Molecular modelers working with complex structures often face a common challenge: how to find and edit only the relevant properties from a sea of attributes. Whether you’re tweaking atomic positions or checking element types, scanning through dozens (if not hundreds) of properties can slow you down—and sometimes cause you to miss crucial adjustments.
SAMSON’s Inspector offers a simple yet highly effective solution: attribute filtering. This feature can help you narrow down what you see in real time, letting you focus directly on the properties that matter to you, without additional clutter. In this blog post, we’ll introduce this feature and walk you through a practical workflow that can save time and reduce errors during molecular editing tasks.
What is Attribute Filtering?
Attribute filtering is a feature inside the Inspector that helps you display only the attributes you are interested in. When you select one or more atoms (or any node type), the Inspector typically shows all their attributes, grouped by type. But if you only want to see the coordinates or the charge, for example, scrolling through all attributes isn’t ideal.
Instead, you can simply type a keyword—such as position—into the filter bar. All matching attributes will be presented immediately, hiding everything else. This is especially useful when working with large or mixed selections.
Step-by-Step: Modifying an Atom’s Position Using Filtering
- Select an atom: Use the selection tool to click on an atom or a group of atoms.
- Open the Inspector: Go to Interface > Inspector, or use the Ctrl + 2 shortcut on Windows/Linux or Cmd + 2 on macOS.
- Type
positioninto the filter bar: Attributes will be filtered in real time. Only thepositionattributes will remain visible. - Change the values: Modify the position values to move the atom. You’ll see the change happen in your scene live.
Why It Matters
This can be especially helpful when you’re dealing with selected groups of atoms. For example, suppose you want to align part of a protein by updating positions. Without filtering, you’d be inspecting atomic numbers, masses, and visualization parameters to find the coordinates buried among them. With filtering, you jump straight to the point.
And yes—it’s not just about speed. Focusing only on what’s needed reduces the chance of accidental modifications and keeps your workflow tidy.
Making Bulk Edits
If you select multiple atoms and modify one attribute—for instance, position—all atoms of the same type will be updated accordingly. Be aware that the Relative option allows you to preserve the internal structure of the group. Disabling it assigns the same coordinates to all selected atoms, collapsing them to one point. Make sure to experiment with this safely by taking advantage of the history and undo features.
Final Thoughts
The attribute filter in the Inspector may seem like a minor interface feature, but for everyday molecular modeling tasks, it’s more than a convenience—it’s a boost in precision and efficiency. Whether you’re a student learning to visualize DNA, or a researcher editing protein fragments for simulations, this tool gives you the focus needed for fine-grained control. Try incorporating it into your workflow and you might be surprised at how much time you save.
To learn more about inspection and attribute manipulation in SAMSON, visit the official documentation page: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/inspecting/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON here.