An account is given of the development of the SHELX system of computer programs from SHELX-76 to the present day. In addition to identifying useful innovations that have come into general use through their implementation in SHELX, a critical analysis is presented of the less-successful features, missed opportunities and desirable improvements for future releases of the software. An attempt is made to understand how a program originally designed for photographic intensity data, punched cards and computers over 10000 times slower than an average modern personal computer has managed to survive for so long. SHELXL is the most widely used program for small-molecule refinement and SHELXS and SHELXD are often employed for structure solution despite the availability of objectively superior programs. SHELXL also finds a niche for the refinement of macromolecules against high-resolution or twinned data; SHELXPRO acts as an interface for macromolecular applications. SHELXC, SHELXD and SHELXE are proving useful for the experimental phasing of macromolecules, especially because they are fast and robust and so are often employed in pipelines for high-throughput phasing. This paper could serve as a general literature citation when one or more of the open-source SHELX programs (and the Bruker AXS version SHELXTL) are employed in the course of a crystal-structure determination.

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A short history of SHELX

New software, OLEX2, has been developed for the determination, visualization and analysis of molecular crystal structures. The software has a portable mouse-driven workflow-oriented and fully comprehensive graphical user interface for structure solution, refinement and report generation, as well as novel tools for structure analysis. OLEX2 seamlessly links all aspects of the structure solution, refinement and publication process and presents them in a single workflow-driven package, with the ultimate goal of producing an application which will be useful to both chemists and crystallographers.

OLEX2: a complete structure solution, refinement and analysis program

The category Computer Program Abstracts provides a rapid means of communicating up-to-date information concerning both new programs or systems and signi®cant updates to existing ones. Following normal submission, a Computer Program Abstract will be reviewed by one or two members of the IUCr Commission on Crystallographic Computing. It should not exceed 500 words in length and should follow the standard format given on page 189 of the June 1985 issue of the Journal [J. Appl. Cryst. (1985). 18, 189± 190] and on the World Wide Web at http://www.iucr. org/journals/jac/software/. Lists of software presented and/or reviewed in the Journal of Applied Crystallography are available on the World Wide Web at the above address, together with information about the availability of the software where this is known.

WinGX suite for small-molecule single-crystal crystallography

The new computer program SHELXT employs a novel dual-space algorithm to solve the phase problem for single-crystal reflection data expanded to the space group P1. Missing data are taken into account and the resolution extended if necessary. All space groups in the specified Laue group are tested to find which are consistent with the P1 phases. After applying the resulting origin shifts and space-group symmetry, the solutions are subject to further dual-space recycling followed by a peak search and summation of the electron density around each peak. Elements are assigned to give the best fit to the integrated peak densities and if necessary additional elements are considered. An isotropic refinement is followed for non-centrosymmetric space groups by the calculation of a Flack parameter and, if appropriate, inversion of the structure. The structure is assembled to maximize its connectivity and centred optimally in the unit cell. SHELXT has already solved many thousand structures with a high success rate, and is optimized for multiprocessor computers. It is, however, unsuitable for severely disordered and twinned structures because it is based on the assumption that the structure consists of atoms.

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SHELXT - Integrated space-group and crystal- structure determination

The WinGX suite provides a complete set of programs for the treatment of small-molecule single-crystal diffraction data, from data reduction and processing, structure solution, model refinement and visualization, and metric analysis of molecular geometry and crystal packing, to final report preparation in the form of a CIF. It includes several well known pieces of software and provides a repository for programs when the original authors no longer wish to, or are unable to, maintain them. It also provides menu items to execute external software, such as the SIR and SHELX suites of programs. The program ORTEP for Windows provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the classic ORTEP program, which is the original software for the illustration of anisotropic displacement ellipsoids. The GUI code provides input capabilities for a wide variety of file formats, and extra functionality such as geometry calculations and ray-traced outputs. The programs WinGX and ORTEP for Windows have been distributed over the internet for about 15 years, and this article describes some of the more modern features of the programs.

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WinGX and ORTEP for Windows: an update

SIR97 is the integration of two programs, SIR92 and CAOS, the first devoted to the solution of crystal structures by direct methods, the second to refinement via least-squares–Fourier procedures. Several new features have been introduced in SIR97 with respect to the previous version, SIR92: greater automatization, increased efficiency of the direct methods section, and a powerful graphics interface. The program also provides publication tables and CIF files.

SIR97: a new tool for crystal structure determination and refinement

SIRPOW.92 – a program for automatic solution of crystal structures by direct methods optimized for powder data

SIR92 – a program for automatic solution of crystal structures by direct methods

SIR2004 is the evolution of the SIR2002 program [Burla, Camalli, Carrozzini, Cascarano, Giacovazzo, Polidori & Spagna (2003). J. Appl. Cryst. 36, 1103]. It is devoted to the solution of crystal structures by direct and Patterson methods. Several new features implemented in SIR2004 make this program efficient: it is able to solve ab initio both small/medium-size structures as well as macromolecules (up to 2000 atoms in the asymmetric unit). In favourable circumstances, the program is also able to solve protein structures with data resolution up to 1.4–1.5 A, and to provide interpretable electron density maps. A powerful user-friendly graphical interface is provided.

SIR2004: an improved tool for crystal structure determination and refinement

Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra Piazza UniversitaÁ, 06100 Perugia, Italy, Istituto di Cristallografia, CNR, Sezione di Monterotondo, CP 10, Monterotondo Stazione, 00016 Roma, Italy, Istituto di Cristallografia, CNR, c/o Dipartimento Geomineralogico, UniversitaÁ di Bari, Campus Universitario, Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy, and CNR, Istituto di Cristallografia c/o Dipartimento Geomineralogico, UniversitaÁ di Bari, Campus Universitario, Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy. Correspondence e-mail: carmelo.giacovazzo@ic.cnr.it

Giampiero Polidori

Papers

SIR97: a new tool for crystal structure determination and refinement

SIRPOW.92 – a program for automatic solution of crystal structures by direct methods optimized for powder data

SIR92 – a program for automatic solution of crystal structures by direct methods

SIR2004: an improved tool for crystal structure determination and refinement

SIR2002: the program