applyProcessing {Spectra} | R Documentation

## The Spectra class to manage and access MS data

### Description

The `Spectra` class encapsules spectral mass spectrometry data and related metadata.

It supports multiple data backends, e.g. in-memory (`MsBackendDataFrame()`), on-disk as mzML (`MsBackendMzR()`) or HDF5 (`MsBackendHdf5Peaks()`).

### Usage

    applyProcessing(object, f = dataStorage(object), BPPARAM = bpparam(), ...)

    concatenateSpectra(x, ...)

    combineSpectra(
      x,
      f = x$dataStorage,
      p = x$dataStorage,
      FUN = combinePeaks,
      ...,
      BPPARAM = bpparam()
    )

    joinSpectraData(x, y, by.x = "spectrumId", by.y, suffix.y = ".y")

    processingLog(x)

    ## S4 method for signature 'missing'
    Spectra(
      object,
      processingQueue = list(),
      metadata = list(),
      ...,
      backend = MsBackendDataFrame(),
      BPPARAM = bpparam()
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'MsBackend'
    Spectra(
      object,
      processingQueue = list(),
      metadata = list(),
      ...,
      BPPARAM = bpparam()
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'character'
    Spectra(
      object,
      processingQueue = list(),
      metadata = list(),
      source = MsBackendMzR(),
      backend = source,
      ...,
      BPPARAM = bpparam()
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'ANY'
    Spectra(
      object,
      processingQueue = list(),
      metadata = list(),
      source = MsBackendDataFrame(),
      backend = source,
      ...,
      BPPARAM = bpparam()
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra,MsBackend'
    setBackend(object, backend, f = dataStorage(object), ..., BPPARAM = bpparam())

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    c(x, ...)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra,ANY'
    split(x, f, drop = FALSE, ...)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    export(object, backend, ...)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    acquisitionNum(object)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    peaksData(object, ...)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    centroided(object)

    ## S4 replacement method for signature 'Spectra'
    centroided(object) <- value

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    collisionEnergy(object)

    ## S4 replacement method for signature 'Spectra'
    collisionEnergy(object) <- value

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    dataOrigin(object)

    ## S4 replacement method for signature 'Spectra'
    dataOrigin(object) <- value

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    dataStorage(object)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    dropNaSpectraVariables(object)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    intensity(object, ...)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    ionCount(object)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    isCentroided(object, ...)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    isEmpty(x)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    isolationWindowLowerMz(object)

    ## S4 replacement method for signature 'Spectra'
    isolationWindowLowerMz(object) <- value

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    isolationWindowTargetMz(object)

    ## S4 replacement method for signature 'Spectra'
    isolationWindowTargetMz(object) <- value

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    isolationWindowUpperMz(object)

    ## S4 replacement method for signature 'Spectra'
    isolationWindowUpperMz(object) <- value

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    containsMz(
      object,
      mz = numeric(),
      tolerance = 0,
      ppm = 20,
      which = c("any", "all"),
      BPPARAM = bpparam()
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    containsNeutralLoss(
      object,
      neutralLoss = 0,
      tolerance = 0,
      ppm = 20,
      BPPARAM = bpparam()
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    spectrapply(
      object,
      FUN,
      f = as.factor(seq_along(object)),
      ...,
      BPPARAM = SerialParam()
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    length(x)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    msLevel(object)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    mz(object, ...)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    lengths(x, use.names = FALSE)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    polarity(object)

    ## S4 replacement method for signature 'Spectra'
    polarity(object) <- value

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    precScanNum(object)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    precursorCharge(object)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    precursorIntensity(object)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    precursorMz(object)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    rtime(object)

    ## S4 replacement method for signature 'Spectra'
    rtime(object) <- value

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    scanIndex(object)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    selectSpectraVariables(object, spectraVariables = spectraVariables(object))

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    smoothed(object)

    ## S4 replacement method for signature 'Spectra'
    smoothed(object) <- value

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    spectraData(object, columns = spectraVariables(object))

    ## S4 replacement method for signature 'Spectra'
    spectraData(object) <- value

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    spectraNames(object)

    ## S4 replacement method for signature 'Spectra'
    spectraNames(object) <- value

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    spectraVariables(object)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    tic(object, initial = TRUE)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    x$name

    ## S4 replacement method for signature 'Spectra'
    x$name <- value

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    x[[i, j, ...]]

    ## S4 replacement method for signature 'Spectra'
    x[[i, j, ...]] <- value

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    x[i, j, ..., drop = FALSE]

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterAcquisitionNum(
      object,
      n = integer(),
      dataStorage = character(),
      dataOrigin = character()
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterEmptySpectra(object)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterDataOrigin(object, dataOrigin = character())

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterDataStorage(object, dataStorage = character())

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterIntensity(
      object,
      intensity = c(0, Inf),
      msLevel. = unique(msLevel(object)),
      ...
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterIsolationWindow(object, mz = numeric())

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterMsLevel(object, msLevel. = integer())

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterMzRange(object, mz = numeric(), msLevel. = unique(msLevel(object)))

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterMzValues(
      object,
      mz = numeric(),
      tolerance = 0,
      ppm = 20,
      msLevel. = unique(msLevel(object))
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterPolarity(object, polarity = integer())

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterPrecursorMz(object, mz = numeric())

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterPrecursorCharge(object, z = integer())

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterPrecursorScan(object, acquisitionNum = integer())

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    filterRt(object, rt = numeric(), msLevel. = unique(msLevel(object)))

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    reset(object, ...)

