Tracker Commons
The Tracker Commons is a repository of documentation, software, and discussions that enable labs to share their worm tracking data and analysis routines.
The WCON format
The Worm tracker Commons Object Notation (WCON) file format provides a simple way to share C. elegans tracking data between labs and analysis packages.
WCON uses the widely-supported JSON file format, so almost any language can easily import the data. WCON specifies a few entries that you should include in a JSON "Object" (a.k.a. a map or dictionary) that will let readers easily extract basic information about worms.
Here's an example!
{
"metadata":{
"who":"Open Worm",
"timestamp":"2016-01-22T17:44:48",
"protocol":"Numbers made up by hand for an example!"
},
"units":{"t":"s", "x":"mm", "y":"mm"},
"data":[
{"id":"worm1", "t":0.1, "x":[0.33, 0.65, 0.8, 1.1, 1.2], "y":[2.31, 2.25, 2.0, 1.87, 1.66]},
{"id":"worm1", "t":0.3, "x":[0.27, 0.6, 0.75, 1.0, 1.1], "y":[2.4, 2.3, 2.07, 1.78, 1.75]}
]
}This file contains data for a single worm over two timepoints. The worm's body is represented as five points along the worm's spine.
Tracker Commons software for reading and writing WCON files
The Tracker Commons repository contains implementations for reading and writing WCON data for a variety of languages. Browse the src directory to learn more!
| Language | Principal Author | Capabilities | Test Status | Packaged? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scala | Rex Kerr | Feature-complete, beta |  |
no |
| Python | Michael Currie | Feature-complete, beta |  |
 |
| Java | Rex Kerr | Feature-complete, beta | none | no |
| R | Rex Kerr | Lightweight wrapper using rscala (alpha) | none | no |
| Julia | Rex Kerr | Runnable implementation (alpha) | none | no |
| Octave | Chee Lee Wai | Under development | none | no |
| Rust | n/a | Preliminary notes only | n/a | no |
| Matlab | n/a | Currently seeking contributors | n/a | no |
