1. HDMF Specification Language¶

Version: v2.1.0-beta [1]

Last modified: Mar 12, 2024

1.1. Introduction¶

In order to support the formal and verifiable specification of HDMF data file formats, HDMF defines and uses the HDMF specification language. The specification language is defined in YAML (or optionally JSON) and defines formal structures for describing the organization of complex data using basic concepts, e.g., Groups, Datasets, Attributes, and Links. A specification typically consists of a declaration of a namespace and a set of schema specifications. Data publishers can use the specification language to extend the format in order to store types of data not supported by the HDMF core format (Section 1.2).

1.2. Extensions¶

As mentioned, extensions to the core format are specified via custom user namespaces. Each namespace must have a unique name (i.e., must be different from core). The schema of new data types (groups, datasets, etc.) are then specified in separate schema specification files. While it is possible to define multiple namespaces in the same file, most commonly, each new namespace will be defined in a separate file with corresponding schema specifications being stored in one ore more additional YAML (or JSON) files. One or more namespaces can be used simultaneously, so that multiple extensions can be used at the same time while avoiding potential name and type collisions between extensions (as well as with the core specification).

The specification of namespaces is described in detail next in Section 1.3, and the specification of schema specifications is described in Section 1.4 and subsequent sections.

Tip

The spec package as part of the hdmf Python API provides dedicated data structures and utilities that support programmatic generation of extensions via Python programs, compared to writing YAML (or JSON) extension documents by hand. One main advantage of using hdmf is that it is easier to use and maintain. E.g., using hdmf helps ensure compliance of the generated specification files with the current specification language and the Python programs can often easily be just rerun to generate updated versions of extension files (with little to no changes to the program itself).

Tip

The hdmf-docutils package includes tools to generate Sphinx documentation from format specifications. In particular the executable hdmf_init_sphinx_extension_doc provides functionality to set up documentation for a format or extension defined by a namespace (similar to the documentation for NWB core namespace at http://nwb-schema.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ ). Use hdmf_init_sphinx_extension_doc --help to view the list of options for generating the docs. The package also includes the executable hdmf_generate_format_docs which is used for generating actual reStructuredText files and figures from YAML/JSON specification sources. For an example see: http://pynwb.readthedocs.io/en/latest/example.html#documenting-extensions

1.3. Namespaces¶

Namespaces are used to define a collections of specifications, to enable users to develop extensions in their own namespace and, hence, to avoid name/type collisions. Namespaces are defined in separate YAML files. The specification of a namespace looks as follows:

# hdmf-schema-language 2.2.0
namespaces:
- doc: NWB namespace
  name: NWB
  full_name: NWB core
  version: 1.2.0
  date: 2019-05-22
  author:
  - Andrew Tritt
  - Oliver Ruebel
  - Ryan Ly
  - Ben Dichter
  - Keith Godfrey
  - Jeff Teeters
  contact:
  - ajtritt@lbl.gov
  - oruebel@lbl.gov
  - rly@lbl.gov
  - bdichter@lbl.gov
  - keithg@alleninstitute.org
  - jteeters@berkeley.edu
  schema:
  - source: nwb.base.yaml
    data_types: null
    doc : Base nwb types
    title : Base types
  - ...

The top-level key must be namespaces. The value of namespaces is a list with the specification of one (or more) namespaces.

The beginning of the file must begin with a comment that starts with ‘hdmf-schema-language’ followed by a space and the version string of the specification language used by this namespace, e.g., hdmf-schema-language 2.2.0. Files without this comment are assumed to be defined using hdmf-schema-language 2.0.2.

1.3.1. Namespace declaration keys¶

1.3.1.1. `doc`¶

Text description of the namespace.

1.3.1.2. `name`¶

Unique name used to refer to the namespace.

1.3.1.3. `full_name`¶

Optional string with extended full name for the namespace.

1.3.1.4. `version`¶

Version string for the namespace

1.3.1.5. `date`¶

Date the namespace has been last modified or released. Formatting is %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S, e.g., 2017-04-25 17:14:13.

1.3.1.6. `author`¶

List of strings with the names of the authors of the namespace.

1.3.1.7. `contact`¶

List of strings with the contact information for the authors. Ordering of the contacts should match the ordering of the authors.

