StepMiner

Computers are not only found in office buildings, but are also core components of medical units and research facilities, with great calculus potential and large storage capacity. For gene analysis in particular, specialized applications like StepMiner are required in order to view existing data, manipulate, and save reports.

A neat advantage is that you don’t even have to install the application on your computer to get it work, because it can run from the moment it gets downloaded. This means you can carry it around on a USB flash drive to use on other computers as well, but as long as they’re equipped with Java Runtime Environment.

Upon launch, the main window shows up, and is initially empty, except for the upper toolbar that holds a few general functions and ways to open or save files. Importing a file can’t be done by dragging it over the main window, so you need to rely on the built-in browse dialog to load the PCL files you need. There are a few samples so you can see how features work.

When a file loads, two sections get filled with corresponding data, one for header info, while the other is the visual representation. Header fields can be modified, while hitting the Apply button generates preview in the dedicated area.

The settings menu lets you customize a few things here and there. Some are dedicated to the process itself, with a drop-down menu letting you select type, writing down missing and pvalues, with more options for string, gene and split index. The preview can also be customized by choosing colors, size, and border specifications.

StepMiner gives you the possibility to put two different processes in motion. One of them is actually StepMiner, while the other GoAnalysis. The difference is that the output file is generated as PCL with the first, while the other puts all data in a HTML file that is easier to analyze.

Research and medical fields require extra attention and accuracy, and this is exactly why specialized application like StepMiner got developed. It’s not meant for everyone, though, with the overall design requiring some accommodation, but once this is taken care of, the amount and type of data that can be analyzed and managed are sure to make this app worth the effort.