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    bin(x, binSize = 1L, breaks = NULL, msLevel. = unique(msLevel(x)))

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra,Spectra'
    compareSpectra(
      x,
      y,
      MAPFUN = joinPeaks,
      tolerance = 0,
      ppm = 20,
      FUN = ndotproduct,
      ...,
      SIMPLIFY = TRUE
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra,missing'
    compareSpectra(
      x,
      y = NULL,
      MAPFUN = joinPeaks,
      tolerance = 0,
      ppm = 20,
      FUN = ndotproduct,
      ...,
      SIMPLIFY = TRUE
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    pickPeaks(
      object,
      halfWindowSize = 2L,
      method = c("MAD", "SuperSmoother"),
      snr = 0,
      k = 0L,
      descending = FALSE,
      threshold = 0,
      msLevel. = unique(msLevel(object)),
      ...
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    replaceIntensitiesBelow(
      object,
      threshold = min,
      value = 0,
      msLevel. = unique(msLevel(object))
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    smooth(
      x,
      halfWindowSize = 2L,
      method = c("MovingAverage", "WeightedMovingAverage", "SavitzkyGolay"),
      msLevel. = unique(msLevel(x)),
      ...
    )

    ## S4 method for signature 'Spectra'
    addProcessing(object, FUN, ..., spectraVariables = character())

### Arguments

`object` | For `Spectra`: either a `DataFrame` or `missing`. See section on creation of `Spectra` objects for details. For all other methods a `Spectra` object.
`f` | For `split`: factor defining how to split `x`. See `base::split()` for details. For `setBackend`: factor defining how to split the data for parallelized copying of the spectra data to the new backend. For some backends changing this parameter can lead to errors. For `combineSpectra`: `factor` defining the grouping of the spectra that should be combined. For `spectrapply`: `factor` how `object` should be splitted.
`BPPARAM` | Parallel setup configuration. See `bpparam()` for more information. This is passed directly to the `backendInitialize()` method of the MsBackend.
`...` | Additional arguments.
`x` | A `Spectra` object.
`p` | For `combineSpectra`: `factor` defining how to split the input `Spectra` for parallel processing. Defaults to `x$dataStorage`, i.e., depending on the used backend, per-file parallel processing will be performed.
`FUN` | For `addProcessing`: function to be applied to the peak matrix of each spectrum in `object`. For `compareSpectra`: function to compare intensities of peaks between two spectra with each other. For `combineSpectra`: function to combine the (peak matrices) of the spectra. See section Data manipulations and examples below for more details.
`y` | A `Spectra` object. A `DataFrame` for `joinSpectraData()`.
`by.x` | A `character(1)` specifying the spectra variable used for merging. Default is `"spectrumId"`.
`by.y` | A `character(1)` specifying the column used for merging. Set to `by.x` if missing.
`suffix.y` | A `character(1)` specifying the suffix to be used for making the names of columns in the merged spectra variables unique. This suffix will be used to amend `names(y)`, while `spectraVariables(x)` will remain unchanged.
`processingQueue` | For `Spectra`: optional `list` of ProcessingStep objects.
`metadata` | For `Spectra`: optional `list` with metadata information.
`backend` | For `Spectra`: MsBackend to be used as backend. See section on creation of `Spectra` objects for details. For `setBackend`: instance of MsBackend. See section on creation of `Spectra` objects for details. For `export`: MsBackend to be used to export the data.
`source` | For `Spectra`: instance of MsBackend that can be used to import spectrum data from the provided files. See section Creation of objects, conversion and changing the backend for more details.
`drop` | For `[`, `split`: not considered.
`value` | replacement value for `<-` methods. See individual method description or expected data type.
`mz` | For `filterIsolationWindow`: `numeric(1)` with the m/z value to filter the object. For `filterPrecursorMz` and `filterMzRange`: `numeric(2)` defining the lower and upper m/z boundary. For `filterMzValues`: `numeric` with the m/z values to match peaks against.
`tolerance` | For `compareSpectra`, `containsMz`: `numeric(1)` allowing to define a constant maximal accepted difference between m/z values for peaks to be matched. For `containsMz` and `filterMzValues` it can also be of length equal `mz` to specify a different tolerance for each m/z value.
`ppm` | For `compareSpectra`, `containsMz`, `filterMzValues`: `numeric(1)` defining a relative, m/z-dependent, maximal accepted difference between m/z values for peaks to be matched.
`which` | for `containsMz`: either `"any"` or `"all"` defining whether any (the default) or all provided `mz` have to be present in the spectrum.
`neutralLoss` | for `containsNeutralLoss`: `numeric(1)` defining the value which should be subtracted from the spectrum's precursor m/z.
`use.names` | For `lengths`: ignored.
`spectraVariables` | For `selectSpectraVariables`: `character` with the names of the spectra variables to which the backend should be subsetted. For `addProcessing`: `character` with additional spectra variables that should be passed along to the function defined with `FUN`. See function description for details.
`columns` | For `spectraData` accessor: optional `character` with column names (spectra variables) that should be included in the returned `DataFrame`. By default, all columns are returned.
`initial` | For `tic`: `logical(1)` whether the initially reported total ion current should be reported, or whether the total ion current should be (re)calculated on the actual data (`initial = FALSE`, same as `ionCount`).
`name` | For `$` and `$<-`: the name of the spectra variable to return or set.
`i` | For `[`: `integer`, `logical` or `character` to subset the object.
`j` | For `[`: not supported.
`n` | for `filterAcquisitionNum`: `integer` with the acquisition numbers to filter for.
`dataStorage` | For `filterDataStorage`: `character` to define which spectra to keep. For `filterAcquisitionNum`: optionally specify if filtering should occur only for spectra of selected `dataStorage`.
`dataOrigin` | For `filterDataOrigin`: `character` to define which spectra to keep. For `filterAcquisitionNum`: optionally specify if filtering should occurr only for spectra of selected `dataOrigin`.
`intensity` | For `filterIntensity`: `numeric` of length 1 or 2 defining either the lower or the lower and upper intensity limit for the filtering, or a `function` that takes the intensities as input and returns a `logical` (same length then peaks in the spectrum) whether the peak should be retained or not. Defaults to `intensity = c(0, Inf)` thus only peaks with `NA` intensity are removed.
`msLevel.` | `integer` defining the MS level(s) of the spectra to which the function should be applied (defaults to all MS levels of `object`. For `filterMsLevel`: the MS level to which `object` should be subsetted.
`polarity` | for `filterPolarity`: `integer` specifying the polarity to to subset `object`.
`z` | For `filterPrecursorCharge`: `integer()` with the precursor charges to be used as filter.
`acquisitionNum` | for `filterPrecursorScan`: `integer` with the acquisition number of the spectra to which the object should be subsetted.
`rt` | for `filterRt`: `numeric(2)` defining the retention time range to be used to subset/filter `object`.
`binSize` | For `bin`: `numeric(1)` defining the size for the m/z bins. Defaults to `binSize = 1`.
`breaks` | For `bin`: `numeric` defining the m/z breakpoints between bins.
`MAPFUN` | For `compareSpectra`: function to map/match peaks between the two compared spectra. See `joinPeaks()` for more information and possible functions.
`SIMPLIFY` | For `compareSpectra` whether the result matrix should be simplified to a `numeric` if possible (i.e. if either `x` or `y` is of length 1).
`halfWindowSize` | For `pickPeaks`: `integer(1)`, used in the identification of the mass peaks: a local maximum has to be the maximum in the window from `(i - halfWindowSize):(i + halfWindowSize)`. For `smooth`: `integer(1)`, used in the smoothing algorithm, the window reaches from `(i - halfWindowSize):(i + halfWindowSize)`.
`method` | For `pickPeaks`: `character(1)`, the noise estimators that should be used, currently the the Median Absolute Deviation (`method = "MAD"`) and Friedman's Super Smoother (`method = "SuperSmoother"`) are supported. For `smooth`: `character(1)`, the smoothing function that should be used, currently, the Moving-Average- (`method = "MovingAverage"`), Weighted-Moving-Average- (`method = "WeightedMovingAverage")`, Savitzky-Golay-Smoothing (`method = "SavitzkyGolay"`) are supported.
`snr` | For `pickPeaks`: `double(1)` defining the Signal-to-Noise-Ratio. The intensity of a local maximum has to be higher than `snr * noise` to be considered as peak.
`k` | For `pickPeaks`: `integer(1)`, number of values left and right of the peak that should be considered in the weighted mean calculation.
`descending` | For `pickPeaks`: `logical`, if `TRUE` just values between the nearest valleys around the peak centroids are used.
`threshold` | For `pickPeaks`: a `double(1)` defining the proportion of the maximal peak intensity. Just values above are used for the weighted mean calculation. For `replaceIntensitiesBelow`: a `numeric(1)` defining the threshold or a `function` to calculate the threshold for each spectrum on its intensity values. Defaults to `threshold = min`.

