[Scriptome-users] Scriptome news: Preview site; tools work on Windows; improved bro wsing

[Amir Karger]

Hello, Scriptome Subscribers.

In the last couple of weeks, we've made some overall enhancements to the
Scriptome.

1. Preview Site

We've set up a new site at http://cgr.harvard.edu/cbg/prescriptome for beta
testing large changes like those mentioned below.  Please browse your way
over there and let us know whether you like the changes - and if anything is
broken.

2. The Scriptome: It's not just for Unix (and Mac) anymore!

People without access to Unix/Mac can now use the Scriptome with a
not-too-painful free download of Windows Perl
(http://activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/). Of course, you need to use
the Windows command shell, which is even uglier than the Unix command line.
The home page now includes links to either the Windows or Unix section of
the site.
(In case you're curious: in order to switch a Unix tool to Windows, you just
have to (1) substitute ' with " and (2) substitute " with the oh-so-readable
qq~~. But make sure to do step 2 first :)

3. Improved Browsability

As the number of tools expands, the tool table of contents becomes harder to
browse. Now you can click on a blue triangle to expand/collapse a list, so
it's easier to home in on the exact tool you want.  

There's also a "quickbrowse" menu. If you use a tool a few times, you'll
learn the abbreviated name (in parentheses in each tool's heading). The
quickbrowse menu lets you get to any of the tools from the top of each page
in one shot.


Future Plans:
* Most importantly, get lots of users so we can learn about what to
add/change in the future
* Lots of new tools to add
* Better documentation in each tool (e.g., report number of lines in
input/output)
* More protocols, hopefully including some documentation

Please send feedback about the above changes - or anything else.

-Amir Karger