def _flatten_meta(meta, prefix=None):
    ' Flattens metadata fields in a Sample object. Fields are concatenated into a\n        single string field to save into an Elasticsearch index\n    meta   - Sample Metadata to be flattened\n    prefix - (optional) prefix for the metadata values. default=None\n    '
    new_meta = {}
    for key in meta:
        if prefix:
            val = (prefix + ':')
        else:
            val = ''
        if ('value' in meta[key]):
            val += str(meta[key]['value'])
        if ('units' in meta[key]):
            val += (';' + str(meta[key]['units']))
        new_meta[key] = val
    return new_meta
Flattens metadata fields in a Sample object. Fields are concatenated into a
    single string field to save into an Elasticsearch index
meta   - Sample Metadata to be flattened
prefix - (optional) prefix for the metadata values. default=None
def _flatten_meta(meta, prefix=None):
    ' Flattens metadata fields in a Sample object. Fields are concatenated into a\n        single string field to save into an Elasticsearch index\n    meta   - Sample Metadata to be flattened\n    prefix - (optional) prefix for the metadata values. default=None\n    '
    new_meta = {}
    for key in meta:
        if prefix:
            val = (prefix + ':')
        else:
            val = 
        if ('value' in meta[key]):
            val += str(meta[key]['value'])
        if ('units' in meta[key]):
            val += (';' + str(meta[key]['units']))
        new_meta[key] = val
    return new_meta