[Chimera-users] how2 select named selections using command-line [chimera1.5.3]

[frederick lee]

hi elaine,
thanks for the quick help. i tried using aliases just now.
now i have 4 aliases: g0a, g0b, g1a, g1b.

i can only sel all 4 groups by using
> sel g0a | g0b | g1a | g1b

the & operator returns nothing as there are
no intersection among the 4 groups.

seemed the & is intersection and not plus here.
when i used
> sel g0a,g0b,g1a,g1b
i got error.

given above, seemed like i need to do something like
> sel (g0a | g0b | g1a | g1b) & without CA/C1'
but parentheses are not legal here. how should i get
around this? thanks again.
fred

On 01/31/2012 12:46 PM, Elaine Meng wrote:
> Hi Fred,
> It may be because your selection name starts with a number.  The select command may be more finicky than others because it is overloaded with two different functions, activation of models for motion (indicated by model number without #) and selection of atoms (indicated by model number with # or other specification symbol such as : for residues or @ for atoms).  Parsing the select command to try to identify the former case may interfere with recognizing your selection names.
> 
> I tried making overlapping named selections: sel1a, sel1b
> and in that case you could accomplish your example with
> 
> sel sel1a & sel1b & without CA/C1'
> 
> (the last part means side chain atoms not including the CA/C1', could also use "with CA/C1' "; these are terminal entries under the Select... Structure menu, which can be used as command-line specifiers)
> 
> I personally prefer to skip selections altogether and instead use the "alias" command in a similar manner.  People may gravitate to using named selections because of Pymol terminology.   If I understand correctly, Pymol named selections are more like Chimera aliases.  For example:
> 
> alias set1 :10-20.a
> alias set2 :15-35
> sel set1 & set2 & ~ element.H
> 
> ... see Built-In Classifications and Combinations ...
> <http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimera/docs/UsersGuide/midas/frameatom_spec.html>
> 
> alias command:
> <http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimera/docs/UsersGuide/midas/alias.html>
> 
> The aliases wouldn't appear in the menu, however, except for "function" aliases as described in the documentation above.
> I hope this helps,
> Elaine
> ----------
> Elaine C. Meng, Ph.D. 
> UCSF Computer Graphics Lab (Chimera team) and Babbitt Lab
> Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
> University of California, San Francisco
> 
> On Jan 31, 2012, at 12:27 PM, frederick lee wrote:
> 
>> dear chimera users,
>> i can defined named selections and they work under the
>> select menu.
>>
>> however, i canNOT use the command line to select them;
>> e.g., i have 4 named selections 0a,0b,1a,1b
>>
>> dis 0a | 1a works
>> sel 1a NOT working
>> sel :1a NOT working (said selection cleared)
>>
>> i like to be able to select multiple named selections and further
>> apply filters on them; e.g.,
>>
>> "select 1a and 1b and atoms=side chain atoms"
>>
>> how do i accomplish this? as always thank you very much.
>> fred
> 
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