Handling of NCBI search results
A list of entries matching the search terms provided is returned. By default, the initial 50 results are returned, with 50 additional results loaded each time the More... button is clicked. This number can be configured in the Workbench Preferences (Preferences).
Five pieces of information are presented for each entry:
- Hit The rank of the entry in the search result
- Accession The accession for that entry. Click on the link to open that entry's page at the NCBI in a web browser.
- Description The definition line of the entry
- Modification date The date the entry was last updated in the database searched
- Length The length of the sequence
The columns to display can be configured in "Show column" tab of right hand, side panel settings.
Select one or more rows of the table and use buttons at the bottom of the view to:
- Download and Open Sequences are opened in a new view after download is complete.
You can also download and open sequences by dragging selected rows to a new tab area or by double-clicking on a row.
- Download and Save Sequences are downloaded and saved to a location you specify.
You can also download and save sequences by selecting rows and copying them (e.g. using Ctrl + C), and then selecting a folder in the Navigation Area and pasting (e.g. using Ctrl + V).
- Open at NCBI The sequence entry page(s) at the NCBI are opened in a web browser.
The functions offered by these buttons are also available in the menu that appears if you right-click over selected rows.
Note: The modification date on sequences downloaded can be more recent than those reported in the results table. This depends on the database versions made available for searching at the NCBI.
Downloading and saving sequences can take some time. This process runs in the background, so you can continue working on other tasks. The download process can be seen in the Status bar and it can be stopped, if desired, as described in Processes tab and Status bar.