I. Vickovic et al., AN OPTIMAL STRATEGY FOR X-RAY DATA-COLLECTION ON MACROMOLECULAR CRYSTALS WITH POSITION-SENSITIVE DETECTORS, Journal of applied crystallography, 27, 1994, pp. 791-793
X-ray data collection on macromolecular crystals is preferably done wi
th minimum exposure time and high completeness. A Fortran procedure -
DCS - has been written in the environment of the MADNES program to pre
dict the completeness of data before the start of actual data collecti
on. In addition, the program can check and refine the data-collection
strategy and suggest optimal settings and rotation ranges for one or m
ore crystals in different orientations that give highest completeness
in minimum exposure time, thus extending the life of the crystal. The
method has been tested on previously collected data as well as on new
structures. Since the program has been in full use in this laboratory,
the completeness of collected data has improved significantly.