Basics for using the ChemDraw plug-in

Introducing the CS ChemDraw Plugin

CambridgeSoft is very excited to announce the ChemDraw Plugin; ChemDraw for the WEB! This page describes its many features and uses, as well as contains links you'll want to bookmark to get up to the minute news on future updates, browser support, and a list of sites that use the ChemDraw Plugin. Bond with your browser in ways you never thought possible!

Follow these links for:

Information on Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 Support
Plugin Updates
Examples of the ChemDraw Plugin in Action
An Elemental Analysis Calculator you'll want on your bench top
The CambridgeSoft Plugin Home Page

...what is the ChemDraw Plugin and how can I use it

Simply put, the ChemDraw Plugin automatically turns your web browser into ChemDraw whenever a page containing an embedded ChemDraw document is encountered. The ChemDraw application you are familiar with launching from your desktop is never launched in this scenario; it is the separate and autonomous ChemDraw Plugin doing the work behind the scenes.

Below is an example of an empty ChemDraw Plugin window with scroll bars along the right and bottom of the window and a palette floating somewhere in the window's general vicinity.

To use the ChemDraw commands that you normally see in the Menu bar of the familiar ChemDraw application:

Point within the window above and right-click (Windows users) or point within the window above, press and hold the Ctrl key and hold down the mouse button (Macintosh users).
Drag the mouse button to the the sub menu of interest and then select from the available commands in the sub menu. The sub menu commands in the Plugin and are identical to the menu commands of the ChemDraw application.

To use the tools in the Tools palette:

Simply click a tool to activate it, then use it as you normally would within the ChemDraw application.

The tools and commands available in the ChemDraw Plugin will depend on whether you are using the Pro version (all features of ChemDraw); the Std version (less features than Pro) or the Net version (less features than Std). If you are not familiar with how the commands and tools work, you can refer to the ChemDraw User's Guide

As noted, this first example uses an empty ChemDraw document (in this case named "blank.cdx") as the data source for the Plugin. This is a common use of the ChemDraw Plugin, where a user will draw a structure for some type of processing. The following links all demonstrate examples of how the ChemDraw Plugin can be used to build real-world applications. Check out the ChemFinder Web Server, the SMILES test, the Chemistry Quiz, or the Elemental Analysis example. As an end user you may not be interested in these specifics, however, if you want to create web pages using the Plugin it is vital knowledge: A Plugin with no source is like a fish with no ocean.

You could equally well encounter a web page where you see a molecule already displayed within the Plugin window. In this case the author of the Web Pages is using the Plugin to take advantage of ChemDraw's unsurpassed chemical rendering technology to display a document saved in ChemDraw file format (*.cdx). The example below is just such a case, where you see our good ole' friend benzene. Since the Tools palette is available, you are free to alter the contents of the document, however, once you leave the current web page, the contents will revert to those the author originally embedded.

ChemDraw Plugin used as a Chemical Editor

This use of the ChemDraw Plugin is ideal for publishing chemical data where users are invited to have interactive access to a table of molecules. In other words users can have some fun!

Just as likely, you might encounter a web page where you don't see the Tools palette and you are unable to access the menus. In this case the web author has made the document view only. Below is our friend benzene again without the bells and whistles.

ChemDraw Plugin used as a Structure Viewer

This use of the ChemDraw Plugin is suited for publishing on-line journal articles where an author doesn't want the user to interact with the structure, however, would like the the user to be able to print the article with the high quality output ChemDraw affords (relative to gif and jpg or png) .

Although you will most likely see the ChemDraw plugin used as part of a client-server application, there is a lot of functionality available to the intrepid HTML enthusiast interested in building client-only applications. Consider the example below where you can perform an elemental analysis of any structure you draw. The calculation occurs locally, without the need for your computer to be connected to the Internet!.

ChemDraw Plugin used to build a local application

This use of the ChemDraw Plugin is suited for building local web-based chemical applications. The ChemDraw Plugin provides several Java-based methods that can be used to develop custom applications, limited only by your imagination and creativity!