This approach is especially used in computer processing of molecular structures, ranging from chemical editors to database searching.
This is usually referred to as database searching.
The key advantage of database searching is that it saves synthetic effort to obtain new lead compounds.
The first category is about "finding" ligands for a given receptor, which is usually referred as database searching.
A close familiarity with database searching is needed, and library and information professionals have important roles to play in this respect.
Related to the more general and long pursued concept of database searching, the term "virtual screening" is relatively new.
In database searching there are Boolean and Proximity operators.
In database searching, a thesaurus strategy is to use multiple iterations to search for related words and generate results.
Some excellent approaches have been developed for database searching with RNA secondary structure consensus patterns.
Other inherent limitations of database searching include: