From a3e90cde84d125d66f47f0d7906d1adfc87d7c5e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Adam Wright <adam.j.wright82@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2026 18:44:55 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Explain DeltaSignal's result columns in the panel
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A curator could not tell what Influence, or the other columns, meant.
The table's headers now say what each number is (activity × normal,
change vs baseline), and a short "What do these columns mean?" note,
opened in place, defines each column in plain words from DeltaSignal's
own API documentation, and says how the rows are sorted and grouped.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 .../deltasignal-panel.component.html          | 31 +++++++++++++++++-
 .../deltasignal-panel.component.scss          | 32 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 62 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/projects/pathway-browser/src/app/deltasignal/deltasignal-panel.component.html b/projects/pathway-browser/src/app/deltasignal/deltasignal-panel.component.html
index 06fd12793..ffd772e2c 100644
--- a/projects/pathway-browser/src/app/deltasignal/deltasignal-panel.component.html
+++ b/projects/pathway-browser/src/app/deltasignal/deltasignal-panel.component.html
@@ -206,9 +206,38 @@ <h3>Predicted response</h3>
             entity, all values appear as a gradient. The pathway diagram remains interactive beside this panel.
           </p>
 
+          <details class="column-help">
+            <summary>What do these columns mean?</summary>
+            <dl>
+              <dt>Activity</dt>
+              <dd>
+                The entity's predicted activity once the network settles, on the same scale as the input: 1× is normal,
+                0 is none, and higher is more active.
+              </dd>
+              <dt>Change</dt>
+              <dd>
+                Predicted activity minus the entity's own normal (baseline) activity: below zero it falls, above zero it
+                rises. The diagram's colours show this.
+              </dd>
+              <dt>Influence</dt>
+              <dd>
+                How strongly the reactions this entity takes part in respond to a small change in it, at the predicted
+                state. Higher means it matters more to the result; it is a ranking, not a unit.
+              </dd>
+            </dl>
+            <p>
+              Rows are sorted by the size of the change; a highlighted row is one you perturbed. Where one entity is
+              several nodes of the logic network, its row shows their average activity and change and their largest
+              influence.
+            </p>
+          </details>
+
           <div class="result-table" role="table" aria-label="DeltaSignal predictions">
             <div class="result-row header" role="row">
-              <span>Entity</span><span>Activity</span><span>Change</span><span>Influence</span>
+              <span role="columnheader">Entity</span>
+              <span role="columnheader">Activity (× normal)</span>
+              <span role="columnheader">Change vs baseline</span>
+              <span role="columnheader">Influence</span>
             </div>
             @for (row of visibleRows(); track row.uuid) {
               <div class="result-row" role="row" [class.perturbed]="row.perturbed">
diff --git a/projects/pathway-browser/src/app/deltasignal/deltasignal-panel.component.scss b/projects/pathway-browser/src/app/deltasignal/deltasignal-panel.component.scss
index b6f712cf8..bd5d1a7e8 100644
--- a/projects/pathway-browser/src/app/deltasignal/deltasignal-panel.component.scss
+++ b/projects/pathway-browser/src/app/deltasignal/deltasignal-panel.component.scss
@@ -329,6 +329,38 @@ main {
   font: var(--mat-sys-body-small);
 }
 
+.column-help {
+  margin: 0 0 12px;
+  color: var(--on-surface-variant);
+  font: var(--mat-sys-body-small);
+
+  summary {
+    cursor: pointer;
+    color: var(--primary);
+    font: var(--mat-sys-label-large);
+  }
+
+  dl {
+    display: grid;
+    grid-template-columns: max-content 1fr;
+    gap: 6px 12px;
+    margin: 10px 0 6px;
+  }
+
+  dt {
+    color: var(--on-surface);
+    font-weight: 500;
+  }
+
+  dd {
+    margin: 0;
+  }
+
+  p {
+    margin: 0;
+  }
+}
+
 .result-table {
   max-height: 360px;
   overflow: auto;