International Tables for Crystallography

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Specification of the core CIF dictionary definition language (DDL1)
S. R. Hall and A. P. F. Cook. International Tables for Crystallography (2006). Vol. G, ch. 2.5, pp. 53-60  [ doi:10.1107/97809553602060000731 ]

Abstract

Data dictionaries serve to identify and describe STAR File data items which are exchanged and archived. When STAR Files are written or read, dictionaries can play an important supplementary role of validating individual items and checking the overall conformance of the data structure. A STAR File dictionary contains definitions for each data item. These definitions are composed of a sequence of data attributes which, individually and collectively, specify the properties of an item. These attributes are considered to be the vocabulary of a STAR File dictionary definition language (DDL). This chapter describes the concepts and specification of the STAR File DDL dictionaries used to define the data items for core crystallographic, powder diffraction, modulated-structures and electron-density applications. For these applications, it discusses the purpose of data dictionaries, the structure of a DDL dictionary file, the function of DDL attributes and the specification of DDL attributes.


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About International Tables for Crystallography

International Tables for Crystallography is the definitive resource and reference work for crystallography. The multi-volume series comprises articles and tables of data relevant to crystallographic research and to applications of crystallographic methods in all sciences concerned with the structure and properties of materials.