Molecule builder/ Molecule representation to interact with user.

Hello all,

I am working on program in which user can build molecule and measure distances between atom (among other things).

Example use case:

  1. User have some hydrocarbon drawn in render window. Clicking H atom will replace clicked H with CH3 (or atom/fragment of his choice)
  2. User clicks two atoms and program prints distance between them.

What do you suggest to be the best representation of molecule for this purpose? I think of representing all atoms and bonds as individual actors, but I am not sure if it is way to go.

I know about vtkMolecule and vtkMoleculeMapper, but I am not sure if those would be useful for my purpose (interaction with individual atoms/bonds would be problematic).

Hope I am not asking stupid questions, but I am new to vtk and need some starting point.

Best regards
pali08.