### Details

The `Spectra` class uses by default a lazy data manipulation strategy, i.e. data manipulations such as performed with `replaceIntensitiesBelow` are not applied immediately to the data, but applied on-the-fly to the spectrum data once it is retrieved. For some backends that allow to write data back to the data storage (such as the `MsBackendDataFrame()` and `MsBackendHdf5Peaks()`) it is possible to apply to queue with the `applyProcessing` function. See the Data manipulation and analysis methods section below for more details.

For details on plotting spectra, see `plotSpectra()`.

Clarifications regarding scan/acquisition numbers and indices:

- A `spectrumId` (or `spectrumID`) is a vendor specific field in the mzML file that contains some information about the run/spectrum, e.g.: `controllerType=0 controllerNumber=1 scan=5281 file=2`

- `acquisitionNum` is a more a less sanitize spectrum id generated from the `spectrumId` field by `mzR` (see here).

- `scanIndex` is the `mzR` generated sequence number of the spectrum in the raw file (which doesn't have to be the same as the `acquisitionNum`)

See also this issue.

### Value

See individual method description for the return value.

### Creation of objects, conversion, changing the backend and export

`Spectra` classes can be created with the `Spectra` constructor function which supports the following formats:

- parameter `object` is a `DataFrame` containing the spectrum data. The provided `backend` (by default a MsBackendDataFrame) will be initialized with that data.

- parameter `object` is a MsBackend (assumed to be already initialized).

- parameter `object` is missing, in which case it is supposed that the data is provided by the MsBackend class passed along with the `backend` argument.

- parameter `object` is of type `character` and is expected to be the file names(s) from which spectra should be imported. Parameter `source` allows to define a MsBackend that is able to import the data from the provided source files. The default value for `source` is `MsBackendMzR()` which allows to import spectra data from mzML, mzXML or CDF files.

With `...` additional arguments can be passed to the backend's `backendInitialize()` method. Parameter `backend` allows to specify which MsBackend should be used for data storage.

The backend of a `Spectra` object can be changed with the `setBackend` method that takes an instance of the new backend as second parameter `backend`. A call to `setBackend(sps, backend = MsBackendDataFrame())` would for example change the backend or `sps` to the in-memory `MsBackendDataFrame`. Note that it is not possible to change the backend to a read-only backend (such as the `MsBackendMzR()` backend). `setBackend` changes the `"dataOrigin"` variable of the resulting `Spectra` object to the `"dataStorage"` variable of the backend before the switch.

The definition of the function is: `setBackend(object, backend, ..., f = dataStorage(object), BPPARAM = bpparam())` and its parameters are:

- parameter `object`: the `Spectra` object.

- parameter `backend`: an instance of the new backend, e.g. `MsBackendDataFrame()`.

- parameter `f`: factor allowing to parallelize the change of the backends. By default the process of copying the spectra data from the original to the new backend is performed separately (and in parallel) for each file. Users are advised to use the default setting.

- parameter `...`: optional additional arguments passed to the `backendInitialize()` method of the new `backend`.

- parameter `BPPARAM`: setup for the parallel processing. See `bpparam()` for details.

Data from a `Spectra` object can be exported to a file with the `export` function. The actual export of the data has to be performed by the `export` method of the MsBackend class defined with the mandatory parameter `backend`. Note however that not all backend classes support export of data. From the `MsBackend` classes in the `Spectra` package currently only the `MsBackendMzR` backend supports data export (to mzML/mzXML file(s)); see the help page of the MsBackend for information on its arguments or the examples below or the vignette for examples.

The definition of the function is `export(object, backend, ...)` and its parameters are:

- `object`: the `Spectra` object to be exported.

- `backend`: instance of a class extending MsBackend which supports export of the data (i.e. which has a defined `export` method).

