Making Molecular Notes More Accessible with Note Attributes in SAMSON

For molecular modelers working on complex projects, managing and interacting with notes effectively can be critical. But how do you optimize your workflow to quickly locate, organize, or filter these notes? SAMSON’s Node Specification Language (NSL) provides a simple yet powerful way to navigate and manipulate molecular notes using note attributes.

In this post, we’ll explore the key note attributes available in SAMSON’s NSL and how you can use them to solve common pain points when managing note nodes. By mastering these attributes, you can filter visible notes, highlight specific elements, and streamline your modeling efforts.

What Are Note Attributes?

Note attributes are part of the note attribute space in NSL, identified with the short name nt. They apply specifically to note nodes, allowing you to focus on them without affecting other types of nodes in your model.

Here’s the best part: most of these attributes inherit functionality from the general node attribute space, offering familiar behaviors for experienced SAMSON users, but tailored to notes.

Key Attributes for Note Management

Let’s take a closer look at the most useful note attributes and how they can make managing notes smoother:

Hidden (h)

The hidden attribute controls whether a note is hidden or visible in your workspace. Acceptable values are true and false. For example, to check if a note is hidden, you can use:

Alternatively, to filter notes that are not hidden:

Name (n)

If you work with notes that follow specific naming conventions, the name attribute can help you locate them. Input names as strings within quotes. For example:

You can also use wildcards to match patterns, such as:

Selected

Want to isolate selected notes? Use the selected attribute. For example:

Or filter out unselected notes:

SelectionFlag (sf)

The selectionFlag attribute goes one step further by letting you check or set selection flags explicitly:

This ensures only flagged notes are targeted in your operations.

VisibilityFlag (vf)

Similar to selectionFlag, the visibilityFlag attribute lets you toggle visibility programmatically. For instance:

Hiding clutter becomes simple with this attribute as part of your workflow.

Visible (v)

The visible attribute checks whether a note node is currently visible. A typical expression might look like:

Or to exclude visible notes:

Why Use These Attributes?

Imagine you’re working on a detailed molecular model with countless annotations and tags. Without filtering tools, sifting through them for specific context could be an overwhelming task. By applying note attributes like name, hidden, and selected, you can save time and focus only on what matters. For example, checking visibility with nt.v ensures important notes remain prominent, while hiding unnecessary ones preserves clarity.

Enhance Your Modeling Workflow

SAMSON’s note attributes open up convenient ways to manage and customize your molecular design workspace. Whether you want to streamline note visibility, filter selections, or locate notes by name, NSL lets you optimize your workflow efficiently.

Check out the full documentation on note attributes for more detailed examples and use cases: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/nsl/note/.

SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.