Missing Events

Do you ever see fewer events in a graph window than you expected? This bug is something we've heard about from customers on and off for a few years, but every time we thought we fixed it, it pops up in a different version later.

the bug is usually manifested as a graph window, or a layout chart, with only a fraction of the events that should be displayed (ex. 10K in the gate, but the plot looks like it has 100 events.)

Because of the sporadic nature of this bug we've been unsuccessful in soliciting a workspace that would help us reproduce it. Many times simply quitting flowjo makes the problem go away.

To help us gather more info about this problem, please answer these questions if you experience this issue:

(1a) What kind of graph shows the lack of events?

(1b) What kind of gates were drawn as parent gates?  (polygon, quad, ellipse, etc. -- give the complete list).

(1c) What kind of data is this? (FCS3, DiVa, etc.)

(2) If you switch graph types, does the lack of event persist?   (e.g., switch from dot plot to pseudocolor plot).

(2a) If it does not persist:

(2a.1) if you switch back to the original type, does it recur?

(2a.2) Next time it occurs, try steps 2b.2, 2b.3, and 2b.4 below and report.

(2b) If it does persist:

(2b.1) Try a histogram -- does the vertical axis indicate very few events?

(2b.2) Keeping the window with few events open, move the parent gate around.  Is the number of events shown appear to be a fraction of  the total in the gate, or is it a constant number? (I.e., if there  are 50 dots, and you move the gate to a sparse location of data,  does it still show about 50 dots, or far fewer?) 

(2b.3) Create a gate on the graph with few events (where there should be many more events), and open the window for that child gate.  Is the number of events in the child window the correct number or too few? 

(2b.4) Save the workspace.  Close the workspace but do not quit  FlowJo.  Re-open it, and double click on the gated subset that  showed too few events.  Does it show the right number?  If not, then try quitting FlowJo and do the same steps.  Does it show the right number?

You can either answer the questions in the "comments" section below, or email us the answers (flowjo at treestar dot com).

Comments

[Laurent Poirot]

bug report of missing events: I followed your suggestions. I'm including my answers below (UPPER CASE):
(1a) What kind of graph shows the lack of events?
PSEUDO COLOR PLOT

(1b) What kind of gates were drawn as parent gates? (polygon, quad, ellipse, etc. -- give the complete list).
POLYGON AND RECTANGLE

1c) What kind of data is this? (FCS3, DiVa, etc.)
DIVA

(2) If you switch graph types, does the lack of event persist? (e.g., switch from dot plot to pseudocolor plot).
YES IT DOES

(2b) If it does persist:

(2b.1) Try a histogram -- does the vertical axis indicate very few events?
YES

(2b.2) Keeping the window with few events open, move the parent gate around. Is the number of events shown appear to be a fraction of the total in the gate, or is it a constant number? (I.e., if there are 50 dots, and you move the gate to a sparse location of data, does it still show about 50 dots, or far fewer?)
FAR FEWER

(2b.3) Create a gate on the graph with few events (where there should be many more events), and open the window for that child gate. Is the number of events in the child window the correct number or too few?
TOO FEW

(2b.4) Save the workspace. Close the workspace but do not quit FlowJo. Re-open it, and double click on the gated subset that showed too few events. Does it show the right number? If not, then try quitting FlowJo and do the same steps. Does it show the right number?
WITHOUT QUITTING FLOWJO, PROBLEM PERSISTS
QUITTING AND REOPENING FLOWJO FIXES THE PROBLEM