Draw Structures Faster!
One frequent comment from ChemDoodle users is that it takes too many clicks to draw a structure. Well, we have listened to your suggestions and have provided two significant changes in ChemDoodle 3 to make sketching structures easy and quick, while remaining intuitive. The first change is an overhaul of the lasso and transform tools into a single, streamlined utility. The second change is the introduction of dozens of new keyboard shortcuts for editing molecules and accessing functions. ChemDoodle 3 is a free upgrade for all customers of ChemDoodle 1 or 2.
New Lasso and Transform Mode
Combined Lasso/Transform Tools
Previously, there were three different functions for selecting content on the Doodle Sheet: the lasso, rectangular marquee, and an individual selection tool. After the content was selected, the Transform mode button must then be clicked before content could be moved or edited, and then you would need to switch back and forth frequently if you needed to do a lot of changes. This was quite tedious, so we have redesigned the system to make it easy and straightforward.
After careful planning, we decided the best system was to merge the selection and transform functions into a single, context-sensitive utility. This new mode performs selections and transformations based on what content is selected and where the mouse is positioned. The learning curve will be slightly more difficult, but after a half-hour of working with it, everyone will be satisfied. The basics are shown in the first video (make sure to change the resolution to 720p for the crispest graphics) and described in detail below.
If nothing is selected, hovering over content will change the cursor to an open hand. When hovered content is clicked and dragged, the content will be manipulated just as it would have been with the old Transform tool. If the alt key is held while content is hovered, the cursor will change to pointer and that single element will be selected if clicked. If nothing is hovered, clicking and dragging will lasso content or select content within a rectangular marquee based on the selection mode.
If content is selected, hovering over the various parts of the selection area will enable the same context sensitive commands that were available with the old Transform tool. Hovering over the selection will change the cursor to an open hand, where clicking and dragging will allow you to translate the content. Hovering over the top-left or bottom-right anchor positions will change the cursor to a crosshair, and clicking and dragging will allow you to scale the content. Holding the shift key while scaling will preserve the aspect ratio. Hovering around the border of the selection, the cursor will change to a rotation symbol, and clicking and dragging will rotate the content. While not hovering over the selection, clicking and dragging will select new content. Holding the shift key while clicking and dragging will add or remove content from the current selection. Holding the alt key while clicking will allow you to add or remove single objects from the selection. Holding both shift and alt when clicking on a highlighted atom will add/remove the entire molecule from the selection. Clicking outside of the selected area with no modifier keys pressed will empty the selection.
No longer will you need to constantly switch between modes while selecting and editing content in ChemDoodle. Additionally, at any time, if you press the tab key, ChemDoodle will automatically select the last content created and will enter into the new lasso mode. Pressing the tab key while shift is held will empty the selection, leave the new lasso mode, and will enter into the single bond mode so you can continue to draw your structures.
New Keyboard System for Growing Structures
Our work on the Doodler component for the ChemDoodle Web Components provided us with an opportunity to innovate new ways to draw structures without using buttons. We liked the system so much that we implemented and extended it in ChemDoodle. So now when using ChemDoodle, there are certain editing features that can be accessed in any mode by using the keyboard when atoms or bonds are hovered. The basics are shown in the second video (make sure to change the resolution to 720p for the crispest graphics) and described in detail below.
When atoms are hovered, pressing letters will cycle through the elements that begin with that letter. So pressing the H key will cycle the atom’s label through H, He, Ho, Hf, Hg and Hs. Pressing the space key will open up the atom label text area so you may type whatever you please; pressing return or enter will close the text area. Pressing numbers will append substituents to the atom in a correct orientation. Pressing 0-9 without any modifiers will attach a chain of that length (0 for length 10). Pressing 3-9 while holding the shift key will attach a ring of that size. Pressing 3-9 while holding the alt key will attach a unsaturated ring of that size. So if you are hovered over an atom and you press 6, a chain of length 6 will be attached. Pressing 6 while holding the shift key down will attach a cyclohexane ring. Pressing 6 while holding the alt key down will attach a benzene ring. Lastly, hitting the delete or backspace key will remove the atom and any attached bonds.
When bonds are hovered, bond types can be changed by pressing the number keys. Pressing 2 will change the bond to a double bond and so forth. Modifiers can be held to access other bond types: pressing 2 while holding the shift key down will change the bond type to an ambiguous double bond. Pressing the F key will flip the bond orientation, such that wedge bonds will face the other direction and double bonds will change which ring they face in fused systems. Lastly, hitting the delete or backspace key will remove the bond but the constituent atoms will remain.
We are dedicated to providing the easiest, most intuitive and most powerful interfaces for editing chemical structures. We know you will be satisfied with the new system and we plan to continue to advance it. In the ChemDoodle/docs folder that is provided in the ChemDoodle download, there is a file named KeyboardShortcuts.pdf which contains all of the hotkeys and keyboard functions that can be performed in ChemDoodle. It will be at least 4 pages for ChemDoodle 3.
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