This guide explains every workflow in the platform — from first search to final export — so you can get accurate, analysis-ready results with minimal effort.
ProDI-DB gives users three main paths: start from the Home screen, run a direct accession-based Search, or Browse paginated datasets with filtering, selection, and export tools.
Core workflows
Home introduces the platform with direct CTA entry points.
Search runs a focused lookup from a known accession identifier.
Browse opens sheet-backed tables with full analytical tools.
Interaction mode adds sub-tabs such as All, X-Ray, and NMR.
What users can accomplish
Find proteins by ProDI-DB, UniProt, DisProt, or PDB accession.
Browse and compare records across three dataset views.
Open protein records for sequence, disorder, and structure analysis.
Export selected data in CSV, TXT, or ZIP formats with column control.
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Search workflow
Use Search when you already have an accession identifier. The search dropdown exposes four modes so researchers can start from whichever identifier type they have available.
Select the correct accession type before typing your query.The search panel focuses the workflow on one identifier at a time.
How to search — step by step
Click Search in the top navigation bar.
Choose the accession type from the dropdown.
Enter the accession value in the input field.
Press Enter or click the Search button.
Review the results panel and open the matched protein record.
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Browse workflow
Browse is the analytical center of ProDI-DB. It exposes paginated, filterable datasets across three views so users can compare records, narrow results, and prepare data for export.
By Protein
Best for record-level scanning, comparison, and opening individual protein detail pages.
By Organism
Best for comparing proteins through species and organism context.
By Interactions
Best for interaction-focused analysis with sub-tabs like All, X-Ray, and NMR.
The browse table supports pagination, row selection, and column control.The column sidebar lets you show, hide, and focus only relevant fields.
Browse tools
Use the search bar to narrow results within the active sheet.
Switch the column selector to target one specific field or search all fields.
Open the Columns sidebar to toggle visibility per column.
Select rows with checkboxes for batch export.
Use pagination controls to move through large result sets.
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Protein details
Opening a protein record shifts the experience from discovery into explanation. Each detail page is organized into panels covering summary, disorder, sequence, and structure.
Protein summary
Displays the core identity of the selected record: accession values, organism, gene name, and top-level metadata for quick confirmation before deeper analysis.
Disorder summary
Explains how much of the sequence is intrinsically disordered, the count and distribution of IDRs, and region-level classification for biological interpretation.
Sequence and FASTA
Shows the full amino acid sequence and provides a FASTA download for use in external alignment, motif analysis, or downstream bioinformatics pipelines.
3D structure viewer
Maps experimental PDB structures to sequence positions, showing coverage, missing terminal regions, unresolved internal segments, and disordered region overlap.
Disorder maps show region boundaries and coverage along the sequence.The structure viewer links disorder regions with PDB-based structural evidence.
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Downloads and exports
All browse-table exports follow the currently visible column set. If you hide columns in the sidebar, those fields are excluded from every CSV, TXT, and ZIP file the app produces.
The export menu adapts based on whether one or many rows are selected.Detail pages provide FASTA, SVG, and section-specific downloads.
CSV export for selected rows
Generates one CSV file from all selected rows. The exported column headers and row values follow the visible column set currently active in the table. Hidden columns from the sidebar are excluded from the output.
TXT export — single protein
When exactly one row is selected, the app generates a single structured TXT report for that protein. The report lists each active visible field on its own line, making it clean for sharing, review, or archiving.
ZIP export — multiple TXT files
When multiple rows are selected and TXT is chosen, the app creates one TXT file per protein and bundles all of them into a single ZIP archive. Each file is named from the Protein ID for easy batch management.
Detail page downloads
Protein detail pages also expose contextual downloads such as FASTA sequences, disorder-map SVG exports, and structure-related outputs depending on the panel section. These are independent from the browse-table export flow.
How column filtering shapes your export
Open the Columns sidebar from the Filter button in the navbar.
Toggle off any columns you do not need in the output.
Select one or more rows from the table using the checkboxes.
Click the Download button and choose CSV or TXT.
The exported file contains only the visible columns and selected rows.
For multiple rows using TXT, a ZIP is automatically created with one file per protein.
Exports honor your current column visibility. Hidden fields are excluded from all CSV, TXT, and ZIP outputs so your download matches your active table view exactly.
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Practical tips
Quick rules that help users get better results with less trial and error.
Best usage habits
Use Search when you have a known accession — it is faster than scrolling Browse.
Use Browse when you want discovery, comparison, or batch selection.
Always hide unused columns before export to keep outputs clean.
Use the column-scoped search to narrow results to a single field.
When to use each format
CSV — spreadsheets, R, Python, tabular analysis.
TXT — readable single-protein summaries.
ZIP of TXT — batch reports for multiple proteins.
FASTA / SVG — sequence reuse and figure exports from detail pages.
