I've spent some time looking through the ChemDoodle code. Very interesting!
Wow, that's a lot of code -- is that really 800K+ JavaScript download?
Really a lesson in logic to see how that all works. Amazing!
I agree with Keven that Jmol and ChemDoodle are complementary. Jmol has a
lot of coverage, but of course not on the iPad or iPhone. ChemDoodle (3D in
particular) has a lot of potential, but of course "potential" is the key
word there, until browsers and hardware come up to speed. (I'm not sure
exactly what actual platforms/hardware support ChemDoodle -- iPad and most
Macs, I think; some PCs?)
What to do? Here's where we are, I think:
ChemDoodle 3D -- requires WebGL; works with some server-side help
Jmol -- requires Java; works in browser; can work with server-side help
There are four platform types:
A -- Java but not WebGL (any laptop/desktop; any pre-2010 computer,
probably; any computer using standard MSIE)
B -- WebGL but not Java (iPad? Is that all? Not sure here...)
C -- WebGL and Java (some (all?) post-2009(?) computers using Firefox,
Chrome, Opera, or Safari, but not iPad)
D -- no WebGL, no Java (most mobile devices; iPhone, for example)
Not sure I have that exactly right.
Anyway, here's my thought:
We could put together a system that produces results on all these platforms
today. The results would not be perfect, and there would be a variety of
options. But it would never produce a message "Your device does not support
Java" or "This computer does not have WebGL."
It would look like this. Specifically thinking browsers here. (Sounds like
we have eBooks covered one way or another.)
A (Java/no WebGL) -- Jmol uses applet; ChemDoodle uses Jmol applet as
second-best option
B (WebGL/no Java) -- ChemDoodle uses WebGL; Jmol uses ChemDoodle as
second-best option
C (WebGL+Java) -- Page author decides -- Jmol or ChemDoodle
D (no WebGL/no Java) -- Server-based user event-adaptable images only (Jmol
or ChemDoodle) or static page-author-created PNGJ images (Jmol)
Say you have a page that would use Jmol if Java is present. The Jmol.js on
that page would ascertain the presence of Java and WebGL and:
-- if Java is present, use it.
-- if only WebGL is present, load the JavaScript for ChemDoodle and
display the model that way.
-- if neither is present, either present a PNGJ image or use server-side
image creation using JmolData.jar on the server. Interactivity only by
link/button/menu/etc.
Say you have a page that would use ChemDoodle if present. Then
ChemDoodleWeb.js would ascertain the presence of Java and WebGL and:
-- if WebGL is present, use it.
-- if only Java is present, load Jmol.js and display the model using Jmol
-- if neither is present, use server-side image creation using ChemDoodle
(iChemLabs server only) or Jmol
That's the basic idea. Comment? Discussion?
Bob
--
Robert M. Hanson
Professor of Chemistry
St. Olaf College
1520 St. Olaf Ave.
Northfield, MN 55057
http://www.stolaf.edu/people/hansonr
phone: 507-786-3107
If nature does not answer first what we want,
it is better to take what answer we get.
-- Josiah Willard Gibbs, Lecture XXX, Monday, February 5, 1900
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