Communication and data storage in TONTO

It is extremely important to have a well defined but flexible way to write input files, in order to facilitate data deposition and database construction. Mining of databases for critical information will be a significant way in which future scientific research will be conducted.

TONTO defines a standard database format for input and command execution.

The format is built into the way modules access data. Because of its clear definition, tools can easily be developed to read a general TONTO database file.

The format is closely based on the CIF database format, except that the TONTO data format allows nested lists of structures.

TONTO also uses the CVS revision contraol system, so that multiple users at different sites can be developing the code at once. The cvs system is not descibed here, but those programmers interested in it can contact us directly for access to the repository.