Creating Programs
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In addition to the speed with which they can be entered, another benefit of graphical
programs is that they can be quickly edited. This can be particularly useful if you tend
to repeatedly run the same general protocol with limited changes (e.g., varying
annealing temperatures).
Advanced Programs
Advanced programs offer all of the Tetrad 2 programming features with the excep-
tion of the graphical programming interface. Creating an advanced program is
desirable if you wish to enter a program that:
•
Contains many steps.
•
Contains temperature or gradient steps with modifying instructions (i.e., increment
temp, extend time, slow ramp, beep).
•
Contains multiple goto steps.
•
Contains a temperature incubation in the range of –1°C to –5°C.
•
Contains an incubation lasting between 1 hour 40 minutes and 18 hours (incubation
times shorter than 1 hour 40 minutes and forever incubations are also allowed.)
While all graphical programs can be opened and edited in advanced mode, only a
subset of advanced programs can be opened and edited in basic mode. Advanced
programs that meet the criteria outlined above for graphical programs can be opened
in basic mode (see “Opening a Program” in Chapter 6 for more information).
Designing a New Program
The first step in designing any program is the translation of your experimental
protocol into Tetrad 2 program steps. We suggest writing all steps until you are rea-
sonably comfortable with Tetrad 2 programming.
For purposes of this explanation, we will be working with a cycle sequencing
example. First, we will write down the raw steps, then make some modifications with
the parameters that were described in a previous section (“The Elements of a
Program”) and then determine what our final program should be. The actual
implementation and entering of program steps will be covered in a later section.
Note:
You will soon become familiar with Tetrad 2 program design and be able to
enter steps directly from experimental protocols. However, we strongly suggest
following these steps the first few times through, as they will probably save trou-
bleshooting time later.
