By browsing through the GDC Data Portal, users can obtain details about specific aspects of the GDC harmonized data, such as the associated project, files, participants and annotations (explanatory comments about the data). Using advanced data modeling, GDC Data Portal users can navigate between pages and results in a seamless and consistent manner. For example, from a project page a user can be redirected to all files or participants within the project. While users are browsing through the portal, they can progressively add more elements to a personalized cart for data download.
The GDC Data Portal provides access to GDC harmonized data as well as an archive of legacy data from TCGA and other NCI programs. Through the GDC Data Portal, users can launch the Legacy Archive Portal to search and download legacy files.
Due to the large amount of data accessible through the GDC Data Portal, visualization is key in allowing researchers to identify data they are looking for and narrowing their search. The GDC Data Portal uses multiple mechanisms to ease visualization including tables, charts, and plots. Whenever possible, cross-references are enabled so that users can dive into the data directly from a plot.
The GDC Data Portal contains two primary mechanisms for searching data:
The GDC Data Portal allows BAM slicing. Users can submit their slicing request in BED format and download only the requested slice of a BAM file.
Searching through the GDC Data Portal, allows researchers to add files to their personalized cart. The cart provides detailed statistics about the files it contains in order for the user to have a better understanding of the overall volume of files the user may want to download.
The GDC Data Portal provides two primary channels to allow users to download data from a cart:
When downloading data via the GDC Data Transfer Tool, the GDC Data Portal generates a file manifest that can be easily imported into the GDC Data Transfer Tool to initiate the download. Note that users can only download files they have access to through the NIH database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP). Please visit Obtaining Access to GDC Data and Resources for information about how to obtain permission to access controlled data sets through dbGaP.
The GDC Data Portal provides an image viewing option allowing researchers to view, zoom, and pan slide images associated with a case. Slide images can also be downloaded in the original format (SVS) and are accessible via the GDC API.
Detailed instructions for the above features are available in the GDC Data Portal User's Guide. Information on GDC Data Portal Releases is available in the GDC Data Portal Release Notes.
The GDC Data Portal is compatible with most modern web browsers, including:
Release Notes are available on the GDC Data Portal Release Notes page.
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