thank you for the immediate response which
demonstrates the high general concern about this
important issue.
Reassessment of the FCS3.0 format should primarily
focus on:
1. facilitation of contacts with the *external* world
(e.g. conformity to regulatory issues, unambiguous
interface for sample information, parameters
designations, scales and data, international character
coding, contact with data management systems etc)
2. de-complication of the *internal* world of this file standard
to make it as robust as e.g. GIF, JPEG or MPEG image
file standards.
The definition of the "external world" requirement
may need a consensus prior to the technical implementation
phase. The *electronic* development of such a consensus
could be a nice task for the ISAC on-line discussion forum !
Best regards
G.Valet
E-mail: valet@biochem.mpg.de
Internet: http://www.biochem.mpg.de/valet/cellbio.html