my $self = shift;
	
	return qw( c.channel_id c.experimental_chip_id c.sample_id c.dye c.type);

	my ($self, $sth) = @_;
	
	my (@result, $ec_id, $chan_id, $sample_id, $type, $dye);
	
	$sth->bind_columns(\$chan_id,\$ ec_id,\$ sample_id,\$ dye,\$ type);
	
	while ( $sth->fetch() ) {
	  my $chan = Bio::EnsEMBL::Funcgen::Channel->new(
							 -DBID                 => $chan_id,
							 -EXPERIMENTAL_CHIP_ID => $ec_id,
							 -SAMPLE_ID            => $sample_id,
							 -TYPE                 => $type,
							 -DYE                  => $dye,
							 -ADAPTOR              => $self,
							);
	  
	  push @result, $chan;
	  
	}
	return\@ result;

	my $self = shift;
	
	return ['channel', 'c'];

  my ($self, $exp) = @_;
  throw("Must provide an ExperimentChip object") if(! $exp->isa('Bio::EnsEMBL::Funcgen::ExperimentalChip'));
  return $self->fetch_all_by_experimental_chip_dbID($exp->dbID());

    my $self = shift;
    my $ec_dbid = shift;

	my ($chan_id, @results);

    throw("Must specify an experiemntal dbID") if(! $ec_dbid);


    #my $sth = $self->prepare("
    #SELECT c.channel_id
    #		FROM experimental_chip ec, channel c
    #		WHERE c.experimental_chip_id = ec.experimental_chip_id
    #        AND ec.experimental_chip_id = $ec_dbid
    #	");
    

    my $constraint = "c.experimental_chip_id=$ec_dbid";

	#can we do a generic fetch here?


    #$sth->execute();
    
    
    #while ($chan_id = $sth->fetchrow()){
    #	  push @results, $self->fetch_by_dbID($chan_id);
    #	      }

    return $self->generic_fetch($constraint);

    my $self = shift;
    my $array = shift;

    my $tmp_array = $self->fetch_by_dbID( $array->dbID() );
    %$array = %$tmp_array;

    my $self = shift;
    my $dye = shift;
    my $ec_dbid = shift;

    throw("not yet impemented");

    my ($chan_id, @results);

    throw("Must specify an experiemntal dbID") if(! $ec_dbid);
    #Need to validate dye against VendorDefs?  Or leave and just return whatever is in DB e.g. nothing if dye name is wrong.


    my $sth = $self->prepare("
		SELECT c.channel_id
		FROM experimental_chip ec, channel c
		WHERE c.experimental_chip_id = ec.experimental_chip_id
        AND ec.experimental_chip_id = $ec_dbid
	");



	#can we do a generic fetch here?


	$sth->execute();


	while ($chan_id = $sth->fetchrow()){
		push @results, $self->fetch_by_dbID($chan_id);
	}

	return\@ results;

    my ($self, $type, $ec_id) = @_;

    throw("Must specify a channel type e.g. EXPERIMENTAL, TOTAL and an ExperimentalChip id") if(! ($type && $ec_id));


    my $sth = $self->prepare("
		SELECT c.channel_id
		FROM channel c
		WHERE c.experimental_chip_id = ?
        AND c.type = ?
	");

    $sth->bind_param(1, $ec_id,     SQL_INTEGER);
    $sth->bind_param(2, $type,      SQL_VARCHAR);

    $sth->execute();
    my ($chan_id) = $sth->fetchrow();
    
    
    return $self->fetch_by_dbID($chan_id) if $chan_id;

    my ($self) = @_;
	
    return $self->_list_dbIDs('channel');
}



1;

  my $self = shift;
  my @args = @_;
    
  my $sth = $self->prepare("
			INSERT INTO channel
			(experimental_chip_id, sample_id, dye, type)
			VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)");
  
  
  foreach my $chan (@args) {
    throw('Can only store Channel objects') if ( ! $chan->isa('Bio::EnsEMBL::Funcgen::Channel'));
    
    if (!( $chan->dbID() && $chan->adaptor() == $self )){#use is_stored?
      
      
      my $s_chan = $self->fetch_by_type_experimental_chip_id($chan->type(), $chan->experimental_chip_id());
      throw("Channel already exists in the database with dbID:".$s_chan->dbID().
	    "\nTo reuse/update this Channel you must retrieve it using the ChannelAdaptor".
	    "\nMaybe you want to use the -recover option?") if $s_chan;
      
      #if(! $s_chan){
      $sth->bind_param(1, $chan->experimental_chip_id(),  SQL_INTEGER);
      $sth->bind_param(2, $chan->sample_id(),             SQL_VARCHAR);
      $sth->bind_param(3, $chan->dye() ,                  SQL_VARCHAR);
      $sth->bind_param(4, $chan->type(),                  SQL_VARCHAR);
         
      $sth->execute();
      my $dbID = $sth->{'mysql_insertid'};
      $chan->dbID($dbID);
      $chan->adaptor($self);
      #}
      #else{
      #  #do some status checks here, check IMPORTED
      #  #Need to account for recover in Importer?
      #  $chan = $s_chan;
      
      #  my @states = @{$self->db->fetch_all_states('channel', $chan->dbID())};
      
      #  #need better id than dbID?
      #  warn("Using previously stored Channel (".$chan->experimental_chip_id().":".$chan->type().") with states\t@states\n"); 
      #}
    }else{
      #assume we want to update the states
      warn('You may want to use $chan->adaptor->store_states($chan)');
      $self->store_states($chan);
    }
  }
  
  return\@ args;

  Arg [1]    : string - dye
  Arg [1]    : int - dbID of Experiment
  Example    : my $chan = $chan_a->fetch_by_type_experimental_chip_dbID('Cy5', $ec_dbid);
  Description: Does what it says on the tin
  Returntype : Bio::EnsEMBL::Funcgen::Channel object
  Exceptions : Throws is experiment dbID or dye not passed
  Caller     : General
  Status     : At Risk