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Dear LaserSharp2000 customers,

Please let me describe how the PMF file works and when to safely delete 
it.
In LaserSharp2000 the raw channels are collected as 8 or 16 bit data and 
saved as 8 or 16 bit PIC files. If you create a merge either manually 
using the right click 'new -> merge' function or automatically because you 
have a merge in your method, then this is saved as a 24 bit pmf file. The 
merge is saved separately to minimise processing time when the experiment 
is re-opened at a later date. 

If you save an experiment as 'ExperimentName' then any merged images will 
be saved in sub folders with the following structure:

\Merge Pane\
                ExperimentName_MergeData.pmf (The automatically created 
merge pane image - Large)
                Data.mrg (Details of the merge file - Small)


\Merge\
                ExperimentName_MergeData.pmf (The merge image - Large)
                Data.mrg (Details of the merge operator - Small)

Since the second type called 'merge' is a separate image you can simply 
delete folders called 'Merge' and create them again if you need to. 
The folder called 'Merge pane' is the merge you create automatically which 
opens in the same windows as your raw data. If you delete this folder then 
you will get an error if you try to reopen this experiment in 
LaserSharp2000. Deleting this folder is only suitable for those who 
perform all image processing in other software packages. 

If you have concerns about the size of the PMF file for long term storage 
there is a feature that you should be aware of regarding the 
reconstruction of PMF files from 'Merge Panes' or 'Merge' operators. 
Instead of deleting the whole merge folder, just delete the pmf shown as 
'ExperimentName_MergeData.pmf' above. This will just leave the folder and 
the 1kb Data.mrg file in this structure:

\Merge Pane\
                Data.mrg (Details of the merge file)

Now when you reopen the experiment LaserSharp2000 will use the description 
of the merge in this small Data.mrg file to reconstruct the merge pane 
again. This approach of recreating the pmf file will take longer than 
simply opening an existing pmf file but the resultant image is the same. 
This approach will help reduce the amount of data you need to store long 
term. A word of caution here is that it is only possible to re-create the 
PMF if you can write to the experiment directory. If your data is stored 
in a read only location such as on a CD or a read only area of the network 
please copy the experiment folder to a local hard drive and remove the 
read only attributes before opening the experiment. 

If you delete not only the PMF file but also the Data.mrg then do not 
worry, simply use the import function to get your data into LaserSharp2000 
for additional processing and analysis. 

The functionality that I describe for re-creation of PMF files is only 
fully available from version 5.1 service pack 1 (Build 794, 26 November 
2003) or later. Please contact your local sales or service representative 
for details on how to download the latest version. 

Best Regards
Chris Power
Rainbow and Multi-photon Product Manager
Bio-Rad Cell Science Division