How can I join together the output from a series of ASReml runs?

Question

I am running a series of models which differ only with respect to which Marker is included. How can I get the output from this series into a single file?

Answer

You need to use the !CYCLE command with the !JOIN qualifier to concatenate the output.

In ASReml 2 the job might look like 
 Marker scan
   wt
   Marker1 Marker2 Marker3 Marker4 Marker5 Marker6 Marker7 Marker8
 Marker.dat        !SLNFORM -1 !YHTFORM -1
 !CYCLE  Marker1 Marker2 Marker3  Marker4 Marker5 Marker6 Marker7 Marker8 !JOIN
 wt ~ mu $I
The SLNFORM and !YHTFORM show how you can reduce the output produced.

In ASReml 3, this has been streamlined a little so you could write 
 Marker scan
   wt
   Marker1 Marker2 Marker3 Marker4 Marker5 Marker6 Marker7 Marker8
 Marker.dat        !SLNFORM -1 !YHTFORM -1
 !CYCLE  1:8
 wt ~ mu Marker$I

Larger problems

If you had a large number of markers, the job would run faster in ASReml 3 if the markers were written to separate files, so that you did not need to read all the marker information just to use one marker, and using the new !MBF qualifiers.

1 November 2008

See Also