Warning
You are using a web browser that we do not support. Our website will not work properly. Please update to a newer version or download a new web browser, such as Chrome or Firefox.
MyPDB
Toggle navigation
RCSB PDB
Deposit
Prepare Data
pdb_extract
SF-Tool
Ligand Expo
MAXIT
Validate Data
Validation Server
Information for Journals
Validation Task Forces
Deposit Data
wwPDB OneDep System
Deposition Help & Resources
Deposit FAQ
Tutorials
Annotation Policies
Processing Procedures
PDBx/mmCIF Dictionary
Chemical Component Dictionary
PDB Format Guide
BioSync Beamlines/Facilities
Related Tools
Search
Advanced Search
Drilldown Search
Unreleased & New Entries
Sequences
Ligands
Drugs & Drug Targets
Browse by Annotation
PDB Statistics
Visualize
Visualize3DViewer
PoseView
Protein Feature View
Human Gene View
Pathway View
Analyze
Sequence & Structure Alignment
Protein Symmetry
Structure Quality
Map Genomic Position to Protein
PDB Statistics
Third Party Tools
Download
Coordinates & Experimental Data
Sequences
Ligands
FTP Archive & Services
HTTPS Services
Other Services
RESTful Web Services
Learn
About
Molecule of the Month
Browse all Resources
Educational Resources
Curricula
Guide to PDB Data
News and Events
More
Contact Us
Citing Us
Usage & Privacy
Help Topics
About RCSB PDB
Team Members
Advisory Committee
News
Publications
Careers
148969
Biological Macromolecular Structures Enabling Breakthroughs in Research and Education
Go
Advanced
Search
|
Browse
by Annotations
|
Search
History
|
Previous
Results
mmCIF Format
The mmCIF file format, which has been developed under the auspices of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), is to extend the Crystallographic Information File (CIF) data representation used for describing small molecule structures and associated diffraction experiments.
This extension is referred to as the macromolecular Crystallographic Information File (
mmCIF
).
CIF was developed to
describe small molecule organic structures
and the crystallographic experiment by the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) Working Party on Crystallographic Information at the behest of the IUCr Commission on Crystallographic Data and the IUCr Commission on Journals.
The result of this effort was a
core dictionary
of data items sufficient for archiving the small molecule crystallographic experiment and its results.
The
format
of the small molecule CIF dictionary and the data files based upon that dictionary conform to a restricted version of the Self Defining Text Archive and Retrieval (STAR) representation developed by Hall.
STAR
permits a data organization that may be understood by analogy with a spoken language.