UCSC browser track description can't be updated

Question

[Sperber]

Hi,

After uploading a custom track to the UCSC browser, you can update the track line: change the track's color, edit its name, etc.

track type=bedGraph name=sample_name desc=sample_description visibility=2 maxHeightPixels=50:30:11 color=50,50,180 alwaysZero=on

However, when I try to edit the description field (which then appears like a title above the track in the browser), it won't change from whatever it was when the custom track was uploaded.

I also tried removing the field completely but the description still doesn't change... Does anyone know how to go around this?

Thanks!

[GenoMax]

Have you tried putting "around text in description" field?

[Sperber]

Yes, but sadly no luck.

[GenoMax]

You may need to reupload edited version then?

[Sperber]

That's my solution for now :) but if you want to change the description of multiple large tracks, reuploading them all takes a long time

[GenoMax]

UCSC support stops by here every so often and may provide an authoritative answer. I will add ucsc related tags to the original post so they notice it.

Answer 1

[Luis Nassar]

Hello,

The problem seems to be the passed attribute "desc".

You can update the description of the custom track by using the "description" track line attribute. The attribute is case-sensitive and any misspellings will cause the attribute to be ignored by the Genome Browser. You can learn more about the available track attributes by viewing the custom track help page, http://genome.ucsc.edu/goldenPath/help/customTrack.html#TRACK. The following custom track line will solve your issues:

track type=bedGraph name=sample_name description=sample_description visibility=2 maxHeightPixels=50:30:11 color=50,50,180 alwaysZero=on

If you would like to add spaces to any of the track attributes, you can surround the value with quotes:

description="Sample description with spaces"

If you have any further questions we can always be reached by emailing [e-mail]. As genomax says, we periodically check biostars in which case the ucsc tag helps ensure visibility.

Lou
UCSC Genome Browser