CIF

Definition

Acronym used both for the Crystallographic Information File, a data-exchange and archival file format sponsored by the International Union of Crystallography, and the Crystallographic Information Framework, a subsequent system of exchange protocols based on data dictionaries and relational rules expressible in different machine-readable manifestations, including, but not restricted to, Crystallographic Information File and XML.

Similar acronyms are used for specific applications of the Crystallographic Information Framework, e.g.

• mmCIF (macromolecular crystallography)
• pdCIF (powder diffraction)
• msCIF (description of modulated and composite structures)
• rhoCIF (electron density data)
• imgCIF (image data)
• symCIF (symmetry data)
• magCIF (magnetic structures)

See also

• Bernstein, H.J., Bollinger, J. C., Brown, I. D., Gražulis, S., Hester, J. R., McMahon, B., Spadaccini, N., Westbrook, J. D. and Westrip, S. P. (2016). J. Appl. Cryst. 49 277-284. Specification of the Crystallographic Information File format, version 2.0

• Brown, I. D.and McMahon, B. (2002). J. Appl. Cryst. 49, 277-284. CIF: the computer language of crystallography

• Hall, S. R., Allen, F. H. and Brown, I. D. (1991). Acta Cryst. A47, 655-685. The Crystallographic Information File (CIF): a new standard archive file for crystallography. (See also HTML version at http://www.iucr.org/iucr-top/cif/standard/cifstd1.html.)

• International Tables for Crystallography, Volume G