1.3.1.8. `schema`¶

List of the schema to be included in this namespace. The specification looks as follows:

- source: nwb.base.yaml
- source: nwb.ephys.yaml
  doc: Types related to EPhys
  title: EPhys
  data_types:
  - ElectricalSeries
- namespace: core
  data_types:
  - Interface

source describes the name of the YAML (or JSON) file with the schema specification. The schema files should be located in the same folder as the namespace file.
namespace describes a named reference to another namespace. In contrast to source, this is a reference by name to a known namespace (i.e., the namespace is resolved during the build and must point to an already existing namespace). This mechanism is used to allow, e.g., extension of a core namespace (here the NWB core namespace) without requiring hard paths to the files describing the core namespace. Either source or namespace must be specified, but not both.
data_types is an optional list of strings indicating which data types should be included from the given specification source or namespace. The default is data_types: null indicating that all data types should be included.
doc is an optional key for source files with a doc string to further document the content of the source file.
title is an option key for source files to provide a descriptive title for a file for documentation purposes.

Attention

As with any language, we can only use what is defined. This means that similar to include or import statements in programming languages, e.g., Python, the source and namespace keys must be in order of use. E.g., nwb.ephys.yaml defines ElectricalSeries which inherits from Timeseries that is defined in nwb.base.yaml. This means that we have to list nwb.base.yaml before nwb.ephys.yaml since otherwise Timeseries would not be defined when nwb.ephys.yaml is trying to use it.

1.4. Schema specification¶

The schema specification defines the groups, datasets and relationship that make up the format. Schemas may be distributed across multiple YAML files to improve readability and to support logical organization of types. Schema files should have the groups key and/or the datasets key at the top level.

The beginning of all schema files must begin with a comment that starts with ‘hdmf-schema-language’ followed by a space and the version string of the specification language used by this namespace, e.g., hdmf-schema-language 2.2.0. Files without this comment are assumed to be defined using hdmf-schema-language 2.0.2. The comment at the beginning of schema files must be the same as the comment at the start of the namespace file that includes the schema files.

This is the main part of the format specification. It is described in the following sections.

Note

Schema specifications are agnostic to namespaces, i.e., a schema (or type) becomes part of a namespace by including it in the namespace as part of the schema description of the namespace. Hence, the same schema can be reused across namespaces.

1.5. Groups¶

Groups are specified as part of the top-level list or via lists stored in the key groups. The specification of a group is described in YAML as follows:

# Group specification
-   data_type_def: Optional new data type for the group
    data_type_inc: Optional data type the group should inherit from
    name: Optional fixed name for the group. A group must either have a unique data type or a unique, fixed name.
    default_name: Default name for the group
    doc: Required description of the group
    quantity: Optional quantity identifier for the group (default=1).
    attributes: Optional list of attribute specifications describing the attributes of the group
    datasets: Optional list of dataset specifications describing the datasets contained in the group
    groups: Optional list of group specifications describing the sub-groups contained in the group
    links: Optional list of link specifications describing the links contained in the group

The key/value pairs that make up a group specification are described in more detail next in Section Section 1.5.1. The keys should be ordered as specified above for readability and consistency with the rest of the schema.

Note

In version 3.0, the linkable key was removed.

1.5.1. Group specification keys¶

1.5.1.1. `data_type_def` and `data_type_inc`¶

The concept of a data type is similar to the concept of Class in object-oriented programming. A data type is a unique identifier for a specific type of group (or dataset) in a specification. By assigning a data type to a group (or dataset) enables others to reuse that type by inclusion or inheritance (Note: only groups (or datasets) with a specified type can be reused).

data_type_def: This key is used to define (i.e., create) a new data type and to assign that type to the current group (or dataset).
data_type_inc: The value of the data_type_inc key describes the base type of a group (or dataset). The value must be an existing type.

Both data_type_def and data_type_inc are optional keys. To enable the unique identification, every group (and dataset) must either have a fixed name and/or a unique data type. This means, any group (or dataset) with a variable name must have a unique data type.

The data type is determined by the value of the data_type_def key or if no new type is defined then the value of data_type_inc is used to determine type. Or in other words, the data type is determined by the last type in the ancestry (i.e., inheritance hierarchy) of an object.

