateVariants \ -V sample.g.vcf.gz \ -R reference.fasta -gvcf

To perform VCF format and all strict validations:

 gatk ValidateVariants \
   -R ref.fasta \
   -V input.vcf \
   --dbsnp dbsnp.vcf

To perform only VCF format tests:

 gatk ValidateVariants
   -R ref.fasta \
   -V input.vcf \
   --validation-type-to-exclude ALL

To perform all validations except the strict `ALLELE` validation:

 gatk ValidateVariants \
   -R ref.fasta \
   -V input.vcf \
   --validation-type-to-exclude ALLELES \
   --dbsnp dbsnp.vcf

ValidateVariants specific arguments

This table summarizes the command-line arguments that are specific to this tool. For more details on each argument, see the list further down below the table or click on an argument name to jump directly to that entry in the list.

Argument name(s)	Default value	Summary
Required Arguments
--variant -V	null	A VCF file containing variants
Optional Tool Arguments
--arguments_file	[]	read one or more arguments files and add them to the command line
--cloud-index-prefetch-buffer -CIPB	-1	Size of the cloud-only prefetch buffer (in MB; 0 to disable). Defaults to cloudPrefetchBuffer if unset.
--cloud-prefetch-buffer -CPB	40	Size of the cloud-only prefetch buffer (in MB; 0 to disable).
--dbsnp -D	null	dbSNP file
--disable-bam-index-caching -DBIC	false	If true, don't cache bam indexes, this will reduce memory requirements but may harm performance if many intervals are specified. Caching is automatically disabled if there are no intervals specified.
--do-not-validate-filtered-records	false	skip validation on filtered records
--gcs-max-retries -gcs-retries	20	If the GCS bucket channel errors out, how many times it will attempt to re-initiate the connection
--help -h	false	display the help message
--interval-merging-rule -imr	ALL	Interval merging rule for abutting intervals
--intervals -L	[]	One or more genomic intervals over which to operate
--reference -R	null	Reference sequence
--validate-GVCF -gvcf	false	Validate this file as a GVCF
--validation-type-to-exclude -Xtype	[]	which validation type to exclude from a full strict validation
--version	false	display the version number for this tool
--warn-on-errors	false	just emit warnings on errors instead of terminating the run at the first instance
Optional Common Arguments
--add-output-sam-program-record	true	If true, adds a PG tag to created SAM/BAM/CRAM files.
--add-output-vcf-command-line	true	If true, adds a command line header line to created VCF files.
--create-output-bam-index -OBI	true	If true, create a BAM/CRAM index when writing a coordinate-sorted BAM/CRAM file.
--create-output-bam-md5 -OBM	false	If true, create a MD5 digest for any BAM/SAM/CRAM file created
--create-output-variant-index -OVI	true	If true, create a VCF index when writing a coordinate-sorted VCF file.
--create-output-variant-md5 -OVM	false	If true, create a a MD5 digest any VCF file created.
--disable-read-filter -DF	[]	Read filters to be disabled before analysis
--disable-sequence-dictionary-validation	false	If specified, do not check the sequence dictionaries from our inputs for compatibility. Use at your own risk!
--disable-tool-default-read-filters	false	Disable all tool default read filters
--exclude-intervals -XL	[]	One or more genomic intervals to exclude from processing
--gatk-config-file	null	A configuration file to use with the GATK.
--input -I	[]	BAM/SAM/CRAM file containing reads
--interval-exclusion-padding -ixp	0	Amount of padding (in bp) to add to each interval you are excluding.
--interval-padding -ip	0	Amount of padding (in bp) to add to each interval you are including.
--interval-set-rule -isr	UNION	Set merging approach to use for combining interval inputs
--lenient -LE	false	Lenient processing of VCF files
--QUIET	false	Whether to suppress job-summary info on System.err.
--read-filter -RF	[]	Read filters to be applied before analysis
--read-index	[]	Indices to use for the read inputs. If specified, an index must be provided for every read input and in the same order as the read inputs. If this argument is not specified, the path to the index for each input will be inferred automatically.
--read-validation-stringency -VS	SILENT	Validation stringency for all SAM/BAM/CRAM/SRA files read by this program. The default stringency value SILENT can improve performance when processing a BAM file in which variable-length data (read, qualities, tags) do not otherwise need to be decoded.
--seconds-between-progress-updates	10.0	Output traversal statistics every time this many seconds elapse
--sequence-dictionary	null	Use the given sequence dictionary as the master/canonical sequence dictionary. Must be a .dict file.
--TMP_DIR	[]	Undocumented option
--use-jdk-deflater -jdk-deflater	false	Whether to use the JdkDeflater (as opposed to IntelDeflater)
--use-jdk-inflater -jdk-inflater	false	Whether to use the JdkInflater (as opposed to IntelInflater)
--verbosity	INFO	Control verbosity of logging.
Advanced Arguments
--showHidden	false	display hidden arguments

