1Choose the source software and evidence.
Each route starts from a documented output of the vendor software. Check the installed version, licensed options and export settings against the linked docs. A listed route is not an acquisition driver or a universal parser.
Molecular Devices SoftMax Pro connection overview →
Text, Excel or XML exports; select raw, reduced or both plate data.
One plate assay with source files and selected sample results linked to the experiment. Create well records only if the workflow needs individual tracking.
Molecular Devices ImageXpress MetaXpress connection overview →
MetaXpress measurement text or Excel exports and separately retained source images.
One sample-well phenotype analysis with selected metrics; keep cell-level tables as files unless individual objects need review.
2Choose raw, reduced or image-derived results deliberately.
SoftMax Pro exports can include raw plate data, reduced results or both. Identify whether the receiving workflow needs the measured signal, a calculated concentration or another evaluated result. Retain the assay definitions and report needed to understand transformations such as blank correction, dilution or a standard-curve calculation.
MetaXpress measurement exports need the analysis settings and image context that produced them. Decide whether the receiving record represents a well summary, a field of view or another observation level supported by the export. Keep images separately identifiable where they are required to review the measured feature or classification.
3Use a shared sample map without flattening the evidence.
Resolve the plate first, then the well and sample assignment. The same well address can recur across plates and experiments. Preserve controls, standards and replicate relationships rather than importing every row as an unrelated sample. If a plate layout was revised, retain the version used for the analysis.
Keep channel, time-point and feature dimensions where they are part of the measurement. A plate-reader kinetic trace is not a single endpoint, and an image-derived cell feature is not automatically comparable with an assay concentration. The sample reference joins the workflows while the result records preserve their method-specific meaning.
4Check result exclusions and analytical revisions.
An excluded replicate or rejected image field should remain visible in the interpretation of a summary. Choose destination fields that can preserve reported qualifiers and missing-data states. Avoid converting an unavailable result into zero merely to make a numeric field accept the import.
Reanalysis can change reduced plate results or image-derived measurements without changing the original acquisition. Test how the Script identifies a revised result and preserves the earlier evidence. Confirm the mapping again when the assay template, image-analysis settings or export layout changes.
5Example: relate a plate assay to imaging observations
The joined record supports a comparison without implying that the two analyses measure the same property.
- Plate and samples
- Preserve the plate identity, well assignments and relevant layout revision.
- Plate assay
- Link the SoftMax Pro source data and the selected raw or reduced result.
- Imaging
- Link the MetaXpress measurement, analysis context and supporting image evidence.
Use these relationships as a mapping example for your own templates. The receiving fields and record grain are configured through Seal Scripts and APIs.
6Configure the collection and mapping for your site.
For local exports, use a completed-file handoff on the instrument workstation or another approved site computer. Seal IoT collects the file and uploads it to the chosen Seal destination over outbound HTTPS. Keep source files until delivery and mapping have been verified.
A Seal Script can validate the expected layout, resolve source identities and write selected typed fields. Keep the original export as File content. Acquisition and vendor analysis remain in the source application; Seal collects the completed results and does not send instructions to the instrument.
Follow the on-site equipment setup instructions, then use the source-specific guide above to test the actual export and mapping. For a result exchange with an existing LIMS, also define that system’s supported receiving operation and sample identifiers.
7Test the configured workflow with known evidence.
- Use a plate with standards, controls and a known sample to verify well and result assignments.
- Compare a reduced result with its underlying data and a selected image feature with its source analysis.
- Test an excluded replicate and a revised analysis so neither is mistaken for an ordinary new measurement.
Keep the test outcome with the configuration and repeat the relevant checks when software, reports, analysis settings or destination fields change.
Discuss your Molecular Devices workflow with a representative export, the installed software version and the records you want to connect.