DOCK Blaster:Philosophy
Motivation
There are many free (to academics) docking programs. Having a docking program installed on your local computer gives you much more control that we can possibly offer with DOCK Blaster. What is the motivation for DOCK Blaster?
Installing and running a docking program is a significant barrier to entry for many investigators. We ourselves find we would like to run other docking programs, but balk at the cost in time to acquire, install, and become comfortable with each program.
There is a pressing need to make the useful technology of virtual screening more accessible to investigators who can benefit from it. We are particularly interested in helping non-specialists who otherwise could not afford to set up a computing lab.
Registration
We deliberately do not require registration to use DOCK Blaster. We have done this to keep the barriers to its use low.
We meter use based on IP address based on time periods: minutes, hours, days, and weeks. Two mechanisms allow increased usage: privileges and vouchers. Privileges are assigned based on IP address, and offer a higher number of transactions per time period. Vouchers are an client address independent means of performing more transactions.
Novice vs Expert
DOCK Blaster is designed to be as simple as possible. There are several mechanisms that can give an expert greater control than that afforded by the GUI. The expert.tar input field. The XML RPC interface.
Expert System to Interpret Input
The DOCK Blaster expert system attempts to make sensible choices based on the input you supply, and to resolve most minor issues in a reasonable fashion. There are four outcomes from uploading files:
- 0. no problems. files were used as supplied
- 1. minor changes. job submitted. full details of changes made. updated files available.
- 2. major chnages.
- 3. unresolvable problems.
Tools for Self Evaluation
A common concern with docking calculations is whether the results are meaningful. We recognize this problem, and realise that a perfect solution is probably unattainable. Our pragmatic approach is to provide you with calibration data so you can evaluate for yourself how well the docking is working.
Privacy
We cannot guarantee privacy of your data.