Help - Instructions

General Instructions

The 3-D Virtual Chemistry Library makes use of frames, and a limited amount of Java Script. Please view the pages with capable browsers

(OBSOLETE)

Netscape Navigator 3.0 or Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3.0 are recommended.

To see all of the information available - it is advised that you have the following viewer programs on your system:

Chemscape Chime - embeded pdb structure plug-in from MDL (All platforms).
Rasmol - pdb viewer (All platforms).
WebFX - VRML viewer (PC).
Webspace - VRML viewer (SGI)

Screen Layout

The screen is divided into three main areas or "frames":

Ever present in the top-left of the screen is the Master Index - this contains all of the main links and subject headings, and also has a pointer to these instructions.
A heading clicked in the Master Index will load up in the largest frame on the page. This will include all text and image information, such as the Contents List or Glossary - which if necessary will load up a further index in the remaining frame.
The last frame, in the bottom-left of the page - is used when viewing the complete list of molecules within the library. The initial choice is made from a list of seven molecular categories. The choice, for example, of Simple Molecules, gives a sub-list of molecular types within the main group - in this case five sub-categories. Choosing one of these sub-categories gives the list of molecules within that category in the bottom-left frame - from there the target molecule is chosen.

Molecule Layout

Once a molecule has been chosen - it is displayed in the main frame. You will see that the frame is sub divided into two, with a small header frame at the top of the page. Within this frame are the three buttons wich provide the information for the chosen molecule. These buttons are labelled Background, Safety and Images:

Background - provides a simple .gif image of the molecule, together with some relevant information for that molecule. Below the information is a Chemscape Chime Model of the molecule - for more information on Chime please see here. To view some more notable aspects of the molecular structure, most models have clickable buttons to allow the important sections to show up clearer.
Safety - provides a simple .gif image of the molecule and a table of safety and physical properties. For a description of the hazard symbols please see the following link.
Images - also gives the gif image, together with a table comprising three different image formats, a .gif image, a Brookhaven PDB file which can be viewed with a pdb viewer within the browser (eg. Rasmol), and the final format is the molecule in VRML, which can be viewed with a VRML viewer such as WebFX or Live3D.