Each ring is labeled from 0 degrees to 360 degrees and the occurrence of a particular torsion angle is noted by a radial line in the appropriate angular location. Multiple lines in a given ring represent the various values of a particular torsion of the selected structure. The sectors with dense lines readily reveal the preferred conformation range of the corresponding torsions. The distribution of radial lines in a given ring reflects the flexibility of the specified torsion. Dark and light shadings are respectively used to highlight states within one and two standard deviation units of the mean.
Outlying torsions are thereby immediately detectable.
Visual comparison of the approximate preferences and the flexibility of different torsion angles is also made easy by the patterns of lines in different concentric rings. Comparisons of the conformation rings of different structures provide direct information on their overall similarities and differences. These files, together with the tables containing torsion angles, have been put into the library called 'torsions'. All the originally released tables have been updated to include information about the newly added structures.