Department of Chemistry
The University of Arizona

Authored By: Abby L. Parrill and Jacquelyn Gervay
Funded by NSF

Molecule Viewing Information

To View Molecules, Follow the Following Steps

1. Obtain a helper application which can view pdb (Protein Databank) format molecules

For viewing on Macintosh

Obtain RasMac by anonymous ftp at ftp.dcs.ed.ac.uk/pub/rasmol or by bringing a formatted disk to Old Chemistry rm. 304. Use BinHex 4.0 or StuffIt Expander to convert the file and decompress it.

For viewing on PC

Obtain RasWin by anonymous ftp at ftp.dcs.ed.ac.uk/pub/rasmol and unzip the file.

2. Make sure your web browser has a chemical/x-pdb mime type

For Netscape

Under the "Options" menu, select "Preferences". Use the menu bar in the top of the window which opens to select "Helper Applications:. Scroll through the list which comes up to see if there is a chemical/x-pdb mime type listed. If there is not, click on "New...". Enter chemical for the mime type, x-pdb as the mime subtype and click "OK".

3. Configure your browser to launch your helper application

For Netscape

Select "Launch Application" for the action and click "Browse...". Provide the path to your copy of RasMac or RasWin and click "OK".