The Database menu contains the Online Keyword Search for Sequences (Entrez), which allows you to perform complex queries against the NCBI's Entrez databases and to fetch sequences directly into MacVector. It also contains the Online search for Similar Sequences (Blast) function which allows you to perform online Blast searches against the NCBI's Blast databases. In addition Align to folder allows you to compare a sequence to any number of other sequences in a specified folder on your hard disk.
Retrieve and Open and Retrieve to disk allow you to retrieve sequences that you have found in a Blast search. Highlight the hits in the Blast hits result window and hit one of these two options to do this. If you choose Retrieve to Disk you will first have the File Open Dialogue to choose a folder in which to save the hits.
Auto annotation allows you to annotate a blank sequence with features from a curated set of files and Vector NTI import allows you to browse a Vector NTI database and to import files directly from it.
Only the ENTREZ Internet Search and Vector NTI Import functions will be active unless you have a sequence window active as a sequence is needed for both of the other database functions.