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Re: [ddlm-group] Summary of proposed CIF syntax changes

Obviously, the right thing to do for implementing CIF2 features is to 
require a full dictionary update/conversion/replacement with a DDLm 
dictionary.

However, it is useful to begin implementing some CIF2 features, partly 
to demonstrate to the CIF user community that it is useful, and worth 
the effort to switch to CIF2. In that case, some sort of intermediate 
code can be used, which might be called CIF1.5, CIF2-alpha, or anything 
else you want, but does not really need to be defined in the snatdards.

It might be useful to have a small utility (in Perl or Python) to 
auto-generate a DDLm dictionary with default CIF2 name aliases, such as:

   "-"  ->  "_"
   "/" -> "_over_"
   "[]" -> "_array_"

Then you can derive a quick-and-dirty CIF2 dictionary, rather than 
quick-and-dirty CIF2 code.

Joe


SIMON WESTRIP wrote:
> When I said that the 'dictionaries will need to be re-written' I meant that
> if anyone wanted to start using e.g. the list structures, they would 
> most likely
> not be able to within the confines of the dictionaries that they 
> currently use.
> For example, if I wanted to write a dictionary extension to any of the
> DDL1 dictionaries currently used by Acta C, I would not be able to write 
> it in CIF2
> because the DDL1 dictionaries violate CIF2?
> That is, as far as I can see, we cannot make any use of the new useful 
> features of
> CIF2 when working with CIF1-based CIFs and dictionaries until there are CIF2
> versions of those dictionaries?
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Simon
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* David Brown <idbrown@mcmaster.ca>
> *To:* Group finalising DDLm and associated dictionaries 
> <ddlm-group@iucr.org>
> *Sent:* Monday, 7 December, 2009 19:06:03
> *Subject:* Re: [ddlm-group] Summary of proposed CIF syntax changes
> 
> 
> 
> Joe Krahn wrote:
>> Aren't the following in the core dictionary, and need changing?
>>
>> _symmetry_space_group_name_H-M
>> _refine_ls_shift/esd_max
>> _refine_ls_class_[]
>>
>> As I suggested below, CIF2 code should allow CIF1 names, possibly with 
>> warnings, and just exclude them from dREL, unless they can be mapped 
>> dictionary aliases.
>>
> It is true that these names, particularly the last one, contain 
> characters that are not permitted in CIF2.  However, a CIF1 data file 
> will always require a CIF1 lexer for which these data names present no 
> problem.  If it is to be backwardly compatible, any application designed 
> to make use of DDLm dictionaries will require a CIF1 as well as a CIF2 
> lexer.  Which lexer is used depends on the presence or absence of the 
> magic code at the beginning of the file.  The lexer then passes these 
> names and values (as undifferentiated strings) to the DDLm dictionary 
> where the first task on receiving any file from the CIF1 lexer is to 
> check the data names (which can be recognized from their leading 
> underscore) against the DDLm data names and their aliases.  As soon as a 
> match is found, the official DDLm name is substituted for the original 
> CIF1 data name (in the few cases where this is necessary), and from here 
> on the data file is a conforming CIF2 data file to which methods can be 
> applied without any concern for the original format of the data file.  
> Note that DDL1 and DDL2 dictionaries are never used or consulted in this 
> process.  The only dictionary used is one written in DDLm, so no changes 
> are needed to DDL1 and DDL2 dicrionaries.
> 
> Of course if someone decides to use a hybrid CIF1.5 format, a whole new 
> set of problems arises.  But I suggest that we first of all agree on 
> CIF2, and then, if necessary, consider what CIF1.5 might look like, but 
> my view is that CIF1.5, if used at all, should be considered as a 
> temporary non-conforming standard that should not be used for archival 
> purposes.  Its main use, as I gather from Herbert, is to allow 
