Avogadro API Documentation

Introduction

Avogadro is a molecular modeling / viewing / editing tool. More importantly, it is a platform for developing chemical and molecular visualization and interactive simulations.

The core design allows every feature to be extended via a plugin. This allows new features and tools to be easily added and removed and extension into new applications. Almost every feature in Avogadro is developed as a plugin, so the source code itself serves as examples for other developers.

Main Classes

Plugins for extending Avogadro:

• Color : Interface for coloring atoms, bonds, etc.
• Engine : Interface for display types: graphical styles for rendering molecules and other data
• Extension : Interface for user menu commands
  • DockExtension : Interface for dock widgets
• Painter : General interface for graphical output: OpenGL, POVRay, etc.
• Tool : Interface for mouse tools

libavogadro classes: Main classes

• GLWidget : Widget for rendering 3d representations of a molecule.
• Navigate : Class for manipulating the 3d viewpoint
• Primitive : Base class for all model components
  • Molecule : Class for representing molecules
  • Atom : Class for representing atoms
  • Bond : Class for representing bonds
  • Residue : Class for representing residues

Tutorial

In many cases, if you want to add features to Avogadro, you wish to add an Extension or DockExtension. We have set up a series of tutorials for third-party extensions (i.e., building outside the main Avogadro source).

Third-Party Extensions

More information can also be found on the Avogadro Developer website.

Useful Links

APIs:

• Qt: http://doc.qt.nokia.com/classes.html
• OpenBabel: http://openbabel.org/api/
• Eigen Tutorial: http://eigen.tuxfamily.org/dox/GettingStarted.html
• CMake: http://www.cmake.org/cmake/help/documentation.html