Hi all -

There has been some discussion on this board previously about open-source real-time PCR software for performing and analyzing real time PCR across several systems.

Please see below information about the RDML-consortium whose goal is to develop a universal data format for real-time PCR data.




Real-time PCR Data Markup Language

The RDML-consortium was founded to develop a universal data format for real-time PCR data, named RDML (Real-time PCR Data Markup Language). The intention to design an universal data format is based on the experience that it is difficult to share qPCR data between different laboratories and users, or exchange data between different software packages or analysis tools.

The problem is founded in the data collection software packages that, depending on the company that provides these with their instrument(s), save data in a proprietary format and allow to export information in various file formats (.CSV, .TXT, .XLS), with different layout and data field terminology.

A common universal format would allow easy exchange of raw annotated data between different laboratories. It would make it possible to include qPCR data in scientific papers, allowing both reviewers and readers to re-analyse the data, similar to the MIAME guidelines propose for microarray experiments (Brazma et al., Nat Genet., 2001).

In principle, the universal data format should contain sufficient information to understand the experimental setup, re-analyse the data and interpret the results. The data format is a flat text file in Extensible Markup Language (XML), termed RDML, an acronym for "Real-time PCR Data Markup Language". The file extension is *.rdml or *.rdm. The format is independent of computer hardware, operating system or available software package, and can be extended in the future to include additional information if required.


You can find information on the RDML Schema
here.


You can find information on the RDML Consortium here, and to join the RDML Consortium Click Here.


For information on the RDML Generator Click Here.


For information on the RDML Validator Click Here.


To link to the RDML Open Repository Click Here.


To link to the RDML Forums Click Here.


For a list of common Help Tips Click Here.