- `...`: additional parameters specific for the `MsBackend` passed with parameter `backend`.

### Accessing spectra data

- `$`, `$<-`: gets (or sets) a spectra variable for all spectra in `object`. See examples for details.

- `[[`, `[[<-`: access or set/add a single spectrum variable (column) in the backend.

- `acquisitionNum`: returns the acquisition number of each spectrum. Returns an `integer` of length equal to the number of spectra (with `NA_integer_` if not available).

- `peaksData`: gets the peaks matrices for all spectra in `object`. The function returns a `SimpleList()` of matrices, each `matrix` with columns `"mz"` and `"intensity"` with the m/z and intensity values for all peaks of a spectrum. Note that it is also possible to extract the peaks matrices with `as(x, "list")` and `as(x, "SimpleList")` as a `list` and `SimpleList`, respectively.

- `centroided`, `centroided<-`: gets or sets the centroiding information of the spectra. `centroided` returns a `logical` vector of length equal to the number of spectra with `TRUE` if a spectrum is centroided, `FALSE` if it is in profile mode and `NA` if it is undefined. See also `isCentroided` for estimating from the spectrum data whether the spectrum is centroided. `value` for `centroided<-` is either a single `logical` or a `logical` of length equal to the number of spectra in `object`.

- `collisionEnergy`, `collisionEnergy<-`: gets or sets the collision energy for all spectra in `object`. `collisionEnergy` returns a `numeric` with length equal to the number of spectra (`NA_real_` if not present/defined), `collisionEnergy<-` takes a `numeric` of length equal to the number of spectra in `object`.

- `dataOrigin`, `dataOrigin<-`: gets or sets the data origin for each spectrum. `dataOrigin` returns a `character` vector (same length than `object`) with the origin of the spectra. `dataOrigin<-` expects a `character` vector (same length than `object`) with the replacement values for the data origin of each spectrum.

- `dataStorage`: returns a `character` vector (same length than `object`) with the data storage location of each spectrum.

- `intensity`: gets the intensity values from the spectra. Returns a `NumericList()` of `numeric` vectors (intensity values for each spectrum). The length of the list is equal to the number of `spectra` in `object`.

- `ionCount`: returns a `numeric` with the sum of intensities for each spectrum. If the spectrum is empty (see `isEmpty`), `NA_real_` is returned.

- `isCentroided`: a heuristic approach assessing if the spectra in `object` are in profile or centroided mode. The function takes the `qtl`th quantile top peaks, then calculates the difference between adjacent m/z value and returns `TRUE` if the first quartile is greater than `k`. (See `Spectra:::.isCentroided` for the code.)

- `isEmpty`: checks whether a spectrum in `object` is empty (i.e. does not contain any peaks). Returns a `logical` vector of length equal number of spectra.

- `isolationWindowLowerMz`, `isolationWindowLowerMz<-`: gets or sets the lower m/z boundary of the isolation window.

- `isolationWindowTargetMz`, `isolationWindowTargetMz<-`: gets or sets the target m/z of the isolation window.

- `isolationWindowUpperMz`, `isolationWindowUpperMz<-`: gets or sets the upper m/z boundary of the isolation window.

- `containsMz`: checks for each of the spectra whether they contain mass peaks with an m/z equal to `mz` (given acceptable difference as defined by parameters `tolerance` and `ppm` - see `common()` for details). Parameter `which` allows to define whether any (`which = "any"`, the default) or all (`which = "all"`) of the `mz` have to match. The function returns `NA` if `mz` is of length 0 or is `NA`.

- `containsNeutralLoss`: checks for each spectrum in `object` if it has a peak with an m/z value equal to its precursor m/z - `neutralLoss` (given acceptable difference as defined by parameters `tolerance` and `ppm`). Returns `NA` for MS1 spectra (or spectra without a precursor m/z).

- `length`: gets the number of spectra in the object.

- `lengths`: gets the number of peaks (m/z-intensity values) per spectrum. Returns an `integer` vector (length equal to the number of spectra). For empty spectra, `0` is returned.

- `msLevel`: gets the spectra's MS level. Returns an integer vector (names being spectrum names, length equal to the number of spectra) with the MS level for each spectrum.

- `mz`: gets the mass-to-charge ratios (m/z) from the spectra. Returns a `NumericList()` or length equal to the number of spectra, each element a `numeric` vector with the m/z values of one spectrum.

- `polarity`, `polarity<-`: gets or sets the polarity for each spectrum. `polarity` returns an `integer` vector (length equal to the number of spectra), with `0` and `1` representing negative and positive polarities, respectively. `polarity<-` expects an `integer` vector of length 1 or equal to the number of spectra.

- `precursorCharge`, `precursorIntensity`, `precursorMz`, `precScanNum`, `precAcquisitionNum`: gets the charge (`integer`), intensity (`numeric`), m/z (`numeric`), scan index (`integer`) and acquisition number (`interger`) of the precursor for MS level > 2 spectra from the object. Returns a vector of length equal to the number of spectra in `object`. `NA` are reported for MS1 spectra of if no precursor information is available.

- `rtime`, `rtime<-`: gets or sets the retention times (in seconds) for each spectrum. `rtime` returns a `numeric` vector (length equal to the number of spectra) with the retention time for each spectrum. `rtime<-` expects a numeric vector with length equal to the number of spectra.

- `scanIndex`: returns an `integer` vector with the scan index for each spectrum. This represents the relative index of the spectrum within each file. Note that this can be different to the `acquisitionNum` of the spectrum which represents the index of the spectrum during acquisition/measurement (as reported in the mzML file).

- `smoothed`,`smoothed<-`: gets or sets whether a spectrum is smoothed. `smoothed` returns a `logical` vector of length equal to the number of spectra. `smoothed<-` takes a `logical` vector of length 1 or equal to the number of spectra in `object`.

- `spectraData`: gets general spectrum metadata (annotation, also called header). `spectraData` returns a `DataFrame`. Note that this method does by default not return m/z or intensity values.

