Get Windows Structure Drawing Plug-in


A free Windows-compatible Structure Drawing browser plug-in is available that allows you to draw and upload graphical structure queries.

The plug-in: With some versions of Windows, e.g. XP, the user must have permission to modify the Windows Registry to complete the installation of the plug-in. This may require the assistance of your network administrator.

Before you download the plug-in, you may want to print these instructions since you must close your browser before installation.

  Instructions for Windows Users 

To download the Windows plug-in, begin by clicking here:

  1. A Warning box may display. Click OK.
  2. When the Save As dialog appears, take note of the directory to which you are downloading and saving the software.
  3. Click Save to continue. The downloaded file is named stnweb32.exe.


To install the plug-in,
  1. Close your browser.
  2. Go to the directory where stnweb32.exe was saved. 
  3. Double-click stnweb32.exe to start installation.
  4. Accept all the default responses.


After installation, to create, upload and search a structure query, follow these steps:
  1. Start your browser and log in to STN on the Web.
  2. Enter a structure-searchable file, e.g., REGISTRY.
  3. Open the Search Assistants folder and click on Structure Query.
  4. Click the Draw Query button to launch the Structure Drawing window.
  5. Draw a new structure query, or open a previously saved query for editting.  (Consult the Structure Drawing Help for details about how to draw structures).
  6. When you are ready to upload the structure, click Upload Query from the Structure Drawing File menu.
  7. If the structure has been modified, a Save Query dialog box is opened.  Enter a file name and click Save&Upload, or click Upload Only if you prefer not to save the changes you made to the query.
  8. The structure is uploaded to your STN session and assigned a query L-number, which may be searched using standard STN search syntax.

  9. Windows users who have installed plug-in version V2.1.0 or higher:

  10. To upload one or more saved structure queries in a single operation, select Upload Multiple Queries... from the Structure Drawing File menu, select the file(s) to be uploaded, and click Upload.
  11. The selected structures are uploaded to your STN session, each as a separate query L-number, which may be searched using standard STN search syntax.


To create or edit a structure query while offline, follow these steps:
  1. Locate the folder on your hard drive in which the STN on the Web Structure Drawing software is located. The software is called stnwpsi.exe.
  2. If you installed the plug-in using the defaults, the folder is C:\stnweb. If you did not use the defaults, then stnwpsi.exe is in the folder you selected during installation.
  3. Double click on stnwpsi.exe to launch the Structure Drawing editor. For convenience in the future, you may wish to create a shortcut to this software. The procedure to create a shortcut is described in the Windows Help index topic "shortcuts: creating".
  4. After you create your structure query, click Save from the File menu. Select the folder in which to save your query. Enter a file name and click Save. The query will be saved with a ".str" suffix appended to the file name.
  5. To upload and search your query, log in to STN on the Web and follow the instructions above.