How to Upload Alias

This guide explains how to prepare an alias file and upload it to a factor layer in CartoScope.

Concepts

• Alias
• Alias Source

1. Prepare Your Alias File

Alias File Format

• The file must be a tab-separated file (.tsv) with one row per factor.
• It should contains two columns:
  • 1st column (header: either index or name): numeric factor indices.
  • 2nd column (header: alias): aliases names.

Example Alias File

index   alias
1   Tumor
2   Stroma
3   Immune

Prepare Alias File via CartoScope

CartoScope offers a solution to prepare your alias file during exploration.

1. Click "Load Layers" button to load the factor layer you want to annotate.
2. Open the factor drawer to display your target factor layer.
3. Review the Overview table to determine whether existing alias sources (e.g., curated or AI-inferred aliases)) are available.
4. To annotate a factor, double-click the corresponding cell and enter your desired label.
5. Once all annotations are finalized, click the “Alias” button at the top of the Overview table and select “Export alias” to generate and download the .tsv file.

2. Upload Your Alias File via Factor Drawer

Follow the steps below to upload your alias file:

1. Open the Factor Drawer and select the factor layer you want to update.
2. In the factor overview table, click the Alias button and choose Upload Alias option in the dropdown list.
3. In the file picker, select your prepared .tsv file.
4. Now factor drawer will show the uploaded alias:
   • the alias column in the factor table will update
   • related factor views will show the uploaded aliases
   • the alias source will appear as Upload

Tips

• If you want to modify a specific uploaded alias, double-click this alias in the factor drawer to activate the edit mode and then modify it.
• If you want to return to the dataset default aliases, use Reset Alias to switch back to Curated aliases when available.
• If you want to clean the uploaded aliases, use Clear Alias to remove all aliases in the factor drawer.