- `spectraData<-`: replaces the full spectra data of the `Spectra` object with the one provided with `value`. The use of this function is disencouraged, as replacing spectra data with values that are in a different can break the linkage with the associated m/z and intensity values. If possible, spectra variables (i.e. columns of the `Spectra`) should be replaced individually. The `spectraData<-` function expects a `DataFrame` to be passed as value.

- `spectraNames`, `spectraNames<-`: gets or sets the spectra names.

- `spectraVariables`: returns a `character` vector with the available spectra variables (columns, fields or attributes) available in `object`.

- `tic`: gets the total ion current/count (sum of signal of a spectrum) for all spectra in `object`. By default, the value reported in the original raw data file is returned. For an empty spectrum, `0` is returned.

### Data subsetting, filtering and merging

Subsetting and filtering of `Spectra` objects can be performed with the below listed methods.

- `[`: subsets the spectra keeping only selected elements (`i`). The method always returns a `Spectra` object.

- `dropNaSpectraVariables`: removes spectra variables (i.e. columns in the object's `spectraData` that contain only missing values (`NA`). Note that while columns with only `NA`s are removed, a `spectraData` call after `dropNaSpectraVariables` might still show columns containing `NA` values for core spectra variables.

- `filterAcquisitionNum`: filters the object keeping only spectra matching the provided acquisition numbers (argument `n`). If `dataOrigin` or `dataStorage` is also provided, `object` is subsetted to the spectra with an acquisition number equal to `n` in spectra with matching dataOrigin or dataStorage values retaining all other spectra. Returns the filtered `Spectra`.

- `filterDataOrigin`: filters the object retaining spectra matching the provided `dataOrigin`. Parameter `dataOrigin` has to be of type `character` and needs to match exactly the data origin value of the spectra to subset. Returns the filtered `Spectra` object (with spectra ordered according to the provided `dataOrigin` parameter).

- `filterDataStorage`: filters the object retaining spectra stored in the specified `dataStorage`. Parameter `dataStorage` has to be of type `character` and needs to match exactly the data storage value of the spectra to subset. Returns the filtered `Spectra` object (with spectra ordered according to the provided `dataStorage` parameter).

- `filterEmptySpectra`: removes empty spectra (i.e. spectra without peaks). Returns the filtered `Spectra` object (with spectra in their original order).

- `filterIsolationWindow`: retains spectra that contain `mz` in their isolation window m/z range (i.e. with an `isolationWindowLowerMz` <= `mz` and `isolationWindowUpperMz` >= `mz`. Returns the filtered `Spectra` object (with spectra in their original order).

- `filterMsLevel`: filters object by MS level keeping only spectra matching the MS level specified with argument `msLevel`. Returns the filtered `Spectra` (with spectra in their original order).

- `filterMzRange`: filters the object keeping only peaks in each spectrum that are within the provided m/z range.

- `filterMzValues`: filters the object keeping only peaks in each spectrum that match the provided m/z value(s) considering also the absolute `tolerance` and m/z-relative `ppm` (`tolerance` and `ppm` can be either of length 1 or equal to the length of `mz` to define a different tolerance for each m/z).

- `filterPolarity`: filters the object keeping only spectra matching the provided polarity. Returns the filtered `Spectra` (with spectra in their original order).

- `filterPrecursorMz`: retains spectra with a precursor m/z within the provided m/z range. See examples for details on selecting spectra with a precursor m/z for a target m/z accepting a small difference in ppm.

- `filterPrecursorCharge`: retains spectra with the defined precursor charge(s).

- `filterPrecursorScan`: retains parent (e.g. MS1) and children scans (e.g. MS2) of acquisition number `acquisitionNum`. Returns the filtered `Spectra` (with spectra in their original order).

- `filterRt`: retains spectra of MS level `msLevel` with retention times (in seconds) within (`>=`) `rt[1]` and (`<=`) `rt[2]`. Returns the filtered `Spectra` (with spectra in their original order).

- `reset`: restores the data to its original state (as much as possible): removes any processing steps from the lazy processing queue and calls `reset` on the backend which, depending on the backend, can also undo e.g. data filtering operations. Note that a `reset` call after `applyProcessing` will not have any effect. See examples below for more information.

- `selectSpectraVariables`: reduces the information within the object to the selected spectra variables: all data for variables not specified will be dropped. For mandatory columns (such as msLevel, rtime ...) only the values will be dropped, while additional (user defined) spectra variables will be completely removed. Returns the filtered `Spectra`.

- `split`: splits the `Spectra` object based on parameter `f` into a `list` of `Spectra` objects.

- `joinSpectraData`: Individual spectra variables can be directly added with the `$<-` or `[[<-` syntax. The `joinSpectraData()` function allows to merge a `DataFrame` to the existing spectra data. This function diverges from the `merge()` method in two main ways:

  - The `by.x` and `by.y` column names must be of length 1.

  - If variable names are shared in `x` and `y`, the spectra variables of `x` are not modified. It's only the `y` variables that are appended the suffix defined in `suffix.y`. This is to avoid modifying any core spectra variables that would lead to an invalid object.

Several `Spectra` objects can be concatenated into a single object with the `c` or the `concatenateSpectra` function. Concatenation will fail if the processing queue of any of the `Spectra` objects is not empty or if different backends are used in the `Spectra` objects. The spectra variables of the resulting `Spectra` object is the union of the spectra variables of the individual `Spectra` objects.

### Data manipulation and analysis methods

Many data manipulation operations, such as those listed in this section, are not applied immediately to the spectra, but added to a lazy processing/manipulation queue. Operations stored in this queue are applied on-the-fly to spectra data each time it is accessed. This lazy execution guarantees the same functionality for `Spectra` objects with any backend, i.e. backends supporting to save changes to spectrum data (`MsBackendDataFrame()` or `MsBackendHdf5Peaks()`) as well as read-only backends (such as the `MsBackendMzR()`). Note that for the former it is possible to apply the processing queue and write the modified peak data back to the data storage with the `applyProcessing` function.

