Introduction

The FIND software platform is designed to be a user-friendly tool for analysis and visualization of Flow Cytometry data, revolving around automated methods based on multi-dimensional mathematical inspection of relationships between sampled cells and their recorded fluorescence emissions.

FIND is also designed to be a platform for development and distribution of new analysis and visualization methods, simplifying the process of finding and using new research in Flow Cytometry analysis. If you are interested in developing plugins for FIND, please visit the developer documentation on the main documentation page (link at the top left).

The main website for FIND is located at:

http://www.justicelab.org/find

The current version (as indicated at the top of the page) of FIND is available there for download, as well as any plugins. For help and questions that are not addressed here, support forums exist at FIND’s Sourceforge project page.

User Interface

Below is a screenshot of the basic user interface for FIND. The major interface elements are highlighted, as well as the important data FIND keeps track of at all times.

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  1. Project Tree - This is a hierarchical representation of the loaded datasets and their clusterings (where existing), and the list of stored Figure Sets (see Visualization section). Much of the user interaction with these items occurs from within this tree through the context menus of individual items. This tree also provides visual clues to help the user identify the current selection for various items. These current selections, as discussed in detail below, help guide user interaction as many menu actions operate on them.
  2. Plotting Area - This rectangular area contains all the graphs and visualizations. It is divided into a grid layout (rows and columns) that can be set by the user (menu Plots>>Setup). Everything contained within this area is stored in the Figure it belongs to, and selecting a different Figure from the list of Figure Sets in the Project Tree will replace the contents of the Plotting Area with the plots stored in the newly selected Figure.
  3. Channel Selection Panel - The dropdown boxes in this panel contain the channels (dimensions) within the loaded datasets. The selected channel, as reflected by the display within the box, controls the displayed channels in the plots that display single channels (2D Scatterplot, Histogram, etc...). When a channel is changed in one of the selectors, every plot that is affected is updated and redrawn, thus each of these are “linked” to the channel values in the selection boxes. If you want to “freeze” individual plots such that they do not respond to channel selection changes, simply click on the plot, and uncheck the box next to the “Linked” label on the right side of the panel.
  4. Currently Selected Dataset - For all the loaded datasets, there is a single dataset that is considered the “selected” dataset. FIND uses this selection to determine which dataset to operate on when the user selects menu actions such as clustering algorithms or various plugins. Visually, as can be seen in the above image, this dataset is distinguished by a bold font.
  5. Currently Selected Clustering - This operates in a similar fashion to the selected dataset. Currently it is only important when adding a new plot to the Plotting Area (Plots>>Add New Subplot). If the current dataset also has one or more clusterings, the selected clustering will be plotted as a colored 2D Scatterplot (indicating different clusters) when the new plot is created. As with the selected dataset, the selected clustering is indicated by a bold font.
  6. Currently Selected Figure - This selection (also in bold font) indicates the Figure that is currently active and displayed in the Plotting Area. To switch the displayed Figure, you can simply click on the Figure you want displayed and FIND will automatically switch out the old Figure for the new Figure. Note that the current Figure cannot be deleted, so you must switch to a different Figure, then right-click on the Figure you want to delete, and select Delete from the context menu.
  7. FIND Status Bar - The status bar is divided into two regions. The region on the right is used to display messages to the user based on actions they have performed, or short explanations of menu items the mouse is hovering over. The left side of the bar is used to indicate the final Selected Item that FIND keeps track of: the Currently Selected Plot. The selection is made by left-clicking on an individual plot (subplot) within the Plotting Area. This allows FIND to determine where new plots should be drawn to when plotting a dataset or clustering through the context menu for those items.

Updating FIND

You can check for updates to FIND through the Help menu. If an update is available, FIND will notify you and offer to open the website so you can download the newest version.

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