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Published on: December 25, 2021
FlaME: Flash Molecular Editor - a 2D structure input tool for the web
Pavel Dallakian1, Norbert Haider
1Department of Drug and Natural Product Synthesis, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. pavel.dallakian@univie.ac.at.
This study introduces the Flash Molecular Editor (FlaME), a novel web-based tool for 2D chemical structure input and editing. FlaME demonstrates the feasibility of using Flash technology for molecular visualization and data exchange online.
Area of Science:
- Computational Chemistry
- Web Development
- Cheminformatics
Background:
- No prior Flash-based web tools existed for chemical structure input.
- The Java Molecular Editor (JME) served as a reference model.
- Adobe's Flash technology and ActionScript were utilized.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a compact and user-friendly 2D structure editor for the web.
- To assess the feasibility of Flash technology for molecular editing.
- To implement core functionalities of JME in a Flash application.
Main Methods:
- Development of the Flash Molecular Editor (FlaME).
- Implementation of structure input, editing, and depiction.
- Data import/export in molfile format.
- Integration with web pages using JavaScript functions (getMol(), setMol()).
Main Results:
- FlaME successfully created a subset of JME's functionality.
- Molecular diagrams are exportable in V2000 molfile format.
- JavaScript functions enabled seamless communication between FlaME and HTML elements.
- Structures can be copied to the system clipboard.
Conclusions:
- Flash technology is suitable for creating web-based 2D molecular structure editors.
- The developed tool demonstrates effective communication between Flash applications and web pages.
- FlaME represents a significant step towards accessible online chemical structure manipulation.
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