- `addProcessing`: adds an arbitrary function that should be applied to the peaks matrix of every spectrum in `object`. The function (can be passed with parameter `FUN`) is expected to take a peaks matrix as input and to return a peaks matrix. A peaks matrix is a numeric matrix with two columns, the first containing the m/z values of the peaks and the second the corresponding intensities. The function has to have `...` in its definition. Additional arguments can be passed with `...`. With parameter `spectraVariables` it is possible to define additional spectra variables from `object` that should be passed to the function `FUN`. These will be passed by their name (e.g. specifying `spectraVariables = "precursorMz"` will pass the spectra's precursor m/z as a parameter named `precursorMz` to the function. The only exception is the spectra's MS level, these will be passed to the function as a parameter called `spectrumMsLevel` (i.e. with `spectraVariables = "msLevel"` the MS levels of each spectrum will be submitted to the function as a parameter called `spectrumMsLevel`). Examples are provided in the package vignette.

- `applyProcessing`: for `Spectra` objects that use a writeable backend only: apply all steps from the lazy processing queue to the peak data and write it back to the data storage. Parameter `f` allows to specify how `object` should be split for parallel processing. This should either be equal to the `dataStorage`, or `f = rep(1, length(object))` to disable parallel processing alltogether. Other partitionings might result in errors (especially if a `MsBackendHdf5Peaks` backend is used).

- `bin`: aggregates individual spectra into discrete (m/z) bins. All intensity values for peaks falling into the same bin are summed.

- `combineSpectra`: combine sets of spectra into a single spectrum per set. For each spectrum group (set), spectra variables from the first spectrum are used and the peak matrices are combined using the function specified with `FUN`, which defaults to `combinePeaks()`. The sets of spectra can be specified with parameter `f`. In addition it is possible to define, with parameter `p` if and how to split the input data for parallel processing. This defaults to `p = x$dataStorage` and hence a per-file parallel processing is applied for `Spectra` with file-based backends (such as the `MsBackendMzR()`). Prior combination of the spectra all processings queued in the lazy evaluation queue are applied. Be aware that calling `combineSpectra` on a `Spectra` object with certain backends that allow modifications might overwrite the original data. This does not happen with a `MsBackendDataFrame` backend, but with a `MsBackendHdf5Peaks` backend the m/z and intensity values in the original hdf5 file(s) will be overwritten. The function returns a `Spectra` of length equal to the unique levels of `f`.

- `compareSpectra`: compare each spectrum in `x` with each spectrum in `y` using the function provided with `FUN` (defaults to `ndotproduct()`). If `y` is missing, each spectrum in `x` is compared with each other spectrum in `x`. The matching/mapping of peaks between the compared spectra is done with the `MAPFUN` function. The default `joinPeaks()` matches peaks of both spectra and allows to keep all peaks from the first spectrum (`type = "left"`), from the second (`type = "right"`), from both (`type = "outer"`) and to keep only matching peaks (`type = "inner"`); see `joinPeaks()` for more information and examples). The `MAPFUN` function should have parameters `x`, `y`, `xPrecursorMz` and `yPrecursorMz` as these values are passed to the function. `FUN` is supposed to be a function to compare intensities of (matched) peaks of the two spectra that are compared. The function needs to take two matrices with columns `"mz"` and `"intensity"` as input and is supposed to return a single numeric as result. In addition to the two peak matrices the spectra's precursor m/z values are passed to the function as parameters `xPrecursorMz` (precursor m/z of the `x` peak matrix) and `yPrecursorMz` (precursor m/z of the `y` peak matrix). Additional parameters to functions `FUN` and `MAPFUN` can be passed with `...`. The function returns a `matrix` with the results of `FUN` for each comparison, number of rows equal to `length(x)` and number of columns equal `length(y)` (i.e. element in row 2 and column 3 is the result from the comparison of `x[2]` with `y[3]`). If `SIMPLIFY = TRUE` the `matrix` is simplified to a `numeric` if length of `x` or `y` is one.

- `filterIntensity`: filters each spectrum keeping only peaks with intensities that are within the provided range or match the criteria of the provided function. For the former, parameter `intensity` has to be a `numeric` defining the intensity range, for the latter a `function` that takes the intensity values of the spectrum and returns a `logical` whether the peak should be retained or not (see examples below for details) - additional parameters to the function can be passed with `...`. To remove only peaks with intensities below a certain threshold, say 100, use `intensity = c(100, Inf)`. Note: also a single value can be passed with the `intensity` parameter in which case an upper limit of `Inf` is used. Note that this function removes also peaks with missing intensities (i.e. an intensity of `NA`). Parameter `msLevel.` allows to restrict the filtering to spectra of the specified MS level(s).

- `processingLog`: returns a `character` vector with the processing log messages.

- `spectrapply`: apply a given function to each spectrum in a `Spectra` object. The `Spectra` is splitted into individual spectra and on each of them (i.e. `Spectra` of length 1) the function `FUN` is applied. Additional parameters to `FUN` can be passed with the `...` argument. Parameter `BPPARAM` allows to enable parallel processing, which however makes only sense if `FUN` is computational intense. `spectrapply` returns a `list` (same length than `object`) with the result from `FUN`. See examples for more details. Note that the result and its order depends on the factor `f` used for splitting `object` with `split`, i.e. no re-ordering or `unsplit` is performed on the result.

- `smooth`: smooth individual spectra using a moving window-based approach (window size = `2 * halfWindowSize`). Currently, the Moving-Average- (`method = "MovingAverage"`), Weighted-Moving-Average- (`method = "WeightedMovingAverage")`, weights depending on the distance of the center and calculated `1/2^(-halfWindowSize:halfWindowSize)`) and Savitzky-Golay-Smoothing (`method = "SavitzkyGolay"`) are supported. For details how to choose the correct `halfWindowSize` please see `MsCoreUtils::smooth()`.

