[Jmol-users] getProperty -- synchronous applet interface -- JSON

[Bob H. <ha...@st...>]

Jmol developers and users -- applet:

I'm developing a simple JavaScript interface that could in principle 
replace many or all requirements for applet callbacks. The development 
page is at

http://www.stolaf.edu/people/hansonr/jmol/test/json/json.htm

This uses a so-far-unreleased version of the Jmol applet. I'm 
interested in whether this page works for you, especially if you have 
a Mac. It uses a communication method we haven't used before with the 
applet -- direct synchronous JavaScript, using JSON (JavaScript Object 
Notation). That is, you call the function

   info=jmolApplet0.getProperty("atomInfo","(selected and not water)")

for example,

and the "info" variable is directly filled with the requested 
information. This is in contrast to

  jmolApplet0.script()

for example, which does not directly return a value -- operates 
"asynchronously".

Two nice examples of what this can do are there:

1. Click on "monitor orientation on/off" and then drag the model 
around. Fun, eh?

2. Drag the model with zoom and then click on "load THIS orientation". 
You won't see much more than a flutter, yet the model has been 
completely reloaded. That's because it uses

  info=jmolAppletX.getProperty("orientationInfo")

to first get the current orientation and

  info=jmolAppletX.getProperty("fileName")

to get the currently loaded file name, then puts them together into a 
single script to reload the file with a set of rotations to reorient 
it as before.

Please do give this a try and let me know what you think.

I have some ideas of how we could use this to completely replace 
callbacks (replacing them with setTimeout() polling of Jmol properties 
instead).

Bob Hanson

-- 

Robert M. Hanson, ha...@st..., 507-646-3107
Professor of Chemistry, St. Olaf College
1520 St. Olaf Ave., Northfield, MN 55057
mailto:ha...@st...
http://www.stolaf.edu/people/hansonr

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."  - Albert Einstein