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Write aniframe data to inTRACKtive CSV format

Source: R/write_intracktive.R
write_intracktive.Rd

Converts an aniframe to the CSV format required by inTRACKtive for browser-based interactive visualization of tracking data. The function creates unique integer track identifiers from combinations of grouping columns present in the data.

Usage

write_intracktive(data, filename, quiet = FALSE)

Arguments

data

An aniframe containing tracking data with required columns time, x, and y. Optional columns include z for 3D data and grouping columns (session, trial, model, individual, keypoint).

filename

File path to write the CSV.

quiet

Suppress messages. TRUE/FALSE. Defaults to FALSE.

Value

Returns the input data unchanged.

Details

inTRACKtive requires tracking data with a unique integer track_id for each tracked object. This function automatically generates track IDs from any combination of aniframe grouping columns that are present in the data.

The output format includes:

  • track_id: Integer identifier for each unique track

  • t: Time values (renamed from time)

  • x, y: Spatial coordinates

  • z: Optional third dimension if present

The resulting CSV can be converted to inTRACKtive's Zarr format using their command-line tools or Python package.

References

Huijben, T.A.P.M., Anderson, A.G., Sweet, A. et al. (2025). inTRACKtive: a web-based tool for interactive cell tracking visualization. Nature Methods.

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# Write aniframe to inTRACKtive CSV
write_intracktive(my_data, "tracks.csv")

# Get formatted data without writing
formatted <- write_intracktive(my_data)
} # }