6.3.2.2. unstarch

With high-throughput sequencing generating large amounts of genomic data, archiving can be a critical part of an analysis toolkit. BEDOPS includes the unstarch utility to recover original BED input and whole-file or per-chromosome data attributes from archives created with starch (these can be v1.x or v2.x archives).

The unstarch utility includes large file support on 64-bit operating systems, enabling extraction of more than 2 GB of data (a common restriction on 32-bit systems).

Starch data can be stored with one of two open-source backend compression methods, either bzip2 or gzip. The unstarch utility will transparently extract data, without the end user needing to specify the backend type.

6.3.2.2.1. Inputs and outputs

6.3.2.2.1.1. Input

The unstarch utility takes in a Starch v1.x or v2.x archive as input.

6.3.2.2.1.2. Output

The typical output of unstarch is sorted BED data, which is sent to standard output.

Specifying certain options will instead send archive metadata to standard output, either in text or JSON format, or export whole-file or per-chromosome attributes (also to standard output).

6.3.2.2.2. Requirements

The metadata of a Starch v2.x archive must pass an integrity check before unstarch can extract data. Any manual changes to the metadata will cause extraction to fail.

6.3.2.2.3. Usage

Use the --help option to list all options:

unstarch
 citation: http://bioinformatics.oxfordjournals.org/content/28/14/1919.abstract
 binary version: 2.4.41 (typical) (extracts archive version: 2.2.0 or older)
 authors: Alex Reynolds and Shane Neph

USAGE: unstarch [ <chromosome> ]  [ --elements |
                                    --elements-max-string-length |
                                    --bases | --bases-uniq |
                                    --has-duplicates | --has-nested | --list |
                                    --list-json | --list-chromosomes |
                                    --archive-timestamp | --note |
                                    --archive-version | --is-starch |
                                    --signature | --verify-signature ]
                                    <starch-file>

    Modifiers
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    <chromosome>                     Optional. Either unarchives chromosome-
                                     specific records from the starch archive
                                     file or restricts action of operator to
                                     chromosome (e.g., chr1, chrY, etc.).

    Process Flags
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    --elements                       Show total element count for archive. If
                                     <chromosome> is specified, the result
                                     shows the element count for the
                                     chromosome.

    --elements-max-string-length     Show the maximum string length over all
                                     elements in <chromosome>, if specified.
                                     If <chromosome> is not specified, the
                                     maximum string length is shown over all
                                     chromosomes.

    --bases,
    --bases-uniq                     Show total and unique base counts,
                                     respectively, for archive. If
                                     <chromosome> is specified, the count is
                                     specific to the chromosome, if available.

    --has-duplicate-as-string,
    --has-duplicate                  Show whether there is one or more
                                     duplicate elements in the specified
                                     chromosome, either as a numerical (1/0)
                                     or string (true/false) value. If no
                                     <chromosome> is specified, the value
                                     given indicates if there is one or more
                                     duplicate elements across all chromosome
                                     records.

    --has-nested-as-string,
    --has-nested                     Show whether there is one ore more nested
                                     elements in the specified chromosome,
                                     either as a numerical (1/0) or string
                                     (true/false) value. If no <chromosome> is
                                     specified, the value given indicates if
                                     there is one or more nested elements
                                     across all chromosome records.

    --list                           List archive metadata (output is in text
                                     format). If chromosome is specified, the
                                     attributes of the given chromosome are
                                     shown.

    --list-json,
    --list-json-no-trailing-newline  List archive metadata (output is in JSON
                                     format)

    --list-chr,
    --list-chromosomes               List all or specified chromosome in
                                     starch archive (like "bedextract --list-
                                     chr"). If <chromosome> is specified but
                                     is not in the output list, nothing is
                                     returned.

    --note                           Show descriptive note, if available.

    --signature                      Display the Base64-encoded SHA-1 data
                                     integrity signature for specified
                                     <chromosome>, or the signatures of the
                                     metadata and all available chromosomes,
                                     if the <chromosome> is unspecified.

