Merges multiple SAM and/or BAM files into a single file. This tool is used for combining SAM and/or BAM files from different runs or read groups into a single file, similarl to the "merge" function of Samtools (http://www.htslib.org/doc/samtools.html).

Note that to prevent errors in downstream processing, it is critical to identify/label read groups appropriately. If different samples contain identical read group IDs, this tool will avoid collisions by modifying the read group IDs to be unique. For more information about read groups, see the GATK Dictionary entry.

Usage example:

java -jar picard.jar MergeSamFiles \
      I=input_1.bam \
      I=input_2.bam \
      O=output_merged_files.bam

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Category Read Data Manipulation

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Overview

This tool is used for combining SAM and/or BAM files from different runs or read groups into a single file, similar to the \"merge\" function of Samtools (http://www.htslib.org/doc/samtools.html).

Note that to prevent errors in downstream processing, it is critical to identify/label read groups appropriately. If different samples contain identical read group IDs, this tool will avoid collisions by modifying the read group IDs to be unique. For more information about read groups, see the GATK Dictionary entry.

Usage example:

 java -jar picard.jar MergeSamFiles \\

      I=input_1.bam \\

      I=input_2.bam \\

      O=output_merged_files.bam
 

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MergeSamFiles (Picard) specific arguments

This table summarizes the command-line arguments that are specific to this tool. For more details on each argument, see the list further down below the table or click on an argument name to jump directly to that entry in the list.

Argument name(s)	Default value	Summary
Required Arguments
--INPUT  -I	[]	SAM or BAM input file
--OUTPUT  -O	null	SAM or BAM file to write merged result to
Optional Tool Arguments
--arguments_file	[]	read one or more arguments files and add them to the command line
--ASSUME_SORTED  -AS	false	If true, assume that the input files are in the same sort order as the requested output sort order, even if their headers say otherwise.
--COMMENT  -CO	[]	Comment(s) to include in the merged output file's header.
--help  -h	false	display the help message
--INTERVALS  -RGN	null	An interval list file that contains the locations of the positions to merge. Assume bam are sorted and indexed. The resulting file will contain alignments that may overlap with genomic regions outside the requested region. Unmapped reads are discarded.
--MERGE_SEQUENCE_DICTIONARIES  -MSD	false	Merge the sequence dictionaries
--SORT_ORDER  -SO	coordinate	Sort order of output file
--USE_THREADING	false	Option to create a background thread to encode, compress and write to disk the output file. The threaded version uses about 20% more CPU and decreases runtime by ~20% when writing out a compressed BAM file.
--version	false	display the version number for this tool
Optional Common Arguments
--COMPRESSION_LEVEL	5	Compression level for all compressed files created (e.g. BAM and VCF).
--CREATE_INDEX	false	Whether to create a BAM index when writing a coordinate-sorted BAM file.
--CREATE_MD5_FILE	false	Whether to create an MD5 digest for any BAM or FASTQ files created.
--GA4GH_CLIENT_SECRETS	client_secrets.json	Google Genomics API client_secrets.json file path.
--MAX_RECORDS_IN_RAM	500000	When writing files that need to be sorted, this will specify the number of records stored in RAM before spilling to disk. Increasing this number reduces the number of file handles needed to sort the file, and increases the amount of RAM needed.
--QUIET	false	Whether to suppress job-summary info on System.err.
--REFERENCE_SEQUENCE  -R	null	Reference sequence file.
--TMP_DIR	[]	One or more directories with space available to be used by this program for temporary storage of working files
--USE_JDK_DEFLATER  -use_jdk_deflater	false	Use the JDK Deflater instead of the Intel Deflater for writing compressed output
--USE_JDK_INFLATER  -use_jdk_inflater	false	Use the JDK Inflater instead of the Intel Inflater for reading compressed input
--VALIDATION_STRINGENCY	STRICT	Validation stringency for all SAM files read by this program. Setting stringency to SILENT can improve performance when processing a BAM file in which variable-length data (read, qualities, tags) do not otherwise need to be decoded.
--VERBOSITY	INFO	Control verbosity of logging.
Advanced Arguments
--showHidden	false	display hidden arguments

Argument details

Arguments in this list are specific to this tool. Keep in mind that other arguments are available that are shared with other tools (e.g. command-line GATK arguments); see Inherited arguments above.

