From rrk@iris3.chem.fsu.edu  Sat May 22 18:34:02 1993
Date: Sat, 22 May 93 22:34:02 -0400
From: rrk@iris3.chem.fsu.edu (Randal R. Ketchem)
Message-Id: <9305230234.AA15133@iris3.chem.fsu.edu>
To: chemistry@ccl.net
Subject: Re: Coordinate Transformation



Feng Chen asks for molecular rotation software. The following is from the
README file for xmol:

XMol is based on the X Window System and uses OSF/Motif 1.1 for the
display and analysis of molecular data.  Data from several common file
formats can be read and written.  Formats currently supported include:
Alchemy, CHEMLAB-II, Gaussian, MOLSIM, MOPAC, PDB, and MSCI's XYZ
format.  XMol can also be used to convert data between some of these
formats.  Version 1.3.1 does not provide model building or model
editing capabilities.

XMol includes a number of capabilities and features some of which are:

    support for color or monochrome displays
    interactive, mouse-driven rotation of models
    precise, keyboard-driven rotation of models
    animation of multiple-step data files
    the ability to attach 3-D vectors to atoms
    measurement of distances, angles, and dihedral angles
    context-sensitive help
    Encapsulated PostScript output

Version 1.3.1 has a number of new features, as well as improved ones,
that make it easier for you to use the package:

    default input and output formats can now be specified on the command
    line or in the X-resource file

    input file names can now be specified on the command line

    standard Motif selection boxes are now used for reading and saving
    files

XMol is available for DECstation, Silicon Graphics IRIS-4D, SPARCstation,
and Sun-3 architectures.  We are currently assessing the prospect of
an RS/6000 version of XMol.  MSCI is making this release of XMol publicly
available to anyone through internet ftp access.


HOW TO GET XMOL VERSION 1.3.1

    Make a directory to contain the XMol files, and 'cd' into that
    directory.

    Perform an 'ftp' to 'ftp.msc.edu'.

    Enter 'anonymous' as username.

    Enter your e-mail address as password (eg., user@school.edu).

    Enter the following commands at the ftp prompt:

         cd pub/xmol
         binary
         mget README xmol.tar xmol.arch
                                   ----
         quit

      ...where "arch" is the architecture type of your machine:  mips,
      sgi, sun3, or sun4.

    Un-package the distribution with the command 'tar xvf xmol.tar'.

    Run 'sh INSTALL' to get XMol up and running.