Quadrants in FCS Express versions 7.20 / 7.24 and later
Background:
In FCS Express version 7.20.0020 and later, the distinction between quadrants (quads) and gates has been removed with gates automatically being created for quads when quads are inserted on a plot. The change has been made in an effort to modernize the FCS Express infrastructure, where for historical reasons, quads and gates were treated separately and quads had to be converted before using them in the same way as traditional gates.
When quads and gates are treated separately, there is a higher potential for issues or bugs to arise that would need to be addressed at more length, requiring delayed releases, and other production slow downs, than if both were treated in the same way. De Novo Software is committed to providing our customers a modern product with new features and issue fixes as quickly as possible.
Additionally, when quadrants and gates are handled differently, there is a potential for small statistical discrepancies to occur when events fall “on the line” of a gate or quadrant even though these differences may be statistically insignificant for the majority of users. In modern data analysis where every event needs to be counted, moving to a single method for defining a gate is beneficial for all customers and allows De Novo Software to deliver a better product that is built for the future.
What option should I choose?
FCS Express 7.24 introduces a Quadrant Options selection dialog to help you migrate older layouts to use the new quadrants as gates functionality.
The team at De Novo Software knows change can be hard, and having guided options to help you implement the new functionality for older layouts will be useful. In FCS Express version 7.24, you will be prompted with the Quadrant Options dialog when opening layouts created in version 7.18 and earlier.
These options are summarized in the sections below with links to full details on each option. One of the options must be selected.
- Initialize Quadrant Options with New Defaults
- Initialize Quadrants Options to behave more like previous versions of FCS Express
- View Current Options or Customize
Initialize Quadrant Options with New Defaults - recommended if:
- You prefer to use quadrants as gates (the new functionality).
- You were frequently converting quadrants to gates in the past.
Initialize Quadrants Options to behave more like previous versions of FCS Express - recommended if:
- You prefer to continue using your layouts in the same manner that you have in the past.
- You have many plots with quadrants that are used only as a reference or to generate statistics.
- It is likely that you may change the gate applied to one or more plots with quadrants when analyzing data.
- It is likely that you may change the x or y axis on plots with quadrants when analyzing data.
If you're not sure which option to choose, you may test each one. For example, open the layout with the first option and see how the layout behaves. Then close the layout without saving (or save with a new name) and open the original layout using the other option. Do not save over the existing layout until you are sure that you have picked the preferred option.
The choice you make in the dialog will be used to set the User Options. Any choices you make in this dialog, even if you select "Do not show again", can be updated in the future in the File > Options dialog.
With the Initialize Quadrants Options with New Defaults option set, quadrants will behave and appear in hierarchies and dialogs as you may have used gates previously. Learn more about this option in our article on Setting quadrants to behave like conventional gates.
