Molecule Model Attributes

Once a model has been chosen in the left side of the Model Panel, clicking the attributes... button in the right side of the panel brings up a window that lists model attributes and allows them to be changed. Molecule-type models are of class Molecule.

The list includes the attributes of the molecule model and selected attributes of its component atoms, bonds, and residues.

Molecule Attributes

• active - whether the model is activated for motion
  • false
  • true
• auto-chaining - whether to connect atoms that precede and follow undisplayed segments (whether to draw pseudobonds between them)
  • off
  • on
• ball scale - scale factor for atoms in the ball draw mode. The ball scale is multiplied by individual atom VDW radii to generate ball radii in angstroms.
• color (a color well) - color at the model level; see coloring hierarchy
• current coordinate set - which frame is currently featured, if the model contains a trajectory
• dashed lines enabled - whether lines drawn to show bonds in the wire draw mode are broken
  • false
  • true
• length of odd dashes - if dashed lines are enabled, the unscaled pixel length of every other "dash" (can be a dot)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
• length of even dashes - if dashed lines are enabled, the unscaled pixel length of the alternate set of "dashes" (can be dots)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
• dash/space scale - multiplicative scale factor for all dashes and spaces if dashed lines are enabled
• displayed - whether display is enabled at the model level (see display hierarchy)
  • false
  • true
• line width - pixel width of lines depicting bonds (when in the wire draw mode)
• ribbon hides backbone atoms - whether showing ribbon for residues within the model hides backbone atoms for those residues (see the command ribbackbone for details)
  • false
  • true
• stick scale - scale factor for bonds in the stick draw mode. The stick scale is multiplied by individual bond radii (default 0.2 angstroms) to generate stick radii in angstroms. Changing stick scale is preferable to changing all of the bond radii in a model, because the former will also scale singleton atoms in the endcap draw mode appropriately. Either way, the other endcap atoms (those participating in bonds) will be scaled to match the thickest of the attached bonds.
• surface color (a color well) - model-level surface color; see coloring hierarchy
• surface opacity - model-level surface opacity, ranging from 0 (completely transparent) to 1 (completely opaque); a negative value indicates that the opacity included in the definition of the model-level surface color should be used instead
• vdw density - relative density of dots used in any VDW surfaces (as with the command vdwdensity)
• vdw dot size - pixel size of dots in any VDW surfaces

Component Atom Attributes

Attributes of individual atoms within a molecule model can be set independently. When different atoms within the model have different attribute values, the value is reported to be -- multiple --. If one of the other options is chosen, all atoms in the model will be changed accordingly.

• atom style - atom draw mode
  • -- multiple --
  • dot
  • ball
  • endcap
  • sphere
• color (a color well) - color at the atom level; see coloring hierarchy
• displayed - whether display is enabled at the atom level (see display hierarchy)
  • -- multiple --
  • false
  • true
• surface color (a color well) - atom-level surface color; see coloring hierarchy
• surface opacity - atom-level surface opacity, ranging from 0 (completely transparent) to 1 (completely opaque); a negative value indicates that the opacity included in the definition of the atom-level surface color(s) should be used instead

Component Bond Attributes

Attributes of individual bonds within a molecule model can be set independently. When different bonds within the model have different attribute values, the value is reported to be -- multiple --. If one of the other options is chosen, all bonds in the model will be changed accordingly.

• bond style - bond draw mode
  • -- multiple --
  • wire
  • stick
• halfbond mode - whether the two halves of a bond are handled as separate entities; when halfbond mode is on, the color of each halfbond matches that of the attached atom (can also be controlled with the command bondcolor).
  • -- multiple --
  • on
  • off

Component Residue Attributes

Attributes of individual residues within a molecule model can be set independently. When different residues within the model have different attribute values, the value is reported to be -- multiple --. If one of the other options is chosen, all residues in the model will be changed accordingly.

• ribbon color (a color well) - residue-level ribbon color; see coloring hierarchy
• ribbon cross section - style of secondary structure ribbon shown (see also ribrepr)
  • -- multiple --
  • edged
  • flat
  • round
    (any additional styles created and named with the Ribbon Style Editor will also be listed)
• ribbon display - whether a secondary structure ribbon is shown; ribbons are only drawn for proteins and nucleic acids. Protein secondary structure is determined from HELIX and SHEET records in the input PDB file or by using ksdssp.
  • -- multiple --
  • off
  • on
• ribbon scaling - secondary-structure-specific scaling of ribbon height and width
  • -- multiple --
  • Chimera default
    (any additional scalings created and named with the Ribbon Style Editor will also be listed)

If the model was read from a PDB file with information preceding the coordinates, a button marked PDB Headers... will be present at the bottom of the attributes panel. Clicking this button displays the information in a separate window. The lines of information are not in their original order, but are sorted alphabetically by record type (for example, AUTHOR records precede HEADER records). Within a record type, however, the lines are in their original order.