Metamolecular Company Blog

A 2D Chemical Structure Editor for the Web: An Introduction to ChemWriter

A 2D chemical structure editor is a key component of any cheminformatics system. Linking people specializing in the fields of chemistry and computer science, the structure editor is the last mile in bringing powerful molecular search and analysis tools to chemists’ desktops. A well-designed structure editor plays a key role in getting the most out of a cheminformatics investment.

Mixing Chemical Structures and the Internet

The Web presents special challenges in designing user-friendly cheminformatics systems. One of the biggest is coping with the diverse array of platforms, browsers, and plugins on client machines. The ideal solution must work on all modern platforms.

Look and feel are also important. The highly interactive nature of 2D chemical structure editors means that a structure editor needs to be responsive and intuitive. Users have little patience for slow-loading components.

Managing these requirements takes an editor that developers can reliably deploy without complications.

ChemWriter: Different by Design

ChemWriter™ was designed from the outset to be used as a 2D structure editor for Web applications. To make this possible, we’ve paid close attention to perfecting these qualities:

• A clean interface with major functionality in plain sight. ChemWriter uses industry standard user interface conventions, significantly reducing the learning curve for beginners.
• Fast start-up. ChemWriter should start up and be fully functional within 5-10 seconds with most systems and network connections. Signed Java applet dialogs will never appear when you use ChemWriter.
• Working well in cramped places. Web applications often must work in confined spaces that can’t be dynamically resized. ChemWriter recognizes this with coordinated zoom and scrolling capabilities that accommodate any level of magnification.
• Attractive, readable structures. ChemWriter makes full use of the Java 2D graphics API to create structures that are both attractive and readable at a variety of magnifications.
• Fast drawing of good-looking structures made simple. Drawing a structure is usually the first step in answering a more important question; it should take as little time as possible. ChemWriter’s intuitive keyboard shortcut system minimizes mouse movement and clicking, leading to faster drawing. ChemWriter’s use of overridable drawing constraints (‘snap-to’) makes it easy to create good-looking structures quickly.
• Support for industry standards. ChemWriter supports MDL’s Molfile format, the industry standard for 2D structure interchange. A demonstration of the transfer of a Molfile from one ChemWriter component to another illustrates the simple process.
• Configurability. Your Web pages are unique in the way they look and act. ChemWriter supports your need for customization with an extensive set of developer-definable parameters. The ChemWriter Developer Guide has more details.

See for Yourself

The Metamolecular Website hosts a growing collection of ChemWriter demonstrations:

• Transferring Molecules With ChemWriter
• Top Ten Best-Selling Drugs Worldwide With Structures 2006
• ChemWriter and the Java Deployment Toolkit

If you’re interested in using ChemWriter in your organization, please contact us for licensing information.