Finding the real header row, and the units row underneath it
Lesson 2 of 6 · Spreadsheets and instrument exports
1 · Learn the move · Constraints + negative instructions
Instrument exports bury the header: three rows of instrument name, method, and operator, then the column names, then - the trap inside the trap - a units row directly underneath, which a naive parse reads as the first data row. One row of text in a numeric column can silently change the column's type, and every statistic downstream inherits the damage. This is a job for negative instructions, because the failure mode is the model's default helpfulness: do not assume row 1 is the header; do not treat any row as data until the header and units rows are identified and shown to me; do not coerce a mixed column to make it parse; never invent a unit that is not written in the file. Constraints like these read as paranoia until the first time the mean of a concentration column comes back tenfold off because "ug/mL" was averaged in as zero.
Parse this instrument export under constraints. Do NOT assume row 1 is the header. Do NOT treat any row as data until you have shown me: the true header row number, the full preamble above it, and whether a units row sits below the header. Do NOT coerce mixed-type columns silently - report them. NEVER assign a unit not literally present in the file; a column with no stated unit is [NEEDS: unit]. Output the structure first, wait for my confirmation before any numbers. Export: [paste]
2 · Your turn. You write the prompt
Your plate reader's csv export starts with six lines of method summary, then column names, then a row reading RFU, sec, RFU, RFU across the measurement columns. Last month a labmate averaged that row into her data and her blank-corrected values were all slightly, consistently wrong. Write the prompt whose constraints make that error impossible.
Remember: the AI sees only your prompt, not this page. If the situation isn't in your prompt, it doesn't exist.
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