> hand-entering of vectors and arrays. a use that is probably restricted 
> to one or two specialized situations.  In most cases this information 
> will be generated by computer, and DDLm dictionaries already have 
> methods to convert the array elements defined in DDL1 and DDL2 
> dictionaries into the arrays that would normally be used by DDLm.
> 
> David
> 
> 
>> Joe
>>
>>
>> David Brown wrote:
>>> Simon,
>>>
>>> I am not sure what changes are needed in CIF1 dictionaries.  I would be 
>>> interested to know since any changes have to be passed through the 
>>> coreCIF Dictionary Maintenance Group that I chair.  It is my 
>>> understanding that no changes are needed, and if they are they must be 
>>> changes that do not invalidate the reading of any of the archive.
>>>
>>> David
>>>
>>> SIMON WESTRIP wrote:
>>>> I understand the name alias approach - what I was trying to highlight is
>>>> the fact that current dictionaries will need to be re-written and this
>>>> in itself might be more of an issue when selling CIF2 than the fact 
>>>> that commas
>>>> as list separators could be on the table.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers
>>>>
>>>> Simon
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> *From:* Joe Krahn <krahn@niehs.nih.gov>
>>>> *To:* Group finalising DDLm and associated dictionaries 
>>>> <ddlm-group@iucr.org>
>>>> *Sent:* Friday, 4 December, 2009 20:23:09
>>>> *Subject:* Re: [ddlm-group] Summary of proposed CIF syntax changes
>>>>
>>>> SIMON WESTRIP wrote:
>>>>> I agree that a "rationale for all of the quotation rule
>>>>> changes" might be welcome - I can imagine that at first glance many 
>>>> people
>>>>> will wonder what the """ and ''' are for.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm not sure that hinting that comma-separated lists
>>>>> are also a possibilty is going to help matters?
>>>> My willingness to support commas is partly because Herbert finds it
>>>> usefule, and has already implemented it. Maybe the comma-delimited
>>>> variant can be useful as a CIF 1.5 transitional form?
>>>>
>>>>> Afterall, when it comes down to it, until there are
>>>>> dictionaries that comply to CIF2, many disciplines
>>>>> that already make use of CIF will find it difficult to
>>>>> adopt CIF2 because their current dictionaries will be invalidated by
>>>>> the restrictions on the dataname character set?
>>>> Name changes are not uncommon, at least for mmCIF. Hopefully, dictionary
>>>> aliases will ease the conversion. It would also help if early CIF2
>>>> software should probably allow CIF1 names within the CIF2 syntax, with
>>>> warnings, and just exclude them from dREL.
>>>>
>>>> Joe
>>>>> Cheers
>>>>>
>>>>> Simon
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>> *From:* Joe Krahn <krahn@niehs.nih.gov <mailto:krahn@niehs.nih.gov>>
>>>>> *To:* Group finalising DDLm and associated dictionaries
>>>>> <ddlm-group@iucr.org <mailto:ddlm-group@iucr.org>>
>>>>> *Sent:* Friday, 4 December, 2009 17:49:01
>>>>> *Subject:* Re:
>>>>>  [ddlm-group] Summary of proposed CIF syntax changes
>>>>>
>>>>> The summary did not include a rationale for all of the quotation rule
>>>>> changes, which is the area that makes the least sense to me.
>>>>>
>>>>> The section defining the rationale for not allowing lexical characters
>>>>> outside the 7-bit range (the first Reasoning paragraph) might mention
>>>>> that it affords faster parsing by deferring any UTF-8 conversions.
>>>>>
>>>>> I see that the commas were left out of the list syntax. It may be good
>>>>> to put a short paragraph about the alternative comma-delimited syntax,
>>>>> so that other people reviewing the proposal have a chance to comment.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Joe Krahn
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> ddlm-group mailing list
>>>>> ddlm-group@iucr.org <mailto:ddlm-group@iucr.org> 
>>>> <mailto:ddlm-group@iucr.org <mailto:ddlm-group@iucr.org>>
>>>>> http://scripts.iucr.org/mailman/listinfo/ddlm-group
>>>>>
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