When working with molecular models, experimentation is essential — but mistakes are inevitable. Whether it’s an accidental deletion, a misalignment, or even just curiosity to explore alternate paths, having the ability to retrace your steps without losing progress is crucial.
SAMSON, the integrative molecular design platform, addresses this common issue with a built-in History mechanism that supports Undo and Redo of most operations. This feature is particularly useful for developers, researchers, and students who are iteratively editing structures or testing simulations.
Each document in SAMSON keeps track of its own independent history, which is a chronological log of actions performed. This means that changes to distinct documents don’t interfere with each other, letting you navigate back and forth in a non-linear editing environment.
Accessing the History View
The easiest way to visualize and manage your document’s history is through the History View. You can access it by navigating to:
Interface > History
Or use keyboard shortcuts:
- Ctrl + 3 on Windows and Linux
- Cmd + 3 on macOS
This opens up a panel displaying all tracked operations in a timeline-like manner.
Undo and Redo: Keyboard Shortcuts
If you want to move backwards or forwards quickly through your actions, simple keyboard shortcuts are available:
- Undo:
Ctrl + Z(Windows/Linux),Cmd + Z(Mac) - Redo:
Ctrl + Y(Windows/Linux),Cmd + Y(Mac)
These are accessible from the Edit menu as well, which makes it convenient to use no matter your workflow style.
Interactive Time Travel
What sets SAMSON apart is the ability to click directly on a specific action in the History View. This lets you “jump” to an earlier or later point in your modeling process, making it easy to compare outcomes or revert undesired changes without needing to remember exact sequences.
Limitations to Consider
It’s important to be aware that not all operations are undoable. Some highly complex or non-reversible operations create a break in the history, and if such actions occur between tradionally undoable steps, they may prevent proper rollback of earlier changes.
For this reason, especially if you’re running sensitive simulations or large batch edits, you may want to save checkpoints by duplicating the document or exporting intermediate files.
Conclusion
The Undo and Redo functions in SAMSON give you a safety net, allowing for a smoother and more forgiving modeling workflow. Whether you’re learning from trial and error, or just want the freedom to explore different paths without the fear of losing your progress, this feature is indispensable.
To explore this feature in more detail, visit the original documentation page here: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/history/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.