Tom
The key problem is that people keep changing the "standard" for the MRC format. Here is the current official version:
So it is not so simple any more, as the software from the MRC and associated packages now probably adhere to the new standard, while other packages and old MRC format files still use the unsigned 8bit form. The suffix ".mrc" is used for both, so that cannot be used as a distinguishing mechanism. Also, there are significant differences between the CCP4 (suffix ".map") and MRC formats, so you cannot substitute the one for the other.
I'm still figuring out how to handle it in Bsoft.
On Sep 7, 2007, at 4:11 PM, Tom Goddard wrote:
Hi Bernard,
Thanks for the info on the history of signed versus unsigned 8-bit MRC files. I see that CCP4 clearly uses signed 8-bit and most MRC used for EM data uses unsigned. Is there any definitive specification for MRC format? I just made up that bit about an "MRC standard". I'm not aware of anyone publishing a standard. The Chimera change was motivate by the EM Databank using CCP4 for their maps. A possible more explicit handling as you suggest is to assume signed 8-bit for file suffixes ".ccp4" and ".map" (used by EMDB) and unsigned 8-bit for the file suffix ".mrc" -- basically distinguish CCP4 from MRC format in Chimera. I'm not sure if the ".map" suffix used by EMDB to mean CCP4 is in use by other EM labs to mean MRC.
Tom
Bernard Heymann, Research Fellow
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