Abstract of INFO-MAC archived encoded Mac binary file 'sci/ball-and-stick-376.hqx' Uploaded 12/16/2000 3838262 bytes From: Norbert Mueller Subject: bs2000free.hqx: Ball & Stick - Molecular Graphics What does Ball & Stick do? Ball & Stick generates images and animations of three dimensional molecular models at atomic resolution from input files obtained from either structure libraries (e.g. protein data bank) or generated by experimental methods (e.g. X-ray crystallography, NMR,...) of by computatioanl chemistry (e.g. molecular mechanics, quantum-mechanics,...) Who uses Ball & Stick? People working in "molecular sciences" who want to publish graphical representations of molecular models (click for examples). What sets off B&S from other products in this area is the print quality achieved on moderately priced systems. Technically this is due to the fact that we use a vector graphics concept up to the last step of rendering, which is done by the selected driver (display or printer). IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT - Ball & Stick available for free Due to the fact that the future of Pascal compilers for MacOS X is unclear, we freeze the development of the popular molecular graphics program Ball & Stick (aka B&S) as of December 2000. As a service to the Mac community in molecular sciences the current versions (3.7.6 and 3.8b3) will be made available for free (by download) but we retain all rights to the software. At the same time I will cease to give technical support. One of the main reasons behind that move is that the only maker of a Pascal compiler for the Mac has been promising a MacOS X compliant version for three years and not delivered (yet, as I hope). I cannot afford to keep development and support on obsolete system configurations going, while income is diminishing due to the lack of new versions that comply with MacOS X. Redistribution is only allowed if the entire archive is included and only if no money is charged. Exceptions require the written confirmation of one of the copyright holders. The current free versions are also available here: http://www.orc.uni-linz.ac.at/mueller/download/bs2000free.hqx More info on Ball & STick can also be found at: http://www.orc.uni-linz.ac.at/mueller/bast/ball_and_stick.html The free version will run on any PowerMacintosh under any of the MacOS versions compatible with the respective model. (This file must be converted with BinHex 4.0)