Are BLAST search parameters recorded in the XML file?

Question

[dacosta]

Hi, I have XML files from BLASTn searches but I'm not sure what, if any, parameters were selected. Would this be recorded in the file? I'm specifically interested in if a different "Max target sequences" was selected. How might I find this in the file?

Answer 1

[GenoMax]

I think the answer is no, if you are referring to NCBI Web blast. Only the following parameters are recorded in result XML.

<Parameters>
<Parameters_expect>0.05</Parameters_expect>
<Parameters_sc-match>1</Parameters_sc-match>
<Parameters_sc-mismatch>-2</Parameters_sc-mismatch>
<Parameters_gap-open>0</Parameters_gap-open>
<Parameters_gap-extend>0</Parameters_gap-extend>
<Parameters_filter>L;m;</Parameters_filter>
</Parameters>

[dacosta]

Yes, NCBI web blast. Thank you, not what I hoped to hear but those were the only parameters I saw as well!