- `pickPeaks`: picks peaks on individual spectra using a moving window-based approach (window size = `2 * halfWindowSize`). For noisy spectra there are currently two different noise estimators available, the Median Absolute Deviation (`method = "MAD"`) and Friedman's Super Smoother (`method = "SuperSmoother"`), as implemented in the `MsCoreUtils::noise()`. The method supports also to optionally refine the m/z value of the identified centroids by considering data points that belong (most likely) to the same mass peak. Therefore the m/z value is calculated as an intensity weighted average of the m/z values within the peak region. The peak region is defined as the m/z values (and their respective intensities) of the `2 * k` closest signals to the centroid or the closest valleys (`descending = TRUE`) in the `2 * k` region. For the latter the `k` has to be chosen general larger. See `MsCoreUtils::refineCentroids()` for details. If the ratio of the signal to the highest intensity of the peak is below `threshold` it will be ignored for the weighted average.

- `replaceIntensitiesBelow`: replaces intensities below a specified threshold with the provided `value`. Parameter `threshold` can be either a single numeric value or a function which is applied to all non-`NA` intensities of each spectrum to determine a threshold value for each spectrum. The default is `threshold = min` which replaces all values which are <= the minimum intensity in a spectrum with `value` (the default for `value` is `0`). Note that the function specified with `threshold` is expected to have a parameter `na.rm` since `na.rm = TRUE` will be passed to the function. If the spectrum is in profile mode, ranges of successive non-0 peaks <= `threshold` are set to 0. Parameter `msLevel.` allows to apply this to only spectra of certain MS level(s).

### Author(s)

Sebastian Gibb, Johannes Rainer, Laurent Gatto

### Examples

    ## Create a Spectra providing a `DataFrame` containing the spectrum data.

    spd <- DataFrame(msLevel = c(1L, 2L), rtime = c(1.1, 1.2))
    spd$mz <- list(c(100, 103.2, 104.3, 106.5), c(45.6, 120.4, 190.2))
    spd$intensity <- list(c(200, 400, 34.2, 17), c(12.3, 15.2, 6.8))

    data <- Spectra(spd)
    data

    ## Get the number of spectra
    length(data)

    ## Get the number of peaks per spectrum
    lengths(data)

    ## Create a Spectra from mzML files and use the `MsBackendMzR` on-disk
    ## backend.
    sciex_file <- dir(system.file("sciex", package = "msdata"),
        full.names = TRUE)
    sciex <- Spectra(sciex_file, backend = MsBackendMzR())
    sciex

    ## The MS data is on disk and will be read into memory on-demand. We can
    ## however change the backend to a MsBackendDataFrame backend which will
    ## keep all of the data in memory.
    sciex_im <- setBackend(sciex, MsBackendDataFrame())
    sciex_im

    ## The on-disk object `sciex` is light-weight, because it does not keep the
    ## MS peak data in memory. The `sciex_im` object in contrast keeps all the
    ## data in memory and its size is thus much larger.
    object.size(sciex)
    object.size(sciex_im)

    ## The spectra variable `dataStorage` returns for each spectrum the location
    ## where the data is stored. For in-memory objects:
    head(dataStorage(sciex_im))

    ## While objects that use an on-disk backend will list the files where the
    ## data is stored.
    head(dataStorage(sciex))

    ## The spectra variable `dataOrigin` returns for each spectrum the *origin*
    ## of the data. If the data is read from e.g. mzML files, this will be the
    ## original mzML file name:
    head(dataOrigin(sciex))
    head(dataOrigin(sciex_im))

    ## ---- ACCESSING AND ADDING DATA ----

    ## Get the MS level for each spectrum.
    msLevel(data)

    ## Alternatively, we could also use $ to access a specific spectra variable.
    ## This could also be used to add additional spectra variables to the
    ## object (see further below).
    data$msLevel

    ## Get the intensity and m/z values.
    intensity(data)
    mz(data)

    ## Determine whether one of the spectra has a specific m/z value
    containsMz(data, mz = 120.4)

    ## Accessing spectra variables works for all backends:
    intensity(sciex)
    intensity(sciex_im)

    ## Get the m/z for the first spectrum.
    mz(data)[[1]]

    ## Get the peak data (m/z and intensity values).
    pks <- peaksData(data)
    pks
    pks[[1]]
    pks[[2]]

    ## Note that we could get the same resulb by coercing the `Spectra` to
    ## a `list` or `SimpleList`:
    as(data, "list")
    as(data, "SimpleList")

    ## List all available spectra variables (i.e. spectrum data and metadata).
    spectraVariables(data)

    ## For all *core* spectrum variables accessor functions are available. These
    ## return NA if the variable was not set.
    centroided(data)
    dataStorage(data)
    rtime(data)
    precursorMz(data)

    ## Add an additional metadata column.
    data$spectrum_id <- c("sp_1", "sp_2")

    ## List spectra variables, "spectrum_id" is now also listed
    spectraVariables(data)

    ## Get the values for the new spectra variable
    data$spectrum_id

    ## Extract specific spectra variables.
    spectraData(data, columns = c("spectrum_id", "msLevel"))

    ## Drop spectra variable data and/or columns.
    res <- selectSpectraVariables(data, c("mz", "intensity"))

    ## This removed the additional columns "spectrum_id" and deleted all values
    ## for all spectra variables, except "mz" and "intensity".
    spectraData(res)

    ## Compared to the data before selectSpectraVariables.
    spectraData(data)

    ## ---- SUBSETTING, FILTERING AND COMBINING

    ## Subset to all MS2 spectra.
    data[msLevel(data) == 2]

    ## Same with the filterMsLevel function
    filterMsLevel(data, 2)

    ## Below we combine the `data` and `sciex_im` objects into a single one.
    data_comb <- c(data, sciex_im)

    ## The combined Spectra contains a union of all spectra variables:
    head(data_comb$spectrum_id)
    head(data_comb$rtime)
    head(data_comb$dataStorage)
    head(data_comb$dataOrigin)

    ## Filter a Spectra for a target precursor m/z with a tolerance of 10ppm
    spd$precursorMz <- c(323.4, 543.2302)
    data_filt <- Spectra(spd)
    filterPrecursorMz(data_filt, mz = 543.23 + ppm(c(-543.23, 543.23), 10))

    ## Filter a Spectra keeping only peaks matching certain m/z values
    sps_sub <- filterMzValues(data, mz = c(103, 104), tolerance = 0.3)
    mz(sps_sub)

