When a molecular model needs repositioning, editing atoms one at a time is tedious—and setting every atom to the same coordinates can collapse the group into a single point. The Inspector offers a more controlled approach: edit a shared attribute across selected atoms, while using the Relative option to determine whether their positions change together or become identical.
Start with the selection
Select the atoms you want to edit, then open the Inspector from Interface > Inspector, with Ctrl+2 on Windows or Linux, or Cmd+2 on Mac. You can also open it from the selection’s context toolbar.
Selection defines the scope of an Inspector edit. Before changing anything, check that the intended atoms are selected. The Inspector organizes available attributes by node type and attribute group, so a selection containing different kinds of nodes may show several groups.
Choose how positions should change
With multiple atoms selected, you can edit their position through the Inspector. The key choice is whether Relative is on:
- Relative on: changing the position moves the selected atoms while retaining their positions relative to one another. This is the setting to use when you want to reposition a group without changing its internal arrangement.
- Relative off: the selected atoms’ positions are changed to the same value. This does not preserve the group’s shape.
In practical terms, the Relative setting determines whether the edit applies as a group displacement or assigns a common position value. If your goal is to move a group intact, leave Relative enabled.
Use the Inspector as a focused editor
The Inspector is useful when you know which property you want to adjust but do not want to search through every attribute group. Type a term such as position into the filter to show matching attributes. With at least one atom selected, this narrows the view to relevant position properties.
After finding the attribute, make a small edit and observe the result in the structure. For position changes, the selected atoms move as you modify the values. Filtering keeps the relevant controls in view, which can make it easier to focus on the adjustment rather than scan unrelated properties.
Know what the displayed value represents
When several nodes of the same type are selected, the Inspector displays the attribute values of the last selected node of that type. For example, with multiple atoms selected, the displayed position is that of the atom selected last. This is important when interpreting the value shown: it is not necessarily a summary of every selected atom.
At the same time, modifying an attribute changes it for all selected nodes of the same type. So the value you see can come from the last-selected atom, while the edit affects the selected atoms together. Keep that distinction in mind when checking a group edit.
A simple, cautious workflow
- Select the atoms that should move together.
- Open the Inspector and filter for
position. - Confirm that Relative is on if you want to retain the atoms’ relative positions.
- Change the position and inspect the result.
- If the result is not what you intended, undo the change using SAMSON’s history mechanism.
This workflow helps avoid a common modeling frustration: making a group-level adjustment only to discover that the atoms no longer retain their intended arrangement. For more about the Inspector and its attributes, see the original documentation page.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON.