When working on molecular simulations, structural predictions, or drug design pipelines, you often find yourself needing to export your molecular models for use in other tools. Whether it’s to share your structure with colleagues, analyze it with a different software, or include it in a publication, the format you choose can significantly impact your workflow. Yet, deciding how to export a molecular structure often feels like deciphering a complex menu.
This is where SAMSON comes in. SAMSON helps by offering a flexible set of Exporters — dedicated tools that let you save the contents of your molecular document in a format that’s compatible with your goals and pipeline. Let’s unpack what these exporters do, why they matter, and how they can make your molecular modeling workflows smoother.
What Is a SAMSON Exporter?
In SAMSON, Exporters are extensions designed specifically to save different kinds of data from your project. Common exporters include:
- PDB Exporter: For exporting structures in the standardized Protein Data Bank format.
- XYZ Exporter: Useful for saving atomic coordinates, especially in ab initio calculations.
Exporters ensure your data is saved correctly with the minimum loss of information and in a format that plays well with a wide variety of bioinformatics or molecular modeling software.
Why Export Formats Matter
Different software have different format preferences and compatibilities. For example:
- Visualization tools like PyMOL often require PDB input.
- Molecular dynamics packages like GROMACS may need a specific topology alongside structural data.
- Quantum chemistry software may only accept XYZ or Gaussian formats.
Choosing the right exporter reduces the likelihood of having to fix errors caused by incompatible file types — something that can be both confusing and time-consuming.
Can’t Find the Export Format You Need?
SAMSON comes with a set of exporters by default that covers many common use cases. But if your workflow needs something different, you can explore and install more exporters through SAMSON Connect. You’ll find extensions that are developed both by the SAMSON team and the community, which means the ecosystem is always growing.
Still can’t find what you’re looking for? You can contact the team or even consider developing your own exporters using the extension generation tools offered by SAMSON.
Get a Full Picture of Supported Formats
For a detailed list of all file formats currently supported by SAMSON, including both import and export capabilities, you can check the up-to-date overview here:
All supported formats.
By understanding what formats you can export to and which exporters to use, you make your models more portable, your collaborations more straightforward, and your simulations more integrated.
To learn more about how SAMSON handles exporters and how to integrate them in your daily modeling work, please visit the full documentation page:
https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/exporters/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.