ABOUT METADATA FOR DATASETS

Overview

Metadata is data that describes other data. Metadata consists of properties, which describe each dataset’s entities, and their values.

  • Entities are particular resources with UUIDs, such as files, cases, samples, and cell lines. These can be the subject of your query.
  • Properties can either describe an entity or relate that entity to another entity. For instance, properties include an entity's vital status, gender, data format, or experimental strategy.

For instance, the property hasAgeAtDiagnosis with a value of 11 is metadata for the Case entity of the TCGA dataset.

Using metadata

You can use metadata on the CGC to browse and query datasets. Learn more about methods to query datasets based on their metadata.

Resources