The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, part 3. The unique molecule program

An extensive computer program has been developed to check the internal consistency of published, numeric, crystallographic data prior to storage in the data files of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre. The coding is in Fortran IV for an IBM 3701165 with 1 megabyte store. The atomic coordinates, constitution and connectivity of the unique bonded residue(s) are determined from the published asymmetric unit coordinates. Bond lengths are calculated and compared with published values, and any discrepancies are flagged. Checks are made to ensure that the valency requirements of certain elemental types are not violated. The connectivity of the system is expressed in a compact notation. Axial projection plots may optionally be produced on the line printer. The program is likely to be generally useful to individual crystallographers at various stages of an analysis as well as for checking of published data.