Database Connection
Contents
Connection of Jmol to databases
Jmol can connect to certain databases in order to directly retrieve structures. This applies to the Jmol application, to the JSmol HTML5 object and to the Jmol signed applet. (The unsigned applet is not allowed connection to external servers and so does not support this method.)
- Note: After changes (2016) in the way some databases allow access, old versions of Jmol will fail to retrieve the structures. Updating your Jmol will fix this problem. Example of this failure:
ERROR in script: unrecognized file format for file http://cactus.nci.nih.gov/chemical/structure/tylenol/file?format=sdf&get3d=True <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN"> <html><head> <title>301 Moved Permanently</title>
PDB
(The RCSB Protein Data Bank, also Wordlwide PDB, wwPDB)
Macromolecular structures may be retrieved from the PDB database:
- Using the Jmol application, top menu bar
File > Get PDB
. A dialog is displayed where you can type a 4-character PDB ID. - Using the script language: use an equal sign followed by the 4-character PDB ID (no spaces). Example:
load =1CRN
for crambin.
For additional options (nucleic acid secondary structure, validation or domain annotations), see the load
command
Ligand structures can also be retrieved (in CIF format) from the PDB:
- Using the Jmol application, top menu bar
File > Get PDB
. You must type an equal sign before the 3-character PDB ID of the ligand. - Using the script language: use two equal signs. Example:
load ==ETB
for ethyl-coenzyme A.
Database location
By default, Jmol will connect to the PDB server, at http://files.rcsb.org/view/ for macromolecules and at http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/files/ligand/ for ligands. To force the use of another server, you can do:
set loadFormat = " " set loadLigandFormat = " "
and put between the quotes the url in the proper request format; use %FILE
at the position where the PDB ID should be inserted into the url.
More details
Examples:
set loadFormat = "http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/files/%FILE.pdb.gz" set loadFormat = "http://www.ebi.ac.uk/msd-srv/oca/oca-bin/save-pdb?id=%FILE" set loadLigandFormat = "http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/files/ligand/%FILE.cif"
PDB Europe
EMBL-EBI's Protein Data Bank in Europe (PDBe) keeps a mirror of the PDB data.
To retrieve models from them, in mmCIF format:
- Using the script language: use an asterisk sign followed by the 4-character PDB ID (no spaces). Example:
load *1CRN
for crambin.
For additional options (nucleic acid secondary structure, validation or domain annotations), see the load
command
NCI/NIH
National Cancer Institute, CADD Group's Chemoinformatics Tools, Chemical Identifier Resolver (CACTUS server).
Chemical structures may be retrieved from this database by using a common name, a IUPAC name, a SMILES, an InChI, an InChIKey, a Chemical Abstracts registry number...
Note: the SMILES will be converted to a 3D model in the server.
- Using the Jmol application, top menu bar
File > Get MOL
. A dialog is displayed where you can type the name or identifier. - Using the script language: use a dollar sign followed by the name or identifier (no spaces). If the name contains spaces, enclose between quotes. Examples:
load $aspirin
;load "$acetylsalycilic acid"
Database location
By default, Jmol will connect to the CACTUS server at http://cactus.nci.nih.gov/chemical/structure To force the use of another server, you can do:
set nihResolverFormat = " " set smilesURLformat = " "
and put between the quotes the url in the proper request format; use %FILE
at the position where the name or ID should be inserted into the url.
More details
Examples:
set nihResolverFormat = "http://cactus.nci.nih.gov/chemical/structure/%FILE" set smilesURLformat = "http://cactus.nci.nih.gov/chemical/structure/%FILE/file?format=sdf&get3d=True"
PubChem
National Center for Biotechnology Information, PubChem.
Chemical structures may be retrieved from this database by name
- Using the Jmol application, top menu bar
File > Get MOL
. A dialog is displayed where you can type the name or identifier, prefixed with a : sign. - Using the script language: use a colon sign followed by the name or identifier (no spaces). If the name contains spaces, enclose between quotes. Examples:
load :aspirin
load ":acetylsalycilic acid"
- For a more explicit indication of the kind of identifier that is being provided, a tag and an extra colon are included:
load :name:tylenol
load :cas:103-90-2
load :cid:1983
load :smiles:CC(=O)Nc1ccc(cc1)O
// the :smiles: tag is required
Crystallographic Open Database
The COD website holds an open-access collection of crystal structures of organic, inorganic, metal-organic compounds and minerals, excluding biopolymers.
- (Feature added in Jmol Version 14.3.12_2015.01.21)
Chemical structures (in CIF format) may be retrieved from this database by numeric code
- Using the script language: use an equal sign followed by 'cod', a forward slash and the numeric code of the compound (no spaces). Example:
load =cod/1000041