Mastering Animation Attributes in SAMSON’s NSL

Molecular modeling often involves navigating large and complex molecular systems, especially when working with animations to visualize processes. If you’re using the SAMSON molecular design platform, understanding Animation attributes in the Node Specification Language (NSL) can simplify this process significantly and save you time.

Animation attributes belong to the animation attribute space (short name: an) in SAMSON’s NSL. These attributes are specific to animation nodes and help you control their visibility, selection state, and naming conventions. By leveraging these attributes effectively, you can make your modeling workflow more efficient.

What Are Animation Attributes?

Animation attributes are a set of properties in the NSL that allow you to manage the visibility and selection of animation nodes, as well as assign specific identifiers. For example, they include the following:

  • hidden (h): A Boolean attribute controlling whether the animation node is hidden. Possible values are true or false.
  • name (n): A string value to set or filter nodes by their name (e.g., an.n "A").
  • selected: Indicates whether the animation node is selected. (true or false). This attribute doesn’t have a short name.
  • selectionFlag (sf): Controls whether the animation node’s selection flag is enabled.
  • visibilityFlag (vf): Similar to the selection flag, but determines visibility behavior for nodes.
  • visible (v): Depends on the visibilityFlag state; when an.v is true, the node is visible in the animation.

Example Expressions

To help you get started, here are some practical examples of using Animation attributes in NSL:

Attribute Expression Description
Hidden an.h
not an.h		 Filter nodes that are hidden or not hidden.
Name an.n "L*" Filter nodes whose name starts with the letter ‘L’.
Selection an.selected
not an.selected		 Check whether nodes are selected or unselected.
VisibilityFlag an.vf false
an.vf		 Control or filter based on visibility flag settings.

Inherited Node Attributes

Many animation attributes are inherited from the broader node attribute space. For example, hidden and name originate from the node space, but retain their full functionality within the animation space.

Why Does This Matter?

Molecular modelers often need precise control over how their animations are displayed and manipulated. By mastering Animation attributes in SAMSON’s NSL, you can:

  • Quickly adjust visibility and selection states.
  • Effortlessly filter specific nodes by name or flags.
  • Simplify complex workflows by reducing manual node adjustments.

By understanding these tools, you can create cleaner models and focus more on the science, not the software navigations.

For more detailed information, visit the official Animation attributes documentation.

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

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