Reusing existing data types

The combination of data_type_inc and data_type_def provides an easy-to-use mechanism for reuse of type specifications via inheritance (i.e., merge and extension of specifications) and inclusion (i.e., embedding of an existing type as a component, such as a subgroup, of a new specification). Here an overview of all relevant cases:

`data_type_inc`	`data_type_def`	Description
not set	not set	define a standard dataset or group without a type
not set	set	create a new data type from scratch
set	not set	include (reuse) data type without creating a new one (include)
set	set	merge/extend data type and create a new type (inheritance/merge)

Example: Reuse by inheritance

# Abbreviated YAML specification
-   data_type_def: Series
    datasets:
    - name: A

-   data_type_def: MySeries
    data_type_inc: Series
    datasets:
    - name: B

The result of this is that MySeries inherits dataset A from Series and adds its own dataset B, i.e., if we resolve the inheritance, then the above is equivalent to:

# Result:
-   data_type_def: MySeries
    datasets:
    - name: A
    - name: B

Example: Reuse by inclusion

# Abbreviated YAML specification
-   data_type_def: Series
    datasets:
    - name: A

-   data_type_def: MySeries
    groups:
    - data_type_inc: Series

The result of this is that MySeries now includes a group of type Series, i.e., the above is equivalent to:

-  data_type_def: MySeries
   groups:
   - data_type_inc: Series
     datasets:
       - name: A

Note

The keys data_type_def and data_type_inc were introduced in version 1.2a to simplify the concepts of inclusion and merging of specifications and replaced the keys include and merge (and merge+).

1.5.1.2. `name`¶

String with the optional fixed name for the group.

Note

Every group must have either a unique fixed name or a unique data type determined by data_type_def or data_type_inc to enable the unique identification of groups when stored on disk.

1.5.1.3. `default_name`¶

Default name of the group.

Note

Only one of either name or default_name (or neither) should be specified. The fixed name given by name will always overwrite the behavior of default_name.

1.5.1.4. `doc`¶

The value of the group specification doc key is a string describing the group. The doc key is required.

Note

In earlier versions (before version 1.2a) this key was called description

1.5.1.5. `quantity`¶

The quantity describes how often the corresponding group (or dataset) can appear. The quantity indicates both minimum and maximum number of instances. Hence, if the minimum number of instances is 0 then the group (or dataset) is optional and otherwise it is required. The default value is quantity=1. If name is defined, quantity may not be >1.

value	minimum quantity	maximum quantity	Comment
`zero_or_many` or `*`	`0`	`unlimited`	Zero or more instances
`one_or_many` or `+`	`1`	`unlimited`	One or more instances
`zero_or_one` or `?`	`0`	`1`	Zero or one instances
`1`, `2`, `3`, …	`n`	`n`	Exactly `n` instances

Note

The quantity key was added in version 1.2a of the specification language as a replacement of the `quantity_flag` that was used to encode quantity information via a regular expression as part of the main key of the group.

1.5.1.6. `attributes`¶

List of attribute specifications describing the attributes of the group. See Section 1.6 for details.

attributes:
- doc: Unit of measurement
  name: unit
  dtype: text
- ...

1.5.1.7. `datasets`¶

List of dataset specifications describing all datasets to be stored as part of this group. See Section 1.8 for details.

datasets:
- name: data1
  doc: My data 1
  type: int
  quantity: '?'
- name: data2
  doc: My data 2
  type: text
  attributes:
  - ...
- ...

1.5.1.8. `groups`¶

List of group specifications describing all groups to be stored as part of this group.

groups:
- name: group1
  quantity: '?'
- ...

1.5.1.9. `links`¶

List of link specifications describing all links to be stored as part of this group. See Section 1.7 for details.

links:
- doc: Link to target type
  name: link name
  target_type: type of target
  quantity: '?'
- ...

1.5.1.10. `\_required`¶

Attention

The \_required key has been removed in version 2.0. An improved version may be added again in later version of the specification language.

1.6. Attributes¶

Attributes are specified as part of lists stored in the key attributes as part of the specifications of groups and datasets. Attributes are typically used to further characterize or store metadata about the group or dataset they are associated with. Similar to datasets, attributes can define arbitrary n-dimensional arrays, but are typically used to store smaller data. The specification of an attributes is described in YAML as follows:

...
attributes:
- name: Required string describing the name of the attribute
  dtype: Required string describing the data type of the attribute
  dims: Optional list describing the names of the dimensions of the data array stored by the attribute (default=None)
  shape: Optional list describing the allowed shape(s) of the data array stored by the attribute (default=None)
  value: Optional constant, fixed value for the attribute.
  default_value: Optional default value for variable-valued attributes. Only one of value or default_value should be set.
  doc: Required string with the description of the attribute
  required: Optional boolean indicating whether the attribute is required (default=True)

The keys should be ordered as specified above for readability and consistency with the rest of the schema.

