XPlasMap is a DNA/plasmid mapping program for MacOS 10.4 or higher. The present version is beta, version 0.96. I’ve finished adding all the new features that I want in v1.0, and have stomped all the bugs I know of. My plan is to continue testing for a week or so (I expect I’ll turn up a few more bugs); then compile and test on a couple of other computers with different OSes. At that point I could use some help, if anyone is interested in beta testing. If that goes smoothly I will release it (probably late August/early September) as “v.0.99 beta”, fix any bugs that turn up, and release a non-beta version in fall some time.
What’s new in XPlasMap 0.99?
New features include:
- Annotation, with text, arrows, circles, etc.
- Convert groups of enzymes to multiple cloning sites, and vice-versa
- Auto-positioning of enzymes and text
- Copy, cut, and insert fragments by selecting restriction sites
- Import from EMBOSS format, as well as GenBank, FastA, and plain text sequences
- Export to a plain-text description of the plasmid (not all that useful, but someone asked for it)
Improvements include:
- Fine-grained control over fonts
- Improved control over resolution of exported images (PNG and JPG)
- Much more responsive List View
- More control over text positioning
(Click on the image above to see a larger version illustrating annotation and fonts.) As well as a host of interface improvements (at least, I think they’re improvements), there are extensive changes under the hood that I hope will make the program more maintainable and stable.
