First look: the interface

Use this page for a quick tour of the main parts of the SAMSON interface so you can recognize the menu, viewport, document view, inspector, history, and other core panels.

Read it before SAMSON interface when you need orientation first, or use it as a fast refresher before moving to navigation, structure loading, or a more detailed reference page.

What this page covers

This page identifies the main parts of the SAMSON interface and points you to the next page for navigation, loading structures, or the full interface reference.

Use it when instructions mention the menu, viewport, Document view, Inspector, History, Asset Browser, or Animator and you want to know where those areas are.

Main interface areas

The SAMSON interface is composed of several main parts, visible in the image below:

1. The menu gives you fast access to the main commands, workspaces, and opened documents.
2. The viewport shows a three-dimensional representation of the document.
3. The document view shows a representation of the structure of the document.
4. The history gives you a list of performed actions.
5. The inspector provides access to parameters of the chosen nodes (atoms, residues, molecules, etc).
6. The status bar may provide messages.
7. The assets provides access to asset libraries from which you can easily add atoms, fragments, molecules to construct your systems.
8. The animator lets you create a presentation and add or modify animation effects.

The SAMSON interface is automatically constructed from your SAMSON Extensions: the menu is populated with the functionality from the installed SAMSON Extensions.

You can easily find commands, apps, and editors using the Find everything search box on top of the menu.

For the full panel-by-panel reference, continue to SAMSON Interface.

Customization of the SAMSON interface

You may customize the SAMSON interface by rearranging the Document view, the History view, and the Inspector via drag-and-drop. These widgets and many other widgets for SAMSON Extensions can be docked together. To dock or undock a widget press on its title bar and move it where you want to place it and then release the mouse.

Note

Some windows in SAMSON (e.g., some Apps) may have a "Pin" icon () that you can use to keep the window always on top.

You can switch between different workspaces to modify the menu representation (see the top-left corner of the menu).

You can show or hide some parts of the SAMSON interface using the Interface menu or using the following shortcuts:

Parts of interface	Shortcut on ,	Shortcut on
SAMSON AI	Ctrl+0	Cmd+0
Document view	Ctrl+1	Cmd+1
Inspector	Ctrl+2	Cmd+2
History	Ctrl+3	Cmd+3
Asset browser	Ctrl+4	Cmd+4
Periodic table	Ctrl+5	Cmd+5
Job manager	Ctrl+6	Cmd+6
Animator	Ctrl+7	Cmd+7
Python console	Ctrl+8	Cmd+8
Code Editor	Ctrl+9	Cmd+9

You may also add commands, apps, and editors to your favorites - they will appear in special favorites sections () on top of the ribbon menu and in the Editors viewport menu (on the left side of the viewport). You can remove things from favorites by clicking on the corresponding icon.

The way you customized the interface of your SAMSON installation will be saved and loaded the next time you open SAMSON.

You can search for available commands, apps, editors, and documentation in the Find everything (1) box on top of the ribbon menu. From here, you can add commands, apps, and editors to your favorites by clicking on the () icon when hovering them.

1. Shortcut: Shift+E

For more details about the panels and shortcuts in this section, use the SAMSON Interface reference.

Next step

• Continue with Moving around if your next goal is camera control and viewport navigation.
• Continue with Loading molecules if you are ready to open or fetch a first structure.
• Continue with SAMSON interface if you want the deeper interface reference.