Argument details

Arguments in this list are specific to this tool. Keep in mind that other arguments are available that are shared with other tools (e.g. command-line GATK arguments); see Inherited arguments above.

--add-output-sam-program-record / -add-output-sam-program-record

If true, adds a PG tag to created SAM/BAM/CRAM files.

boolean true

--add-output-vcf-command-line / -add-output-vcf-command-line

If true, adds a command line header line to created VCF files.

boolean true

--arguments_file / NA

read one or more arguments files and add them to the command line

List[File] []

--cloud-index-prefetch-buffer / -CIPB

Size of the cloud-only prefetch buffer (in MB; 0 to disable). Defaults to cloudPrefetchBuffer if unset.

int -1 [ [ -∞ ∞ ] ]

--cloud-prefetch-buffer / -CPB

Size of the cloud-only prefetch buffer (in MB; 0 to disable).

int 40 [ [ -∞ ∞ ] ]

--create-output-bam-index / -OBI

If true, create a BAM/CRAM index when writing a coordinate-sorted BAM/CRAM file.

boolean true

--create-output-bam-md5 / -OBM

If true, create a MD5 digest for any BAM/SAM/CRAM file created

boolean false

--create-output-variant-index / -OVI

If true, create a VCF index when writing a coordinate-sorted VCF file.

boolean true

--create-output-variant-md5 / -OVM

If true, create a a MD5 digest any VCF file created.

boolean false

--dbsnp / -D

dbSNP file
A dbSNP VCF file.

FeatureInput[VariantContext] null

--disable-bam-index-caching / -DBIC

If true, don't cache bam indexes, this will reduce memory requirements but may harm performance if many intervals are specified. Caching is automatically disabled if there are no intervals specified.

boolean false

--disable-read-filter / -DF

Read filters to be disabled before analysis

List[String] []

--disable-sequence-dictionary-validation / -disable-sequence-dictionary-validation

If specified, do not check the sequence dictionaries from our inputs for compatibility. Use at your own risk!

boolean false

--disable-tool-default-read-filters / -disable-tool-default-read-filters

Disable all tool default read filters

boolean false

--do-not-validate-filtered-records / -do-not-validate-filtered-records

skip validation on filtered records
By default, even filtered records are validated.

Exclusion: This argument cannot be used at the same time as validate-GVCF.

Boolean false

--exclude-intervals / -XL

One or more genomic intervals to exclude from processing
Use this argument to exclude certain parts of the genome from the analysis (like -L, but the opposite). This argument can be specified multiple times. You can use samtools-style intervals either explicitly on the command line (e.g. -XL 1 or -XL 1:100-200) or by loading in a file containing a list of intervals (e.g. -XL myFile.intervals).

List[String] []

--gatk-config-file / NA

A configuration file to use with the GATK.

