(for people handling organics and organometallics, the following may be of interest) Tutorials are viewable on using the new Platon features for it acting as an interface for Quest/Cambridge Organic/Organometallic structure searches. (Platon is available directly off the internet for UNIX, VMS and MS-Windows) ====================================================== ====================================================== Tutorials include: Quest/CSD Database Cell Searching to see if this cell contains a structure that may have already been solved: http://www.ccp14.ac.uk/tutorial/platon/windows_quest_cell_xterm.htm (Note that for powder diffraction users: you may want to change the tolerance of the default cell search and this is described in the above page) ---- Using Platon as an interface for searching for related structures (or checking if the structure has already been solved): http://www.ccp14.ac.uk/tutorial/platon/strucquest.htm And (concentrating on generating a quest script to be used later): http://www.ccp14.ac.uk/tutorial/platon/csdquest.htm ====================================================== ====================================================== While for UNIX users much of the above is pseudo-trivial - the above tutorials also concentrate on the more problematic things Windows users may experience. Thus the tutorials are based around using the freeware Teraterm for Windows and the (pseudo?)-free and excellent/friendly MI/XServer for Windows. (There is a Mac version of of the MI/XServer). This can make much of the above quite trivial. Separate tutorials can be viewed on: "Secure MS-Windows to UNIX machines based X-Sessions via Secure Shell Tunnelling" - easier than standard X'ing from Windows (Using Teraterm for Windows and MI/XServer as an example) http://www.ccp14.ac.uk/ccp14admin/security/secure_x_session_tunnelling.htm "Secure FTP transfers via Secure Shell Tunnelling" (Using Teraterm for Windows and WS_FTP as an example) http://www.ccp14.ac.uk/ccp14admin/security/secure_tunnelling_ftp.htm --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Also a reminder: If a "UK based" academic or student, you can obtain free and easy access to the Cambridge and other structure databases (Inorganic ICSD, Metals and Alloys, etc) via the EPSRC funded CDS - Chemical Database Service (free registration is done On-line): http://cds3.dl.ac.uk/cds/cds.html http://cds3.dl.ac.uk/cds/regcds.html Cheers, Lachlan. PS: Official Platon websites and mirrors: Platon Web site: http://www.cryst.chem.uu.nl/platon/ CCP14 based Mirrors: http://www.ccp14.ac.uk/ccp/ccp14/ftp-mirror/platon-spek/pub/ http://ccp14.sims.nrc.ca/ccp/web-mirrors/platon-spek/platon/index.html ftp://ftp.minerals.csiro.au/pub/xtallography/ccp14/ccp/web-mirrors/platon-spek/platon/index.html Platon FTP Download site ftp://xraysoft.chem.uu.nl/pub/ CCP14 based Mirrors: http://www.ccp14.ac.uk/ccp/ccp14/ftp-mirror/platon-spek/pub/ http://ccp14.sims.nrc.ca/ccp/ccp14/ftp-mirror/platon-spek/pub/ ftp://ftp.minerals.csiro.au/pub/xtallography/ccp14/ccp/ccp14/ftp-mirror/platon-spek/pub/ Platon for Windows port by Louis Farrugia of Glasgow University: http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/~louis/software/ CCP14 based Mirrors: http://www.ccp14.ac.uk/ccp/web-mirrors/farrugia/~louis/software/ http://ccp14.sims.nrc.ca/ccp/web-mirrors/farrugia/~louis/software/index.html ftp://ftp.minerals.csiro.au/pub/xtallography/ccp14/ccp/web-mirrors/farrugia/~louis/software/index.html Other platon tutorials are viewable on the official platon website and also via the CCP14 tutorials section (this includes how to setup platon in fully functional "System S" structure solution and refinement suite mode - links to Shelxl/shelxs, Dirdif, Crunch and Sir for solving and the last 3 including EXOR for "auto-building"): http://www.ccp14.ac.uk/tutorial/platon/ System S complete installation: http://www.ccp14.ac.uk/tutorial/platon/system_s_suite_install.html -- Lachlan M. D. Cranswick Collaborative Computational Project No 14 (CCP14) for Single Crystal and Powder Diffraction Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington, WA4 4AD U.K Tel: +44-1925-603703 Fax: +44-1925-603124 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ext: 3703 Room C14 http://www.ccp14.ac.uk