Jmol is an open source, cross-platform and free graphical software that has been originally designed to act as molecular viewer for 3D chemical structures. It runs in four standalone modes, as a HTML5 web app, a Java program, a Java applet, and a “headless” server-side component.
Feaures at a glance
Key features include high-performance 3D rendering support without requiring any high-end hardware, exports files to JPG, PNG, GIF, PDF, WRL, OBJ and POV-Ray formats, supports basic unit-cells, support RasMol and Chime scripting languages, as well as the JavaScript library.
In addition, the software supports animations, surfaces, vibrations, orbitals, measurements, symmetry and unit cell operations, and schematic shapes.
Supported file formats
Currently, the application supports a wide range of file formats, among which we can mention MOL MDL, V3000 MDL, SDF MDL, CTFile MDL, CIF, mmCIF, CML, PDB, XYZ, XYZ+vib, XYZ-FAH, MOL2, CSF, GAMESS, Gaussian, MM1GP, HIN HIN / HIV, MOLPRO and MOPAC.
Additionally, the CASTEP, FHI, VASP, ADF, XSD, AGL, DFT, AMPAC, WebMO, PSI3, CRYSTAL, MGF, NWCHEM, odydata, xodydata, QOUT, SHELX, SMOL, GRO, PQR and JME are also supported.
Supports all major web browsers
The software has been successfully tested with all major web browsers, including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera and Safari. The aforementioned browser apps have been tested on all the mainstream operating systems (see the next section for supportes OSes).
Supports all mainstream operating systems
Being written in the Java programming language, Jmol is a platform-independent application designed to support all GNU/Linux distributions, the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, and any other OS where the Java Runtime Environment is installed.
