Find the Property Model Nodes Hiding in Your Scene

A crowded molecular scene can make a simple task surprisingly slow: finding the property model nodes you want to inspect, hide, or distinguish from everything else. Node Specification Language (NSL) offers a compact way to describe those nodes with searchable expressions, so you can focus on a specific category instead of hunting through the scene one item at a time.

This guide focuses on one useful slice of NSL: the propertyModel attribute space. Its short prefix is pm, and it matches only property model nodes. That scope matters. Starting an expression with pm keeps the query focused on property models rather than nodes of other kinds.

Start with the kind of question you have

Before writing an expression, decide what you are trying to find. Is the property model named a certain way? Is it currently visible? Does it have material? The attribute table gives each question a full name, a short name where available, and examples of the corresponding syntax.

  • Find by name: pm.name "A" or the shorter pm.n "A". The documentation also shows pm.n "L*" as a name expression.
  • Check visibility: pm.visible or its short form pm.v. To express the opposite condition, use not pm.v.
  • Check whether it is hidden: pm.hidden or pm.h; for the opposite condition, use not pm.h.
  • Check material-related attributes: use pm.hasMaterial or pm.hm, and pm.ownsMaterial or pm.om.

These examples make a useful starting point when a scene feels difficult to navigate. If you remember only one pattern, remember the prefix: pm identifies the property-model attribute space, while the part after the dot states the attribute you want to test.

Short names are handy—but not universal

Several attributes have concise aliases: name becomes n, hidden becomes h, and visible becomes v. The reference also lists selectionFlag as sf and visibilityFlag as vf. For example, it shows pm.sf false, pm.sf, pm.vf false, and pm.vf.

One easy-to-miss detail: selected is available as pm.selected, but this attribute space does not provide the short name s for it. If a remembered shortcut does not work for a property model query, check the attribute table before assuming the attribute is unavailable. Full names are often easier to recognize while you are learning; aliases can make familiar queries quicker to type.

Keep similar-looking attributes separate

The list includes both visible and visibilityFlag, as well as both selected and selectionFlag. They are separate attributes in the reference, with separate expressions. For example, pm.v refers to visible, while pm.vf refers to visibilityFlag. Likewise, pm.selected and pm.sf name different attributes. Don’t substitute one for another just because their names sound related; use the attribute that matches the question you intend to ask.

The property-model page says these attributes are inherited from the general node attribute space. That gives you a practical route for learning: if you need the detailed meaning of an inherited attribute, follow its link to the corresponding node attribute documentation. The property-model reference is still the place to check which attributes are available in this particular space and which short forms it supports.

A small query checklist

  1. Confirm that you are looking for property model nodes, then begin with pm.
  2. Choose the attribute that matches your question: name, visibility, hidden state, selection, or material.
  3. Use the full name if it is clearer, or the listed short name if one is available.
  4. For a Boolean attribute, try the positive form, such as pm.v, or the documented negation form, such as not pm.v.

These small distinctions can make a scene easier to reason about: the query says what you are looking for, and the attribute table helps avoid confusing a property model’s visibility with its visibility flag, or its selection state with its selection flag. For the complete attribute reference and additional NSL examples, see the property model attributes documentation.

Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON.

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