    --verify-signature               Verify data integrity of specified
                                     <chromosome>, or the integrity of all
                                     available chromosomes, if the
                                     <chromosome> is unspecified.

    --archive-timestamp              Show archive creation timestamp (ISO 8601
                                     format).

    --archive-type                   Show archive compression type.

    --archive-version                Show archive version.

    --is-starch                      Test if <starch-file> is a valid archive
                                     and print 0/1 (false/true) to standard
                                     output. Unstarch will also return a non-
                                     zero error code if the input file is not
                                     a valid archive.

    --version                        Show binary version.

    --help                           Show this usage message.

6.3.2.2.3.1. Extraction

Specify a specific chromosome to extract data only from that chromosome. This is optional; if a chromosome is not specified, data are extracted from all chromosomes in the archive.

$ unstarch chr12 example.starch
...

6.3.2.2.3.2. Archive attributes

Archive attributes are described in greater depth in the Starch specification page. We provide an overview here of the major points.

6.3.2.2.3.2.1. Metadata

Use the --list-json or --list options to export the archive metadata as a JSON- or table-formatted text string, sent to standard output:

$ unstarch --list-json example.starch
{
  "archive": {
    "type": "starch",
    "customUCSCHeaders": false,
    "creationTimestamp": "2014-05-01T14:09:29-0700",
    "version": {
      "major": 2,
      "minor": 2,
      "revision": 0
    },
    "compressionFormat": 0
  },
  "streams": [
    {
      "chromosome": "chr1",
      "filename": "chr1.pid31740.fiddlehead.regulomecorp.com",
      "size": "88330",
      "uncompressedLineCount": 10753,
      "nonUniqueBaseCount": 549829,
      "uniqueBaseCount": 548452,
      "duplicateElementExists": false,
      "nestedElementExists": false,
      "signature": "XtnjojM1LyuMnZI4CIneSzgLI5Q="
      "uncompressedLineMaxStringLength": 371
    },
    ...
  ]
}

The --list-chr (or --list-chromosomes) option exports a list of chromosomes stored in the Starch archive.

6.3.2.2.3.2.2. Note

Using --note will export any note stored with the archive, when created.

Tip

One can use starchcat to add a new note to an existing Starch archive.

6.3.2.2.3.2.3. Timestamp

The --archive-timestamp option will report the archive’s creation date and time as an ISO 8601 -formatted string.

6.3.2.2.3.2.4. Compression type

The --archive-type option will report the compression type of the archive, either bzip2 or gzip:

$ unstarch --archive-type example.starch
unstarch
 archive compression type: bzip2

6.3.2.2.3.2.5. Version

The --version option reports the Starch archive version. This value is different from the version of the starch binary used to create the archive.

6.3.2.2.3.3. Whole-file or per-chromosome attributes

6.3.2.2.3.3.1. Data integrity

For a specified chromosome, the --signature operator reports the very nearly unique “signature” or message digest generated from hashing the extracted, post-transform bytes within the chromosome stream with the SHA-1 hash function, followed with an encoding step with the Base64 scheme to turn it into a human-readable string.

If no chromosome is specified, this operator reports the encoded SHA-1 digests of the archive metadata and the signatures of each chromosome stream.

Signatures can be used to compare chromosome streams between two or more archives.

Further, use of the --verify-signature option with a chromosome name will compare the signature stored in the metadata (the “expected” signature) with an “observed” value generated from extracting the bytes of the chromosome record and hashing them, and then Base64-encoding the result.

If the observed and expected signatures or digests are identical, this validates or verifies the integrity of the chromosome record. A mismatch would result in a non-zero exit state and suggest potential data corruption and the need for further investigation.

6.3.2.2.3.3.2. Elements

The --elements operator reports the number of BED elements that were compressed into the chromosome stream, if specified. If no chromosome is specified, the sum of elements over all chromosomes is reported.

Tip

This option is equivalent to a wc -l (line count) operation performed on BED elements that match the given chromosome, but is much, much faster as data are precomputed and stored with the archive, retrieved from the metadata in O(1) time.

