Ribbons Software Information 			page 1 of 2



        The "ribbons" software distribution package (the software) 
        for general molecular illustration and for error analysis
        in protein crystallography is copyrighted 1987-1996 by 
        Mike Carson (the author) and licensed through the University 
        of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Center for Macromolecular
        Crystallography (CMC).

        The CMC's NASA grant encourages the commercialization of our work.
        Thus we are selling the program.

	To receive "ribbons", US-mail or FAX the author the signed ribbons 
	license agreement which follows, and make contact via E-mail.   
	Hopefully we can do all our business on the internet.

	Our products:

	Ribbons 2.4  (for SGI workstations running IRIX 4.0.5 or higher)

	This is the current version of the popular, easy to use and robust 
	software package that has been distributed the last four years.
	The "ribbons" software package is designed to display molecular
	models as rendered images.  The data required consist of atomic
	coordinates in Protein Data Bank format and files of color-coding
	information.  Version 2.0 allows the manipulation of complicated
	smooth shaded images in near real-time. 

	   Features include:

	   *  Display of multiple chains of proteins and/or nucleic acids

	   *  Interactive control of the style and texture of ribbon models

	   *  Color coding by a wide variety of biological and geometrical
		properties, including crystallographic error analysis.

	   *  Tools to add color coding from the output of "XPLOR" and "O"
		and our error analysis routines.

	   *  Display of spheres and cylinders with interactivity set radii

	   *  Display of triangular and dot surfaces

	   *  Interactive control over the colors and the light source

	   *  Display of simple animation sequences

	   *  Output suitable for use with the WaveFront ray-tracer

	   *  Online Help, as well as a comprehensive manual.


	Protein Crystallographic Error Analysis:

	A suite of non-graphical programs for error analysis
	are available for a variety of machines, including VAXen.
	(Papers upcoming in Acta D.)
	This package is supplied with "ribbons".





	Ribbons Software Information 			page 2 of 2



	Unsupported versions of "Ribbons 2.0":

	An IBM RS/6000 conversion has been made by Mike Tung of NIST.
        You can get "ribbons-2.0-aix" from anonymous ftp site:
		ftp://ibm1.carb.nist.gov/pub/ribbons.
		Opening data connection for ribbons-2.0-aix.tar.gz (5544906 bytes).
	A version compatable with Gert Vriend's WhatIf is also available.
	A not so robust and unsupported version exists for the Evans & 
	Sutherland ESV workstations with about 80% of the capabilities.
	A Sun/PEX version of this may soon be available.
	Please contact the author for more details.


	Ribbons 2.5:
	
	The IRIS 2.4 version converted to an X/Motif compliant interface
	and the OpenGL graphics standard will soon be ready for
	SGI IRIX version 5.2 and higher.  Anticipate by fall '94.
	Ribbons licensees will get this if they want at no extra charge.


	Ribbons++:
	
	A version with all the capabilites of Ribbons 2.5, plus
	lots of advanced graphics tricks and very high-quality PostScript
	output is almost ready.  This is written in C++ using the
	object-oriented IRIS Open Inventor 3-D toolkit.
	Version 1.0 anticipated by fall '96.   Full-support ribbons 
	licensees will get the executable version if they want at 
	no extra charge, plus a big discount if the program 
	as I envision it is ever finished.



	The past and the future:

	The author first got involved with graphics trying to understand
	molecular dynamics simulations while working with Jan Hermans
	at UNC in the early '80s.  Much of the organization and style 
	is due to the historical baggage from working with E&S PS300s
        (ASCII files created for viewing or photography and loaded into 
	the machine for viewing).  The BSribbon ('85) program was developed
	on a PS300.  This software has evolved over a long time into
	its present state.

	Much is planned for Ribbons++, primarily in the area of user
	interaction.   However, I'm also trying to do some science,
	with four other projects currently going on in crystallography and
	structure-based drug design.  All information is subject to change 
	without notice and should not be construed as a commitment 
	by the author or the UAB/CMC for further development and support.
	As long as I am here and healthy,  I shall continue to incrementally
	develop "ribbons" and offer assistance to its users.
	PS, I'm well-meaning but somewhat absent-minded.   If you don't
	get a response in a reasonable time, please get back to me.


        Mike Carson
        University of Alabama at Birmingham 
        Center for Macromolecular Crystallography
        Dec. 9, 1994