This may be of interest to powder diffraction software developers. Comments to the other Brian ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) not me. Brian McMahon wrote: > > Dear CIF Developers > > For some time the IUCr policy on its STAR and CIF file formats has been > governed by a statement published on the web and in other places (see > http://www.iucr.org/iucr-top/ipr.html). And for some time there have been > complaints that this has seemed an intimidating legal document, more likely > to deter developers from writing software for CIF applications than to > encourage them. Therefore a working party has been attempting to produce a > new policy statement which emphasises the desire to make this a community > standard, and actively encourages the development of compliant software. > > Your response to this draft is welcome. Please note that this has not yet > been redrafted by professional lawyers, and some tinkering with the wording > is almost inevitable before it is formally accepted. There are also some > details to be completed regarding the canonical URLs for finding the > specifications. > > What we would find most useful at this stage is some idea of whether such > a statement would make it easier or more difficult for you to commission, > write, redistribute and sell CIF software. > > Regards > Brian > > (PS I shall be away from my office for a week, so please understand if > there is no immediate response from me to any direct queries.) > > - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT > > VERSION: May 17 2000 > > > The IUCr Policy for the Protection and the Promotion > of the STAR File and CIF Standards > for Exchanging and Archiving Electronic Data. > > ------------- > > OVERVIEW > > The Crystallographic Information File (CIF)[1] is a standard for information > interchange promulgated by the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr). > CIF (Hall, Allen & Brown, 1991) is the recommended method for submitting > publications to Acta Crystallographica Section C and reports of crystal > structure determinations to other sections of Acta Crystallographica and many > other journals. The syntax of a CIF is a subset of the more general STAR > File[2] format. The CIF and STAR File approaches are used increasingly in > the structural sciences for data exchange and archiving, and are having a > significant influence on these activities in other fields. > > ------------- > > STATEMENT OF INTENT > > The IUCr's interest in the STAR File is as a general data interchange > standard for science, and its interest in the CIF, a conformant derivative > of the STAR File, is as a concise data exchange and archival standard > for crystallography and structural science. > > ------------- > > PROTECTION OF THE STANDARDS > > To protect the STAR File and the CIF as standards for interchanging and > archiving electronic data, the IUCr, on behalf of the scientific community, > > * holds the copyrights on the standards themselves, > > * owns the associated trademarks and service marks, and > > * holds a patent on the STAR File. > > These intellectual property rights relate solely to the interchange > formats, not to the data contained therein, nor to the software used > in the generation, access or manipulation of the data. > > ------------- > > PROMOTION OF THE STANDARDS > > The sole requirement that the IUCr, in its protective role, imposes on > software purporting to process STAR File or CIF data is that the following > conditions be met prior to sale or distribution. > > * Software claiming to READ files written to either the STAR File or the > CIF standard must be able to extract the pertinent data from a file > conformant to the STAR File syntax, or the CIF syntax, respectively. > > * Software claiming to WRITE files in either the STAR File, or the CIF, > standard must produce files that are conformant to the STAR File syntax, > or the CIF syntax, respectively. > > * Software claiming to READ definitions from a specific data dictionary > APPROVED BY THE IUCr must be able to extract any pertinent definition > which is conformant to the dictionary definition language (DDL)[3] > associated with that dictionary. > > The IUCr, through its Committee on CIF Standards, will assist any developer > to verify that software meets these conformance conditions. > > ------------- > > GLOSSARY OF TERMS > > [1] CIF: is a data file conformant to the file syntax defined at > http://www.iucr.org/iucr-top/cif/[...URL to be completed...] > > [2] STAR File: is a data file conformant to the file syntax defined at > http://www.iucr.org/iucr-top/cif/[...URL to be completed...] > > [3] DDL: is a language used in a data dictionary to define data > items in terms of "attributes". Dictionaries currently > approved by the IUCr, and the DDL versions used to > construct these dictionaries, are listed at > http://www.iucr.org/iucr-top/cif/[...URL to be completed...] > > ------------- > - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT -- ******************************************************************** Brian H. Toby, Ph.D. Leader, Crystallography Team [EMAIL PROTECTED] NIST Center for Neutron Research, Stop 8562 voice: 301-975-4297 National Institute of Standards & Technology FAX: 301-921-9847 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8562 http://www.ncnr.nist.gov/xtal ********************************************************************
