Sharing molecular models and research assets can quickly become complicated, especially across different operating systems, devices, or institutions. Have you ever found yourself emailing multiple files, trying to ensure your collaborator opens the correct version with the right parameters? Or needing to provide not just molecular structures but also scripts, datasets, or notes to give context? That’s where SAMSON’s shared documents feature comes in handy.
With SAMSON Connect, you can easily share your entire molecular design project in a structured, organized fashion. This isn’t just about sending a file—it’s about enabling real-time collaboration or asynchronous sharing with clarity and control over who can access or edit your work.
What Is a SAMSON Document?
In SAMSON, a Document isn’t just a file. It’s a container for everything: molecular structures, simulations, annotations, models, and even external resources like Python scripts, data files, and images. Documents are at the heart of your molecular design workflow, and they can hold as many details as needed to make your science reproducible and shareable.
How to Share a Document
Once your molecules and associated materials are in a Document, sharing takes just a few steps:
- Go to the Home tab.
- Select Publish.
- Provide the name, description, and choose your visibility settings.
- Click Publish document. That’s it!
You’ll then receive a shareable link.
Control Who Sees What
When publishing, you can choose how visible your document is to others:
- Public: Anyone can access the document, though only selected users can edit it.
- Hidden: Only people with the link can access it. Again, editing requires permissions.
- Restricted: Both usage and editing require permission.
This control makes it flexible to publish educational resources, share datasets with collaborators, or even manage pre-publication confidentiality.
Downloading Shared Documents
If someone shares a document with you, you can access it through Home > Download directly in SAMSON. This keeps everything within the same interface—no external tools or conversions necessary.
Everything Stays Intact
Thanks to document self-containment, all embedded files travel together—scripts, datasets, images, text files—ensuring that what your collaborator opens is exactly what you meant to share. There’s no need to worry about missing files or broken paths.
Great for Teams, Research Groups, and Educators
Whether you’re working across a lab or contributing to a collaborative research project, SAMSON’s document sharing is a practical way to centralize and distribute molecular content. Educators preparing materials for students can share fully configured learning environments, complete with embedded notes and examples.
To learn more, visit the corresponding documentation page.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON here.