[chimerax-users] Multi-user sessions: development

[Tom Goddard]

Hi John,

  Yes ChimeraX source code is available, here it is online

	https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/trac/ChimeraX/browser

and it is possible to git clone it.  But I don't think there is anything in the source code you will want to see.  ChimeraX multi-user VR sessions are initiated using the meeting command

	https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/meeting.html <https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/meeting.html>

One person initiates the session with command "meeting start" and then other participants join with "meeting host.somewhere.edu <http://host.ucsf.edu/>" where "host.somewhere.edu <http://host.ucsf.edu/>" is the computer hostname where the meeting was started.  The data from the host is sent to the others who join.  The main trouble is that firewalls will block the connection.  host.somewhere.edu <http://host.somewhere.edu/> needs to allow incoming connections on port 52194 (as described in the meeting docs the port number can be changed).  Since pretty much every institution blocks incoming connections this causes trouble if the multi-person VR session involves participants outside your institution.  I do have those sessions at UCSF but had to ask UCSF IT to open the port on my machine that hosts those VR sessions.  We are looking into doing this the way all other multi-person computer sessions happen, by rendezvous with an external server that accepts the connections.  That introduces the difficult problem that someone has to pay to maintain that outside server, so we don't have that solution available yet.

	Tom


> 
> From: Grime, John M.
> Sent: Monday, December 2, 2019 1:12 PM
> To: chimerax at cgl.ucsf.edu <mailto:chimerax at cgl.ucsf.edu> <chimerax at cgl.ucsf.edu <mailto:chimerax at cgl.ucsf.edu>>
> Subject: Multi-user sessions: development
>  
> Hello!
>  
> We have some use cases where multi-user VR sessions in ChimeraX would be very useful.
>  
> We already have out own in-house networked VR software, and I was wondering if the source code to ChimeraX is available for academic users so we can see if we can add similar functionality?
>  
> Thanks!
>  
> John Grime, Ph.D.
> Emerging Technologies Developer
> University of Oklahoma Libraries
>  
>  
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