A HYPERTEXT-LIKE APPROACH TO NAVIGATING THROUGH THE GCG SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS PACKAGE

Programs of the recently released Unix version of the Genetics Computi ng Group (GCG) sequence analysis package can now be accessed Wa a user -friendly hypertext-like navigation system, HYGCG. The resultant syste m organizes the diverse suite of programs into logical groups, and pro vides a guide and explanation of commands. In addition, for users unfa miliar with the Unix operating system, the program also provides a sim ilar interface to commonly used Unix commands. Options for personal cu stomization and expansion to accommodate GCG extensions and other soft ware are also provided. This system should be useful especially to the inexperienced or infrequent user as context-sensitive on-line help is provided within this simple and consistent approach. Written in the C language and using the curses and termcap libraries, the system is ea sily portable to most Unix environments and has been made freely avail able via anonymous file transfer protocol (FTP) through the Internet g lobal computer network. No modification of the GCG package is needed.