pdb2cif Version 2.4.2 Features

pdb2cif [BBB98] is a program which converts PDB entries into mmCIF datasets. Most, but not all, common PDB record types are converted. The program cannot resolve some of the ambiguitites involved in the conversion. The program has gone through extensive changes since 1993 as both mmCIf and the PDB format have evolved. The program, which was initially written as an awk script, is now available as an m4 macro document which produces either perl or awk versions. The perl version is recommended.

The pdb2cif.m4 document contains approximately 6500 lines of text, which generates a similar sized awk script of over 10,000 lines of perl code (due to in-lining of certain critical functions). On modern processors with sufficient memory (32 to 64 MB available RAM), the conversion takes from several seconds to a few minutes (e.g. for large NMR entries) depending on the size of the PDB entry. The mmCIF data sets produced are approximately the same size as the original PDB entries.

[BBB98] Bernstein, H.J.,Bernstein, F.C., Bourne, P.E. "pdb2cif: Translating PDB Entries into mmCIF Format," , J. Appl. Cryst., 31, pp. 282-295, 1998.