Molecular modeling can often feel repetitive when tasks like structure modification, selection, transformation, or even simple visualization require many manual steps. If you’ve ever wished there was a faster, more intuitive way to interact with your models—perhaps even generate nanotubes in just a few clicks—then you’ll be glad to explore Editors in SAMSON.
Editors in SAMSON are compact tools designed to streamline user interactions. Whether you’re selecting atoms, generating models, or applying rigid body transformations, these tools amplify your productivity by integrating directly into your modeling workflow. When one is active, it becomes your default tool for interacting with models—like switching to a brush in an image-editing application.
Here are some key use cases where SAMSON Editors can make a difference:
- Quick Structure Generation: Want to create a carbon nanotube without scripting or manually placing atoms? Some Editors allow you to generate complex structures in just a few clicks, cutting down setup time dramatically.
- Geometry Manipulation: Move, rotate, or deform parts of your molecular system interactively. Editors make it possible to control the molecular geometry visually, maintaining physics-based realism (e.g., through local rigidity constraints).
- Selection Efficiency: Instead of tedious list selection, use rectangle or brush-like selection tools to highlight parts of your system instantly, right in the viewport.
Everything is accessible from the left-side menu of the viewport within SAMSON. You’ll also find a quick-access bar in the top-left corner of the viewport tailored to your currently active editor, enabling one-click access to frequent commands.
You only need to focus on one at a time—SAMSON enforces a useful simplicity by allowing exactly one active editor. Switching is fast and intuitive, keeping your workspace clean and your intentions clear.
Want to find more Editors? Head over to SAMSON Connect, where you can browse, install, and update tools. These extensions integrate directly with the SAMSON interface, and since each Editor is tailored for specific modeling tasks, you can customize your experience based on your research focus.
And if you’re ready to go one step further, SAMSON offers the possibility of developing your own editors. With the Extension Generator and detailed developer documentation found in the Extension Generator documentation, you can build tools tailored to your lab or project, whether it’s new types of model generators or domain-specific transformation tools.
Click here to learn more about Editors in SAMSON.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.