This page describes the FreeSurfer Group Descriptor File (FSGDF) Format (Version 1) as of 11/12/02. FSGDF is a way to describe a group of subjects and their accompanying data. This can include class membership and other continuous varibles (eg, age). The FSGDF is used by mris_glm and tksurfer (and will be used by mri_glm, when it exists, and tkmedit). Group desgin matrices can be computed directly from the FSDGDF. The FSGDF format uses tags to identify information. Example of a legal file: ------------------------- cut here ------------------ GroupDescriptorFile 1 Title MyTitle Class Class1 plus blue CLASS Class2 circle green SomeTag Variables Age Weight IQ Input subjid1 Class1 10 100 1000 Input subjid2 Class2 20 200 2000 #Input subjid3 Class2 20 200 2000 DefaultVariable Age ------------------------- cut here ------------------ Notes: 1. The first line must be "GroupDescriptorFile 1". 2. Title is not necessary. This will be used for display. 3. Class only needs the class name, the next two items will be used in the display. 4. The third input is ignored. 5. DefaultVariable is the default variable for display. 6. SomeTag is not a valid tag, so it will be ignored. General Rules: 1. Tags are NOT case sensitive. 2. Labels are case sensitive. 3. When multiple items appear on a line, they can be separated by any white space (ie, blank or tab). 4. Any line where # appears as the first non-white space character is ignored (ie, a comment). 5. The Variables line should appear before the first Input line. 6. All Class lines should appear before the first Input line. 7. Variable label replications are not allowed. 8. Class label replications are not allowed. 9. Subject Id replications are not allowed. 10. If a class label is not used, a warning is printed out. 11. The DefaultVariable must be a member of the Variable list. 12. No error is generated if a tag does not match. 13. Empty lines are OK. 14. A class label can optionally be followed by a class marker. 15. A class marker can optionally be followed by a class color.