String null

--gcs-max-retries / -gcs-retries

If the GCS bucket channel errors out, how many times it will attempt to re-initiate the connection

int 20 [ [ -∞ ∞ ] ]

--help / -h

display the help message

boolean false

--input / -I

BAM/SAM/CRAM file containing reads

List[String] []

--interval-exclusion-padding / -ixp

Amount of padding (in bp) to add to each interval you are excluding.
Use this to add padding to the intervals specified using -XL. For example, '-XL 1:100' with a padding value of 20 would turn into '-XL 1:80-120'. This is typically used to add padding around targets when analyzing exomes.

int 0 [ [ -∞ ∞ ] ]

--interval-merging-rule / -imr

Interval merging rule for abutting intervals
By default, the program merges abutting intervals (i.e. intervals that are directly side-by-side but do not actually overlap) into a single continuous interval. However you can change this behavior if you want them to be treated as separate intervals instead.

The --interval-merging-rule argument is an enumerated type (IntervalMergingRule), which can have one of the following values:

ALL
OVERLAPPING_ONLY

IntervalMergingRule ALL

--interval-padding / -ip

Amount of padding (in bp) to add to each interval you are including.
Use this to add padding to the intervals specified using -L. For example, '-L 1:100' with a padding value of 20 would turn into '-L 1:80-120'. This is typically used to add padding around targets when analyzing exomes.

int 0 [ [ -∞ ∞ ] ]

--interval-set-rule / -isr

Set merging approach to use for combining interval inputs
By default, the program will take the UNION of all intervals specified using -L and/or -XL. However, you can change this setting for -L, for example if you want to take the INTERSECTION of the sets instead. E.g. to perform the analysis only on chromosome 1 exomes, you could specify -L exomes.intervals -L 1 --interval-set-rule INTERSECTION. However, it is not possible to modify the merging approach for intervals passed using -XL (they will always be merged using UNION). Note that if you specify both -L and -XL, the -XL interval set will be subtracted from the -L interval set.

The --interval-set-rule argument is an enumerated type (IntervalSetRule), which can have one of the following values:

UNION: Take the union of all intervals
INTERSECTION: Take the intersection of intervals (the subset that overlaps all intervals specified)

IntervalSetRule UNION

--intervals / -L

One or more genomic intervals over which to operate

List[String] []

--lenient / -LE

Lenient processing of VCF files

boolean false

--QUIET / NA

Whether to suppress job-summary info on System.err.

Boolean false

--read-filter / -RF

Read filters to be applied before analysis

List[String] []

--read-index / -read-index

Indices to use for the read inputs. If specified, an index must be provided for every read input and in the same order as the read inputs. If this argument is not specified, the path to the index for each input will be inferred automatically.

List[String] []

--read-validation-stringency / -VS

Validation stringency for all SAM/BAM/CRAM/SRA files read by this program. The default stringency value SILENT can improve performance when processing a BAM file in which variable-length data (read, qualities, tags) do not otherwise need to be decoded.

The --read-validation-stringency argument is an enumerated type (ValidationStringency), which can have one of the following values:

STRICT
LENIENT
SILENT

ValidationStringency SILENT

--reference / -R

Reference sequence

String null

--seconds-between-progress-updates / -seconds-between-progress-updates

Output traversal statistics every time this many seconds elapse

double 10.0 [ [ -∞ ∞ ] ]

--sequence-dictionary / -sequence-dictionary

Use the given sequence dictionary as the master/canonical sequence dictionary. Must be a .dict file.

String null

--showHidden / -showHidden

display hidden arguments

boolean false

--TMP_DIR / NA

Undocumented option

List[File] []

--use-jdk-deflater / -jdk-deflater

Whether to use the JdkDeflater (as opposed to IntelDeflater)

boolean false

--use-jdk-inflater / -jdk-inflater

Whether to use the JdkInflater (as opposed to IntelInflater)

boolean false

--validate-GVCF / -gvcf

Validate this file as a GVCF
Validate this file as a gvcf. In particular, every variant must include a allele, and that every base in the territory under consideration is covered by a variant (or a reference block). If you specifed intervals (using -L or -XL) to restrict analysis to a subset of genomic regions, those intervals will need to be covered in a valid gvcf.

Exclusion: This argument cannot be used at the same time as do-not-validate-filtered-records.

Boolean false