    ## Filter a Spectra keeping only peaks within a m/z range
    sps_sub <- filterMzRange(data, mz = c(100, 300))
    mz(sps_sub)

    ## Remove empty spectra variables
    sciex_noNA <- dropNaSpectraVariables(sciex)

    ## Available spectra variables before and after dropNaSpectraVariables
    spectraVariables(sciex)
    spectraVariables(sciex_noNA)

    ## Adding new spectra variables
    spv <- DataFrame(spectrumId = sciex$spectrumId[3:12], ## used for merging
                     var1 = rnorm(10),
                     var2 = sample(letters, 10))
    spv

    sciex2 <- joinSpectraData(sciex, spv, by.y = "spectrumId")

    spectraVariables(sciex2)
    spectraData(sciex2)[1:13, c("spectrumId", "var1", "var2")]

    ## ---- DATA MANIPULATIONS AND OTHER OPERATIONS ----

    ## Set the data to be centroided
    centroided(data) <- TRUE

    ## Replace peak intensities below 40 with 3.
    res <- replaceIntensitiesBelow(data, threshold = 40, value = 3)
    res

    ## Get the intensities of the first and second spectrum.
    intensity(res)[[1]]
    intensity(res)[[2]]

    ## Remove all peaks with an intensity below 40.
    res <- filterIntensity(res, intensity = c(40, Inf))

    ## Get the intensities of the first and second spectrum.
    intensity(res)[[1]]
    intensity(res)[[2]]

    ## Lengths of spectra is now different
    lengths(mz(res))
    lengths(mz(data))

    ## In addition it is possible to pass a function to `filterIntensity`: in
    ## the example below we want to keep only peaks that have an intensity which
    ## is larger than one third of the maximal peak intensity in that spectrum.
    keep_peaks <- function(x, prop = 3) {
        x > max(x, na.rm = TRUE) / prop
    }
    res2 <- filterIntensity(data, intensity = keep_peaks)
    intensity(res2)[[1L]]
    intensity(data)[[1L]]

    ## We can also change the proportion by simply passing the `prop` parameter
    ## to the function. To keep only peaks that have an intensity which is
    ## larger than half of the maximum intensity:
    res2 <- filterIntensity(data, intensity = keep_peaks, prop = 2)
    intensity(res2)[[1L]]
    intensity(data)[[1L]]

    ## Since data manipulation operations are by default not directly applied to
    ## the data but only added to the internal lazy evaluation queue, it is also
    ## possible to remove these data manipulations with the `reset` function:
    res_rest <- reset(res)
    res_rest
    lengths(mz(res_rest))
    lengths(mz(res))
    lengths(mz(data))

    ## `reset` after a `applyProcessing` can not restore the data, because the
    ## data in the backend was changed. Similarly, `reset` after any filter
    ## operations can not restore data for a `Spectra` with a
    ## `MsBackendDataFrame`.
    res_2 <- applyProcessing(res)
    res_rest <- reset(res_2)
    lengths(mz(res))
    lengths(mz(res_rest))

    ## Compare spectra: comparing spectra 2 and 3 against spectra 10:20 using
    ## the normalized dotproduct method.
    res <- compareSpectra(sciex_im[2:3], sciex_im[10:20])
    ## first row contains comparisons of spectrum 2 with spectra 10 to 20 and
    ## the second row comparisons of spectrum 3 with spectra 10 to 20
    res

    ## To use a simple Pearson correlation instead we can define a function
    ## that takes the two peak matrices and calculates the correlation for
    ## their second columns (containing the intensity values).
    correlateSpectra <- function(x, y, use = "pairwise.complete.obs", ...) {
        cor(x[, 2], y[, 2], use = use)
    }
    res <- compareSpectra(sciex_im[2:3], sciex_im[10:20],
        FUN = correlateSpectra)
    res

    ## Use compareSpectra to determine the number of common (matching) peaks
    ## with a ppm of 10:
    ## type = "inner" uses a *inner join* to match peaks, i.e. keeps only
    ## peaks that can be mapped betwen both spectra. The provided FUN returns
    ## simply the number of matching peaks.
    compareSpectra(sciex_im[2:3], sciex_im[10:20], ppm = 10, type = "inner",
        FUN = function(x, y, ...) nrow(x))

    ## Apply an arbitrary function to each spectrum in a Spectra.
    ## In the example below we calculate the mean intensity for each spectrum
    ## in a subset of the sciex_im data. Note that we can access all variables
    ## of each individual spectrum either with the `$` operator or the
    ## corresponding method.
    res <- spectrapply(sciex_im[1:20], FUN = function(x) mean(x$intensity[[1]]))
    head(res)

    ## It is however important to note that dedicated methods to access the
    ## data (such as `intensity`) are much more efficient than using `lapply`:
    res <- lapply(intensity(sciex_im[1:20]), mean)
    head(res)

    ## ---- DATA EXPORT ----

    ## Some `MsBackend` classes provide an `export` method to export the data to
    ## the file format supported by the backend. The `MsBackendMzR` for example
    ## allows to export MS data to mzML or mzXML file(s), the `MsBackendMgf`
    ## (defined in the MsBackendMgf R package) would allow to export the data
    ## in mgf file format. Below we export the MS data in `data`. We
    ## call the `export` method on this object, specify the backend that should
    ## be used to export the data (and which also defines the output format) and
    ## provide a file name.
    fl <- tempfile()
    export(data, MsBackendMzR(), file = fl)

    ## This exported our data in mzML format. Below we read the first 6 lines
    ## from that file.
    readLines(fl, n = 6)

    ## If only a single file name is provided, all spectra are exported to that
    ## file. To export data with the `MsBackendMzR` backend to different files, a
    ## file name for each individual spectrum has to be provided.
    ## Below we export each spectrum to its own file.
    fls <- c(tempfile(), tempfile())
    export(data, MsBackendMzR(), file = fls)

    ## Reading the data from the first file
    res <- Spectra(backendInitialize(MsBackendMzR(), fls[1]))

    mz(res)
    mz(data)

[Package Spectra version 1.2.2 Index]