ibu

ibu is a Rust library for efficiently handling binary-encoding barcode, UMI, and index data in high-throughput genomics applications.

It is designed to be fast, memory-efficient, and easy to use.

It is heavily inspired and even more minimal than the BUS binary format.

Format Specification

The binary format consists of a header followed by a collection of records.

Header

The header is strictly defined in the following 13 bytes:

Record

The record is strictly defined in the following 24 bytes:

Importantly, the barcode and UMI fields are encoded with 2bit encoding, which means that the maximum barcode and UMI lengths are 32 bits.

For 2bit {en,de}coding in rust feel free to check out bitnuc.

Users may choose to encode their own data into the index field or use it for other purposes.

Error Handling

The library provides detailed error handling through the [BinaryFormatError] enum, covering:

• IO errors
• Invalid version in the header
• Invalid barcode/UMI lengths
• Attempted to read record from empty or corrupted data

Usage

use ibu::{Header, Reader, Record, Writer};
use std::io::Cursor;

// Create a header for 4-base barcodes and 3-base UMIs (assume unsorted)
let header = Header::new(1, 4, 3, false).unwrap();

// Create some records
let records = vec![
   // ATAA // TAG // 1
   Record::new(0x00001100, 0x100011, 0),
   // CTAA // GAG // 1
   Record::new(0x00001101, 0x100010, 1),
];

// Write to a file
let file = Cursor::new(Vec::new()); // using a cursor for demonstration
let mut writer = Writer::new(file, header);
writer.write_collection(&records).unwrap();

// Get the written buffer
let buffer = writer.into_inner().into_inner();

// The expected buffer should be exact 13 + 24 * 2 = 61 bytes
assert_eq!(buffer.len(), 61);

// Read from a file
let file = Cursor::new(buffer);
let mut reader = Reader::new(file).unwrap();

// Read the header
let header = reader.header();
assert_eq!(header.barcode_len(), 4);
assert_eq!(header.umi_len(), 3);

// Read the records
let mut read_records = Vec::new();
for record in reader {
   read_records.push(record.unwrap());
}
assert_eq!(records, read_records);

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.