InterMine makes use of canvasXpress heatmap to visualize gene expression data.
CanvasXpress is a javascript library based on the <canvas> tag implemented in HTML5. It is written by Isaac Neuhausi.
Hierarchical and k-Means clustering algorithms and zoom in/out functionality have been implemented within the heatmap.
A specific heatmap application can be referred in modMine. It visualizes fly expression data (example) generated from modENCODE project.
The raw data is parsed and converted to InterMine objects. In a Struts controller, the expression data will be fetched by running a InterMine path query and parsed to JSON string. The JSON string will be sent to a JSP page by a http request to feed into heatmap.
FlyExpressionScoreConverter is a specific data converter for modENCODE fly expression data. The class is located at bio/sources/modmine/fly-expression-score. Any other similar expression data conversion tasks can take the data source as a reference.
Exprssion data type is an extension of InterMine core model. It is addressed in modmine/dbmodel/resources/modencode-metadata_additions.xml
# modmine/dbmodel/resources/modencode-metadata_additions.xml
<class name="GeneExpressionScore" is-interface="true">
<attribute name="score" type="java.lang.Double" />
<reference name="gene" referenced-type="Gene" reverse-reference="expressionScores" />
<reference name="cellLine" referenced-type="CellLine" />
<reference name="developmentalStage" referenced-type="DevelopmentalStage" />
<reference name="submission" referenced-type="Submission" />
<reference name="organism" referenced-type="Organism" />
</class>
A better practice would be to add the model extension to a source specific additions.xml under a source directory.
The controller class HeatMapController is a component of Struts MVC framework. It holds the logic to process user requests, and seletcs a proper wabpage to user.
In HeatMapController, a query is run to fetch expression scores from database (ref method queryExpressionScore), then the results are parsed to JSON string (ref method getJSONString) and set in the request (ref method findExpression).
Struts config:
# modmine/webapp/resources/struts-config-model.xml
<action path="/initHeatMap"
type="org.modmine.web.HeatMapController" />
<action path="/heatMap" forward="heatMap.page" />
# modmine/webapp/resources/tiles-defs-model.xml
<definition name="heatMap.tile" path="/model/heatMap.jsp"
controllerUrl="/initHeatMap.do"/>
<definition name="heatMap.page" extends="layout.template">
<put name="body" value="heatMap.tile"/>
<put name="pageName" value="heatMap"/>
</definition>
heatMap.jsp displays heatmap. canvasXpress object takes expression JSON string and other parameters in to create a heatmap (in modMine, we have two separate heatmaps for cell line and developmental stage respectively). jQuery was used to adjust page layout.
A modern way of creating widget like heatmap would be using InterMine webservices framework to query and generate JSON strings and embed heatmap on any web page. To learn more...
An alternative library would be D3.js, an example of heatmap can be found here. In ThaleMine there is a D3 implementation (see any gene list report page, for example here, code. However canvasXpress is particular designed to display genomics data, D3 is for a broader use.