If you’ve ever needed to move a molecular modeling project from one system to another, collaborate seamlessly with a colleague, or archive an entire workflow for reproducibility, you may have run into the challenge of keeping everything organized and intact. Files can get misplaced, dependencies broken, and internal paths go awry, making the experience frustrating and time-consuming.
SAMSON, the integrative molecular design platform, offers a feature that directly addresses this issue: Universal File Embedding inside SAMSON Documents.
What is Universal File Embedding?
Universal File Embedding allows you to store not just molecules and simulations in your SAMSON Documents, but also any number of additional files and folders—including Python scripts, machine learning tools, notebooks, images, spreadsheets, and even research papers. These embedded items travel along with the document, making it fully self-contained.
Why is this useful?
- Portability: Move your entire molecular project between computers without worrying about file links or directory structures.
- Reproducibility: Every file and script used in your project is captured in one place.
- Collaboration: Share a single document containing everything your colleagues need to reproduce or continue your work.
Embedding Files and Folders into a Document
You can embed content either by dragging and dropping files or folders directly into the SAMSON interface or by using the Home > Embed files or Home > Embed folders options from the menu.
Upon doing this, SAMSON will ask if you’d like to embed the files, ensuring that they become part of the document itself. This makes the document portable and self-sufficient. That embedded data is not merely linked—it’s stored inside the document.
Sharing Documents with Others
Once your document is set up, you can share it with others directly via SAMSON Connect. Under Home > Publish, you’ll find options to publish the document and configure its visibility as Public, Hidden, or Restricted. This works well for both public materials and private collaborations.
Colleagues can then download the document from Home > Download and immediately access the fully embedded version—no additional setup needed.
Conclusion
Whether you’re collaborating across institutions, teaching in a classroom, or working remotely across devices, being able to encapsulate your entire molecular modeling environment—including tools, data, and notes—into a single self-contained document is a helpful capability.
Learn more in the documentation.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON here.