[Gusdev-gusdev] RAD3 Schema Questions

[Paul B. <pcb...@en...>]

Hi all,

Hopefully this is the right place for these questions.  If not, please let me 
know where I can ask.

I have a moderately extensive Oracle DB for cDNA microarray data.  As 
requirements have increased it is now considered desirable to store Affy data 
as well as enhanced sample Annotation.  I looked into MAGE-ML, and was referred 
from a list there to GUS DB.

I've started implementing a portion of your schema into my own DB, in 
particular the annotation portion (e.g. ExternalDatabaseRelease, BioMaterialImp 
& associated views, LabelMethod, etc.).

I'm thinking about using an even larger fraction -- including the 
CompositeElementImp/CompositeElementResultImp and ElementImp/ElementResultImp 
tables -- because I really like the schema design you've done.

But here is my problem.  I'm having some difficulty interpreting the meanings 
of those tables.  My main questions:
1. What are the differences between the xxxElementImp and xxxElementResultImp 
tables?  What goes into each?  My understanding is that the xxxElementImp store 
details about the array *layout* while the xxxElementResultImp store details 
about the data from specific arrays.
2. If the above description is right, would that mean that for each physical 
array (each "chip") there are records in all four tables?  Is that necessary 
for cases with repeated chip "layouts"?
3. Are the Ontologies used in RAD3::OntologyTerm publicly available?  I 
couldn't find them in the 3.0-Beta release tar, but perhaps I just missed them?

Any help or suggested reading would be very much appreciated!
Paul

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