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--arguments_file / NA

read one or more arguments files and add them to the command line

List[File]  []

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--ASSUME_SORTED / -AS

If true, assume that the input files are in the same sort order as the requested output sort order, even if their headers say otherwise.

boolean  false

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--COMMENT / -CO

Comment(s) to include in the merged output file's header.

List[String]  []

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--COMPRESSION_LEVEL / NA

Compression level for all compressed files created (e.g. BAM and VCF).

int  5  [ [ -∞  ∞ ] ]

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--CREATE_INDEX / NA

Whether to create a BAM index when writing a coordinate-sorted BAM file.

Boolean  false

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--CREATE_MD5_FILE / NA

Whether to create an MD5 digest for any BAM or FASTQ files created.

boolean  false

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--GA4GH_CLIENT_SECRETS / NA

Google Genomics API client_secrets.json file path.

String  client_secrets.json

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--help / -h

display the help message

boolean  false

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--INPUT / -I

SAM or BAM input file

R List[File]  []

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--INTERVALS / -RGN

An interval list file that contains the locations of the positions to merge. Assume bam are sorted and indexed. The resulting file will contain alignments that may overlap with genomic regions outside the requested region. Unmapped reads are discarded.

File  null

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--MAX_RECORDS_IN_RAM / NA

When writing files that need to be sorted, this will specify the number of records stored in RAM before spilling to disk. Increasing this number reduces the number of file handles needed to sort the file, and increases the amount of RAM needed.

Integer  500000  [ [ -∞  ∞ ] ]

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--MERGE_SEQUENCE_DICTIONARIES / -MSD

Merge the sequence dictionaries

boolean  false

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--OUTPUT / -O

SAM or BAM file to write merged result to

R File  null

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--QUIET / NA

Whether to suppress job-summary info on System.err.

Boolean  false

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--REFERENCE_SEQUENCE / -R

Reference sequence file.

File  null

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--showHidden / -showHidden

display hidden arguments

boolean  false

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--SORT_ORDER / -SO

Sort order of output file

The --SORT_ORDER argument is an enumerated type (SortOrder), which can have one of the following values:

unsorted

queryname

coordinate

duplicate

unknown

SortOrder  coordinate

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--TMP_DIR / NA

One or more directories with space available to be used by this program for temporary storage of working files

List[File]  []

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--USE_JDK_DEFLATER / -use_jdk_deflater

Use the JDK Deflater instead of the Intel Deflater for writing compressed output

Boolean  false

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--USE_JDK_INFLATER / -use_jdk_inflater

Use the JDK Inflater instead of the Intel Inflater for reading compressed input

Boolean  false

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--USE_THREADING / NA

Option to create a background thread to encode, compress and write to disk the output file. The threaded version uses about 20% more CPU and decreases runtime by ~20% when writing out a compressed BAM file.

boolean  false

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--VALIDATION_STRINGENCY / NA

Validation stringency for all SAM files read by this program. Setting stringency to SILENT can improve performance when processing a BAM file in which variable-length data (read, qualities, tags) do not otherwise need to be decoded.

The --VALIDATION_STRINGENCY argument is an enumerated type (ValidationStringency), which can have one of the following values:

STRICT

LENIENT

SILENT

ValidationStringency  STRICT

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--VERBOSITY / NA

Control verbosity of logging.

The --VERBOSITY argument is an enumerated type (LogLevel), which can have one of the following values:

ERROR

WARNING

INFO

DEBUG

LogLevel  INFO

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--version / NA

display the version number for this tool

boolean  false

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GATK version 4.1.2.0 built at Sat, 23 Nov 2019 17:42:42 -0500.