ICSD Products

Customers may choose between several options to access ICSD data:

• ICSD Web: our web-portal at https://icsd.fiz-karlsruhe.de
• ICSD Desktop: Windows-based PC version typically used for local installations within smaller research groups

All versions are updated biannually, usually in April and October.

All access options of ICSD use the same interface and hence offer the same functionality including extended crystal structure visualization and analysis tools, and powder pattern simulation with the possibility of enhanced manipulation. ICSD currently provides comprehensive search masks for more than 70 characteristics and offers sophisticated mechanisms to build complex queries. Queries can be stored to be reused later or to be combined with other queries. Export options include the CIF format and a text format based on the previous interface FindIt.

The ICSD interfaces include full help on all features in the form of a PDF that can be accessed from the interface.

ICSD interface

ICSD Web is a host-based internet solution that offers its users both the flexibility of a browser-based interface and the functionality and efficiency of a graphical user interface. ICSD Web is developed and maintained by FIZ Karlsruhe in order to meet both the increasing requirements of the users and the requirements of modern software development. The user-friendly interface is easy to navigate with up-to-date features:

• intuitive search interface
• extensive classification in structure types, which are searchable based on descriptors defining each structure type
• structure standardization for easier comparison with other structures
• extended crystal structure visualization and analysis tools
• powder pattern simulation with the possibility of enhanced manipulation
• simple but powerful query management
• direct links to the original literature via OpenURL server

ICSD Web is available for single users, multiple users (up to 4 accesses) as well as for whole campuses/sites (unlimited number of accesses). Authentication for single users and multiple users is handled by logins/passwords. Campus/Site users are authenticated based on their IP address; in addition, users can create personalized accounts while being IP authenticated to store searches and preferences.

ICSD Desktop is a solution for individual users as well as small research groups that would like to install ICSD locally on their computer/laptop. The advantage of a local installation is that you always have access to the database and you are independent of any network connection. Currently, ICSD Desktop runs on Windows only, but soon it will be offered also for other operating systems like Linux/Unix or MacOS.

The technical side of ICSD Desktop is basically identical to ICSD Web. ICSD Desktop installs stripped-down servers to run the required services on the local machine. Access from other machines is prohibited.

ICSD Desktop is available on DVD for single users (one installation) or multiple users (up to 4 installations). The software as well as the database has to be installed on each computer. Access via a network is not possible.

The ICSD API Service is a RESTful API service that provides direct access to the database without the need to use the regular interface as provided with ICSD Desktop or ICSD Web. This service offers the possibility to address the ICSD with own tools. End users of the service can use Swagger to easily create code in various common programming/script languages to access the API.

The ICSD API Service is intended for users who need a large number of structures from ICSD for further investigation. The regular interface is not suitable for this kind of application due to different limitations and the terms and conditions for the licensing of ICSD. Typical applications for the ICSD API Service are data mining projects.

ICSD API Service Licenses are temporary, personal and project-related, i.e. the following limitations apply:

• A license is usually concluded for one year. Extensions and longer terms are possible analogous to the regular ICSD licenses.
• The users of the license must be named.
• The license and thus the data received from ICSD can only be used within the scope of the named project. Use of the data in another project requires an additional license.

For the paid ICSD API Service a regular ICSD Web license is necessary. This ICSD Web access can be a personal single user/multi-user license, but also a campus/site license is possible. The prices for ICSD API Service Licenses are available on request. For a quotation the following information is required: name(s) of the user(s) and project for which the license is to be used. In any case, the terms and conditions for the use of the ICSD API Service apply in addition to the terms and conditions for the licensing of the ICSD.

On 10 December 2021, the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) warned of a critical vulnerability in a Java library. Affected is Log4j, a component administered by the Apache Foundation for recording so-called log entries. Mainly affected is Log4j in versions 2.0 to 2.14.1. This library is also used in current ICSD Desktop and ICSD Intranet version 2021.2.

The release version 2021.2 of ICSD Desktop and ICSD Intranet contain the vulnerable log4j variant in the file ROOT.war. This file should therefore be updated. For this purpose, we provide an updated file for download here, which should replace the corresponding file in the respective installation. After a restart of the server, the vulnerability will be fixed according to the current state of knowledge.

You can download the updated file "ROOT.war" here as a zip archive. The archive also contains a txt file that explains step-by-step how to replace the file for ICSD Desktop or ICSD Intranet.

Please note that neither ICSD Desktop nor ICSD Intranet require a connection to the Internet. Both versions can work alone, which provides another way to run ICSD safely by running it on a computer that has no network connection or is only connected to an internal network with no connection to the outside.