1.6.1. Attribute specification keys¶

1.6.1.1. `name`¶

String with the name for the attribute. The name key is required and must specify a unique attribute on the current parent object (e.g., group or dataset)

1.6.1.2. `dtype`¶

String specifying the data type of the attribute. Allowable values are:

`dtype` spec value	storage type	size
“float” “float32”	single precision floating point	32 bit
“double” “float64”	double precision floating point	64 bit
“long” “int64”	signed 64 bit integer	64 bit
“int” “int32”	signed 32 bit integer	32 bit
“short” “int16”	signed 16 bit integer	16 bit
“int8”	signed 8 bit integer	8 bit
“uint64”	unsigned 64 bit integer	64 bit
“uint32”	unsigned 32 bit integer	32 bit
“uint16”	unsigned 16 bit integer	16 bit
“uint8”	unsigned 8 bit integer	8 bit
“numeric”	any numeric type (i.e., any int, uint, float)	8 to 64 bit
“text” “utf” “utf8” “utf-8”	8-bit Unicode	variable (UTF-8 encoding)
“ascii” “bytes”	ASCII text	variable (ASCII encoding)
“bool”	8 bit integer with valid values 0 or 1	8 bit
“isodatetime” “datetime”	ISO 8601 datetime string, e.g., 2018-09-28T14:43:54.123+02:00 Can be missing timezone. Can also be missing time.	variable (ASCII encoding)

Note

The precision indicated in the specification is interpreted as a minimum precision. Higher precisions may be used if required by the particular data. In addition, since valid ASCII text is valid UTF-8-encoded Unicode, ASCII text may be used where 8-bit Unicode is required. 8-bit Unicode cannot be used where ASCII is required.

1.6.1.2.1. Reference `dtype`¶

In addition to the above basic data types, an attribute or dataset may also store references to other data objects. Reference dtypes are described via a dictionary. E.g.:

dtype:
      target_type: ElectrodeGroup
      reftype: object

target_type here describes the data_type of the target that the reference points to and reftype describes the kind of reference. Currently the specification language supports two main reference types.

`reftype` value	Reference type description
“ref” “reference” “object”	Reference to another group or dataset of the given `target_type`
region	Reference to a region (i.e. subset) of another dataset of the given `target_type`

1.6.1.2.2. Compound `dtype`¶

Compound data types are essentially a struct, i.e., the data type is a composition of several primitive types. This is useful to specify complex types, e.g., for storage of complex numbers consisting of a real and imaginary components, vectors or tensors, as well to create table-like data structures. Compound data types are created by defining a list of the form:

dtype:
- name: <name of the data value>
  dtype: <one of the above basic dtype stings or references>
  doc: <description of the data>
- name: ...
  dtype: ...
  doc: ...
- ...

Note

Currently only “flat” compound types are allowed, i.e., a compound type may not contain other compound types but may itself only consist of basic dtypes, e.g., float, string, etc. or reference dtypes.

Below is an example from an older version of the NWB format specification showing the use of compound data types to create a table-like data structure for storing metadata about electrodes.

datasets:
- doc: 'a table for storing queryable information about electrodes in a single table'
  dtype:
  - name: id
    dtype: int
    doc: a user-specified unique identifier
  - name: x
    dtype: float
    doc: the x coordinate of the channels location
  - name: y
    dtype: float
    doc: the y coordinate of the channels location
  - name: z
    dtype: float
    doc: the z coordinate of the channels location
  - name: imp
    dtype: float
    doc: the impedance of the channel
  - name: location
    dtype: ascii
    doc: the location of channel within the subject e.g. brain region
  - name: filtering
    dtype: ascii
    doc: description of hardware filtering
  - name: description
    dtype: utf8
    doc: a brief description of what this electrode is
  - name: group
    dtype: ascii
    doc: the name of the ElectrodeGroup this electrode is a part of
  - name: group_ref
    dtype:
        target_type: ElectrodeGroup
        reftype: object
    doc: a reference to the ElectrodeGroup this electrode is a part of
  attributes:
    - doc: Value is 'a table for storing data about extracellular electrodes'
      dtype: text
      name: help
      value: a table for storing data about extracellular electrodes
  data_type_inc: NWBData
data_type_def: ElectrodeTable

1.6.1.3. `dims`¶

Optional key describing the names of the dimensions of the array stored as value of the attribute. If the attribute stores an array, dims specifies the list of dimensions. If no dims is given, then attribute stores a scalar value.

In case there is only one option for naming the dimensions, the key defines a single list of strings:

...
dims:
- dim1
- dim2

In case the attribute may have different forms, this will be a list of lists:

...
dims:
- - num_times
- - num_times
  - num_channels

Each entry in the list defines an identifier/name of the corresponding dimension of the array data.

1.6.1.4. `shape`¶

Optional key describing the shape of the array stored as the value of the attribute. The description of shape must match the description of dimensions in so far as if we name two dimensions in dims than we must also specify the shape for two dimensions. We may specify null in case that the length of a dimension is not restricted, e.g.:

...
shape:
- null
- 3

Similar to dims shape may also be a list of lists in case that the attribute may have multiple valid shape options, e.g.:

...
shape:
- - 5
- - null
  - 5

The default behavior for shape is:

...
shape: null

indicating that the attribute/dataset is a scalar.

1.6.1.5. `value`¶

Optional key specifying a fixed, constant value for the attribute. Default value is None, i.e., the attribute has a variable value to be determined by the user (or API) in accordance with the current data.

1.6.1.6. `default_value`¶

Optional key specifying a default value for attributes that allow user-defined values. The default value is used in case that the user does not specify a specific value for the attribute.

Note

Only one of either value or default_value should be specified (or neither) but never both at the same time, as value would always overwrite the default_value.

1.6.1.7. `doc`¶

doc specifies the documentation string for the attribute and should describe the purpose and use of the attribute data. The doc key is required.

1.6.1.8. `required`¶

Optional boolean key describing whether the attribute is required. Default value is True.

1.7. Links¶

The link specification is used to specify links to other groups or datasets. The link specification is a dictionary with the following form:

links:
- name: Link name
  doc: Required string with the description of the link
  target_type: Type of target
  quantity: Optional quantity identifier for the group (default=1).

Note

When mapped to storage, links should always remain identifiable as such. For example, in the context of HDF5, this means that soft links (or external links) should be used instead of hard links.

The keys should be ordered as specified above for readability and consistency with the rest of the schema.

1.7.1. Link specification keys¶

1.7.1.1. `name`¶

Optional key specifying the name of the link.

1.7.1.2. `target_type`¶

target_type specifies the key for a group in the top level structure of a namespace. It is used to indicate that the link must be to an instance of that structure.

1.7.1.3. `doc`¶

doc specifies the documentation string for the link and should describe the purpose and use of the linked data. The doc key is required.

1.7.1.4. `quantity`¶

Optional key specifying how many allowable instances for that link. Default is 1. Same as for groups. See Section 1.5.1.5 for details.

1.8. Datasets¶

Datasets are specified as part of lists stored in the key datasets as part of group specifications. The specification of a datasets is described in YAML as follows:

- datasets:
  - data_type_def: Optional new data type for the group
    data_type_inc: Optional data type the group should inherit from
    name: fixed name of the dataset
    default_name: default name of the dataset
    dtype: Optional string describing the data type of the dataset
    dims: Optional list describing the names of the dimensions of the dataset
    shape: Optional list describing the shape (or possible shapes) of the dataset
    doc: Required description of the dataset
    quantity: Optional quantity identifier for the group (default=1).
    attributes: Optional list of attribute specifications describing the attributes of the group

The specification of datasets looks quite similar to attributes and groups. Similar to attributes, datasets describe the storage of arbitrary n-dimensional array data. However, in contrast to attributes, datasets are not associated with a specific parent group or dataset object but are (similar to groups) primary data objects (and as such typically manage larger data than attributes). The key/value pairs that make up a dataset specification are described in more detail next in Section Section 1.8.1. The keys should be ordered as specified above for readability and consistency with the rest of the schema.

