Before You Start

The IT lab is presented in the form of a row of icons found on the toolbar along the top of this display. Some of these are links to other Web sites, where entry to the appropriate database may be found. All you need to access such sites is a modern Web browser: we currently recommend FireFox (for viewing only) or Mozilla (if you want to edit Web pages). There are other links however when more than just a browser may be required. These fall into four classes:

The link is used to start a completely separate program on your computer. Instructions on how you must acquire and configure these programs are given below.
The link is used to download and start a separate program onto your computer; such programs are called Java applets. To run, you must have installed an appropriate Java environment for them, again described below.
The link starts a small program called a plugin, which runs within the Web browser. Such plugins must be pre-installed on your computer before you start.
The link starts a system component called Active-X. This is part of the Windows operating system only, and hence such links are specific to this particular type of computer. They will not work on e.g. Mac or Linux systems.

1: Separate Programs

To install such programs, remember you will need administrator access to the computer; it is up to you to find out what this is before you start.

Beilstein Commander

This is obtained from the following site: http://www.mimas.ac.uk/crossfire/usingxf.html. You will need to know the CrossFire Group Name, which for Imperial College is: icl. The host will be: crossfire.mcc.ac.uk. When you first click on this link you will get a prompt asking what application you want a document of the type chemical/x-crossfire to use. You should specify MDL Crossfire Commander.

Citrix metaframe

Citrix is essentially a way of opening up a window on your computer to another remote computer which actually runs the database search. It is invoked from the Web page by creating a "ticket" to start the Citrix program on your computer, which has to be pre-installed. Get the Citrix client from here.

X-Window System

The Cambridge database uses another "remote window" program called X-Windows. The link on the Web page downloads a configuration file for the Hummingbird eXceed program. This is a commercial program, and you will have to purcahse a copy. The Imperial College software shop will sell a copy at educational prices.

Acrobat Viewer

Most electronic journals offer articles in so called PDF form, which requires a viewer. Get it from here.

2: Java Programs

Java

You should have something called the J2SE Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed on your computer, at version 1.4 or higher.

3: Browser Plugins

Chime Pro

This generally useful plugin (version 2.6, SP4) comes with the Beilstein Commander 7.0 installer set. Unfortunately, the Chime installer does not recognise Mozilla as a browser, and hence the installation of this plugin is slightly more complicated than it need be. Try here for the additional instructions. Chime is really only available for Windows and MacOS 9 (not OS X or Linux).

ChemDraw plugin

This is needed for the Organic Syntheses Web search. A free version (currently 8.03) of this plugin is available for download.

Acrobat Viewer plugin

Some systems (e.g OS X) support Acrobat viewing within a browser window, via the following (free) plugin: http://www.schubert-it.com/pluginpdf/. You can also get a Microsoft Word viewer from the same source.

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