Background: to genotype a microsatellite (SSR), one first uses PCR to amplify the given locus, with fluorescent primers. The fragments then migrate through a gel, and a machine records fluorescent intensity through time. The resulting raw data correspond to a chromatogram.

With machines from Applied Biosystem, such raw data are often exported in a binary format (see specification), with the extension .abi or .fsa. Such files are readable by the read.abif function in the R package seqinr.

With machines from Beckman Coulter, raw data are often exported in a set of binary formats named CEQ (mentioned here), files corresponding to sample data having the .cqs extension. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that the format specification is available. But in any case, does someone know how to read such a format in R? (or in any other programming language)