Extending JChemPaint

This section describes how JChemPaint can be extended to fit personal needs. All customization is done in your personal directory ${HOME}. The value of ${HOME} for your system can be looked up in the Info dialog from the Help menu.

CDK Plugins

JChemPaint can make use of CDK plugins (just like Jmol). This allows it to be extended with specialized feature not included in the main JChemPaint program, or general features for which the plugin is distributed with JChemPaint itself.

Plugins are installed in the ${HOME}/.jchempaint/plugins directory. They are loaded when JChemPaint is started. Plugins often have property files, and these are stored in the ${HOME}/.jchempaint directory.

CML/STMML Dictionaries

JChemPaint is aware of dictionaries used in CML. Custom dictionaries can be installed in the ${HOME}/.jchempaint/dicts directory. When CML files are loaded that use custom dictionaries, putting them in this directory will enable JChemPaint to understand things.

The dictionaries are expected to be in the STMML format, for which the XML Schema can be downloaded from the CML website. They look like: