Extending NWB

Neurophysiology is always changing as new technologies are developed. While the core NWB schema supports many of the most common data types in neurophysiology, we need a way to accommodate new technologies and unique metadata needs. Neurodata extensions (NDX) allow us to define new data types. These data types can extend core types, contain core types, or can be entirely new. These extensions are formally defined with a collection of YAML files following the NWB Specification Language.

• Creating an extension
  • Using ndx-template
  • Creating a namespace
  • Including types
  • Defining new neurodata types
• The Spec API
  • Group Specifications
  • Dataset Specifications
  • Attribute Specifications
  • Link Specifications
• Generating an API for an extension
  • Generating a MatNWB API
  • Generating a PyNWB API
  • Customizing automatically generated APIs
• Building a custom Python API for an extension
  • Docval
  • Registering classes
  • Nwbfields
  • NWBContainer
  • NWBData
  • Custom data checks on __init__
  • ObjectMapper
• Documenting Extensions
• Publishing extensions
  • Open Source: Releasing your extension Git repository
  • Open Access: Releasing your extension on PyPI
  • Open Publication: Publishing your extension on the NDX Catalog
  • Updating your published extension
  • Policies: Neurodata Extension (NDX) rules and guidelines
• Examples
  • Extensions for lab-specific metadata: Extending LabMetaData