In a chemical design, Synapse combines groups into candidate molecular structures and then estimates the physical properties of each of these candidates. In a mixture selection, Synapse retrieves or estimates the physical properties of hundreds of mixtures searching for those that satisfy the set of selection constraints. To obtain the required groups, chemicals, mixtures and estimation techniques, every design and selection requires a source knowledge base. This source knowledge base is specified in the Source Knowledge Base Section.

1. Open the MKS Core Knowledge Base document. If we were performing an actual design or selection, instead of just an example, we would typically create a copy of the MKS document so it could be tailored for the particular task.
2. Select the New command from the File menu. The application will activate the Create a New Document dialog. Select the Chemical Design Document document type and press the dialog's OK button.
3. The application will activate the File Dialog prompting you for the filename of the new document. Enter a name and press the dialog's Save button. The application will create and open the new design document.
4. Using the tabs at the top of the document, change to the Graphical Designs Chapter by clicking the left mouse button on the Graphicals tab.
5. Create a new Graphical design by pressing the "+" button in the menubar or executing the "Add New Page" command found on the Edit menu. A new, blank page will be added to the current document.
6. Click the left mouse button in the Identifier Pane, the large white box at the top of the page. The application will activate the pane's datum edit dialog.
7. Enter a name for the new design. Optionally enter a reference and comment.
8. Finally, press the dialog's Save button. The application will save the new design's identifier into the current document and display the new name you just entered.
9. Click the left mouse button on the Source Knowledge Base Section's edit control. The application will activate the Knowledge Base selection dialog. (See documentation on the Open Knowledge Bases Dialog for details.)
10. Select the MKS Core Knowledge Base and then press the dialog's OK button. The application will store this selection into the current document.

The Source Knowledge Base Section stores the the full pathname, folder plus filename, of the source knowledge base so it can be opened and accessed during a design or selection. If an absolute pathname is specified, e.g., K:\MyDocuments\Designs\SourceKB.mkskbd, then if you ever move or archive the files to a new location the design or selection will not be able to find the source knowledge base.

Using the "Use Local Pathname" option when selecting the source knowledge base will inform the application to look for the source knowledge base in the same folder as the current design document. Using this option allows you to move the files to any other folder and still be operable.

See documentation on the Open Knowledge Bases Dialog for additional details.

Topic	Description
Getting Started using Synapse	provides a quick tour of Synapse's capabilities including examples of chemical product design.
Designing Chemical Products	a short video demonstrating how to use Synapse to design candidate chemicals that satisfy a set of physical property and molecular structure constraints.