multiqc-pivot

A MultiQC plugin that folds related samples into one General Statistics row per group.

Installation

pip install multiqc-pivot

Introduction

MultiQC gives every sample its own row. When one subject yields several samples that are measured by different methods, say a tumour and a normal, or two tissues and a paired-genotype check, the General Statistics table ends up with a block of half-empty rows per subject. MultiQC's own sample grouping only fills the group's row for the handful of modules that know how to merge their metrics.

This plugin runs after every module has reported and rebuilds the table:

1. Rows for one group fold into a single row, and every folded column is prefixed by which method it came from.
2. The original rows stay beneath the group row, so they still can be viewed.
3. Rows for a level that does not belong in the table, such as per-library read QC, move out into their own table under General Statistics with whatever grouping they already had.
4. Hover text, color scales, formats and hidden-by-default state carry over from the module that produced each column.

Usage

Add a sample_pivot block to any MultiQC config, for example with --config my_config.yml.

So, with these sample names:

101.subject
101.tissueA
101.tissueB
101.tissueB (filtered data, though)
101.tissueA.library.L1
101.tissueA.library.L2

This configuration produces one row named 101 carrying Concordance, TissueA Median, TissueB Median, TissueB (filtered) % Aligned and so on, and moves the library rows into a separate table:

sample_pivot:
  group: '^(?P<group>[^. ]+)\.'
  levels:
    - match: '\.subject$'
    - match: '\.(?P<analyte>tissueA|tissueB)$'
      label: '{analyte}'
    - match: '\.(?P<analyte>tissueA|tissueB) \(filtered\)$'
      label: '{analyte} (filtered)'
    - match: '\.library\.'
      table: Library statistics
  label_order: [tissueA, tissueB, tissueB (filtered)]
  tables:
    Library statistics:
      description: Per-library read QC; read pairs nest under their library.

And your report will look like:

YAML Configuration Reference

[!TIP] A sample that matches no level is left where it was. A sample that matches a level but not group is left alone as well, with a warning in the log. Columns that a module did not declare a header for are dropped from folded rows, as MultiQC would have dropped them anyway.

Limitations

1. Sample names are matched after MultiQC has cleaned them, so you must write patterns against the names you see in an un-pivoted report.
2. Only one level of nesting exists in a MultiQC table. Rows moved into a secondary table keep the nesting they already had; rows folded into a group row become its children, and cannot nest further.
3. Two rows in the same group that resolve to the same label collide. The first value is kept and a warning is logged, so make labels specific enough to tell such rows apart.

Development and Testing

See the contributing guide for more information.