The --elements-max-string-length operator reports the maximum string length of BED elements over the specified chromosome, or the maximum string length over all chromosomes, if no chromosome name is specified.

6.3.2.2.3.3.3. Bases

The --bases and --bases-uniq flags return the overall and unique base counts for a specified chromosome, or the sum of counts over all chromosomes, if no one chromosome is specified.

6.3.2.2.3.3.4. Duplicate element(s)

The --has-duplicate operator reports whether the chromosome stream contains one or more duplicate elements, printing a 0 if the chromosome does not contain a duplicate element, and a 1 if the chromosome does contain a duplicate.

Note

A duplicate element exists if there are two or more BED elements where the chromosome name and start and stop positions are identical. Id, score, strand and any other optional columns are ignored when determining if a duplicate element is present.

Tip

To get a string value of true or false in place of 1 and 0, use the --has-duplicate-as-string operator, instead.

Note

If the chromosome name argument to unstarch is omitted, or set to all, the --has-duplicate and --has-duplicate-as-string operators will return a result for all chromosomes (if any one chromosome has one or more duplicate elements, the return value is 1 or true, respectively). If the chromosome name is provided and the archive does not contain metadata for the given chromosome, these operators will return a 0 or false result.

6.3.2.2.3.3.5. Nested element(s)

The --has-nested operator reports whether the chromosome stream contains one or more nested elements, printing a 0 if the chromosome does not contain a nested element, and a 1 if the chromosome does contain a nested element.

Note

The definition of a nested element relies on coordinates and is explained in the documentation for nested elements. Id, score, strand and any other optional columns are ignored when determining if a nested element is present.

Tip

To get a string value of true or false in place of 1 and 0, use the --has-nested-as-string operator, instead.

Note

If the chromosome name argument to unstarch is omitted, or set to all, the --has-nested and --has-nested-as-string operators will return a result for all chromosomes (if any one chromosome has one or more nested elements, the return value is 1 or true, respectively). If the chromosome name is provided and the archive does not contain metadata for the given chromosome, these operators will return a 0 or false result.

6.3.2.2.4. Example

To extract a generic Starch file input to a BED file:

$ unstarch example.starch > example.bed

This creates the sorted file example.bed, containing BED data from extracting example.starch. This can be a bzip2 or gzip -formatted Starch archive—unstarch knows how to extract either type transparently.

To list the chromosomes in a Starch v2 archive, use the --list-chr (or --list-chromosomes) option:

$ unstarch --list-chr example.starch
chr1
chr10
chr11
chr11_gl000202_random
chr12
chr13
chr14
chr15
chr16
chr17
...

To show the number of BED elements in chromosome chr13, use the --elements operator:

$ unstarch chr13 --elements example.starch
10753

To find the number of unique bases in chromosome chr8:

$ unstarch chr8 --bases-uniq example.starch
545822

To report if the chromosome chr14 contains at least one duplicate BED element:

$ unstarch chr14 --has-duplicate-as-string example.starch
true

To show when the archive was created:

$ unstarch --archive-timestamp example.starch
2014-05-01T14:09:29-0700

To get the SHA-1 message digest, or “signature” of chromosome chr8, use the --signature operator:

$ unstarch chr8 --signature example.starch
nZI4CIneSzgLI5QXtnjojM1LyuM=

The signature is written to the standard output stream.

To verify the data integrity of the same chromosome, use --verify-signature:

$ unstarch chr8 --verify-signature example.starch
PROGRESS: Expected and observed data integrity signatures match for chromosome [chr8]

Any output from --verify-signature is written to the standard error stream.

Note

Some option calls will not work with legacy v1.x or v2.0 archives. For instance, to get a result for nested or duplicate elements, you need to input a v2.1 (or greater) archive. If you have a v1.x or v2.0 archive, use the starchcat utility to upgrade an older archive to a Starch v2.2 file, which will recalculate the metadata and make all current attributes available.