Working with AltAnalyze Offline

If your computer is a non-networked machine, you typically will be able to run AltAnalyze fine as long as the initial components have been downloaded or installed from disk (e.g., USB drive). All needed files can be directly downloaded from within AltAnalyze and since AltAnalyze is not installed on a machine (just extracted from a compressed file), you can download any necessary components on a machine connected to the internet and then copy over the program directory to an offline machine, this folder will contain all necessary components. Necessary downloads are:

  1. AltAnalyze program

  2. Species specific gene databases

  3. For Affymetrix CEL file studies: Affymetrix library files (required) and annotation files (optional) for Affymetrix CEL file analyses

Installing Species Gene Databases

When starting AltAnalyze for the first time you will be prompted to download databases. If no internet connection is available, download and re-extract AltAnalyze to a networked computer. Download the appropriate species gene database(s) and quit AltAnalyze.

Installing Affymetrix Library and Annotation Files

If you will be analyzing Affymetrix CEL files, follow the tutorial directions for downloading an Affymetrix array library and annotation files on a networked machine. This will require you to a have a folder with at least one file in it with the extension ".CEL" (can be a real or fake CEL file), since lbrary and annotation files are downloaded after the CEL file sumarization window. Once downloaded you can quit AltAnalyze.

Moving Installed Files to an Offline Machine

Once the necessary components are installed, simply copy of the AltAnalyze program folder back to your offline machine. For example, you can copy the folder named "AltAnalyze_v1release" to a flash drive or to a CD and then copy this directory to your offline machine.