[Molvis-list] RasTop on sourceforge

[Herbert J. Bernstein]

We would be happy to provide a web site location for
RasTop as part of the RasMol home page and to
provide support for it as part of the RasMol.org
effort.

  -- Herbert

=====================================================
 Herbert J. Bernstein, Professor of Computer Science
   Dowling College, Kramer Science Center, KSC 121
        Idle Hour Blvd, Oakdale, NY, 11769

                 +1-631-244-3035
                 yaya at dowling.edu
=====================================================

On Thu, 31 May 2007, Philippe wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> RasTop has found a new home on sourceforge at
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/rastop/. A release package, version 2.2, is
> available for download and the source is accessible through a subversion
> repository.  I came recently to the conclusion that this was the best
> opportunity for this software to continue its road as it becomes quite clear
> that I don't have the time anymore to take care of it.
>
> Just to remind you, RasTop is a molecular visualization software derived
> from rasmol. Its main characteristics are a very friendly graphical user
> interface and the possibility to save working sessions for latter uses.
> Otherwise RasTop is pretty much like rasmol and uses similar scripting
> methods. In term of statistic, RasTop has a download rate of 10,000 per year
> which hasn't changed much over the last 3 to 4 years.  There is also a
> French version which is a sort of standard in school although I lost contact
> with the person who developped it.  After calculation (following a recent a
> hot thread of Molvist list (http://bioinformatics.org/lists/molvis-list in
> the last few days regarding download statistics of varied molecuar
> visualization packages), it appears that around 10% of all rasmol users are
> in fact RasTop users! Bravo!
>
> At the center of the software package, we have the rasmol molecular engine
> written in c, essentially by Roger Sayle (see www.rasmol.org for history).
> The piece almost acts like a library and is completely independent from the
> GUI; it is slightly improved over the current rasmol version for handling
> multiple molecules and has a rendering a little better (although this has
> nothing to compare of course with software based on OpenGL or other
> dedicated graphics libraries). The user interface is in c++ based on
> Microsoft Foundation Classes and has been mostly written by myself. The
> restriction to Windows and use of MFCs has certainly created an obstacle for
> larger developments but it wouldn't be too difficult to port the user
> interface to a different langage.
>
> The possibilities of extension are countless and a community of users is
> certainely lacking, but there is definitively a number fans waiting for it.
> Anyway, if you feel that this is a project you would like to take care in
> part or in all, please let me know. There is room for new ports, new
> translations, new improvments, a new web site (the current one needs a new
> home), a community, and most of all, new *administrators*. Just contact me.
>
> Thanks,
> Philippe Valadon
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Molvis-list mailing list
> Molvis-list at bioinformatics.org
> https://bioinformatics.org/mailman/listinfo/molvis-list
>