Note

In version 3.0, the value and default_value keys were removed for datasets. The value and default_value keys were only used for attributes and are not applicable to datasets.

In version 3.0, the linkable key was removed.

1.8.1. Dataset specification keys¶

1.8.1.1. `data_type_inc` and `data_type_def`¶

Same as for groups. See Section 1.5.1.1 for details.

1.8.1.2. `name`¶

String with the optional fixed name for the dataset

Note

Every dataset must have either a unique fixed name or a unique data type determined by data_type_def or data_type_inc to enable the unique identification of groups when stored on disk.

1.8.1.3. `default_name`¶

Default name of the group.

Note

Only one of either name or default_name (or neither) should be specified. The fixed name given by name would always overwrite the behavior of default_name.

1.8.1.4. `dtype`¶

String describing the data type of the dataset. Same as for attributes. See Section 1.6.1.2 for details. dtype may be omitted for abstract classes. Best practice is to define dtype for most concrete classes.

1.8.1.5. `shape`¶

List describing the shape of the dataset. Same as for attributes. See Section 1.6.1.4 for details.

1.8.1.6. `dims`¶

List describing the names of the dimensions of the dataset. Same as for attributes. See Section 1.6.1.3 for details.

1.8.1.7. `doc`¶

The value of the dataset specification doc key is a string describing the dataset. The doc key is required.

Note

In earlier versions (before version 1.2a) this key was called description

1.8.1.8. `quantity`¶

Same as for groups. See Section 1.5.1.5 for details.

1.8.1.9. `attributes`¶

List of attribute specifications describing the attributes of the dataset. See Section Attributes for details.

attributes:
- ...

1.9. Relationships¶

Note

Future versions will add explicit concepts for modeling of relationships, to replace the implicit relationships encoded via shared dimension descriptions and implicit references in datasets in previous versions of the specification language.

1. HDMF Specification Language¶

1.1. Introduction¶

1.2. Extensions¶

1.3. Namespaces¶

1.3.1. Namespace declaration keys¶

1.3.1.1. doc¶

1.3.1.2. name¶

1.3.1.3. full_name¶

1.3.1.4. version¶

1.3.1.5. date¶

1.3.1.6. author¶

1.3.1.7. contact¶

1.3.1.8. schema¶

1.4. Schema specification¶

1.5. Groups¶

1.5.1. Group specification keys¶

1.5.1.1. data_type_def and data_type_inc¶

1.5.1.2. name¶

1.5.1.3. default_name¶

1.5.1.4. doc¶

1.5.1.5. quantity¶

1.5.1.6. attributes¶

1.5.1.7. datasets¶

1.5.1.8. groups¶

1.5.1.9. links¶

1.5.1.10. \_required¶

1.6. Attributes¶

1.6.1. Attribute specification keys¶

1.6.1.1. name¶

1.6.1.2. dtype¶

1.6.1.2.1. Reference dtype¶

1.6.1.2.2. Compound dtype¶

1.6.1.3. dims¶

1.6.1.4. shape¶

1.6.1.5. value¶

1.6.1.6. default_value¶

1.6.1.7. doc¶

1.6.1.8. required¶

1.7. Links¶

1.7.1. Link specification keys¶

1.7.1.1. name¶

1.7.1.2. target_type¶

1.7.1.3. doc¶

1.7.1.4. quantity¶

1.8. Datasets¶

1.8.1. Dataset specification keys¶

1.8.1.1. data_type_inc and data_type_def¶

1.8.1.2. name¶

1.8.1.3. default_name¶

1.8.1.4. dtype¶

1.8.1.5. shape¶

1.8.1.6. dims¶

1.8.1.7. doc¶

1.8.1.8. quantity¶

1.8.1.9. attributes¶

1.9. Relationships¶

1.3.1.1. `doc`¶

1.3.1.2. `name`¶

1.3.1.3. `full_name`¶

1.3.1.4. `version`¶

1.3.1.5. `date`¶

1.3.1.6. `author`¶

1.3.1.7. `contact`¶

1.3.1.8. `schema`¶

1.5.1.1. `data_type_def` and `data_type_inc`¶

1.5.1.2. `name`¶

1.5.1.3. `default_name`¶

1.5.1.4. `doc`¶

1.5.1.5. `quantity`¶

1.5.1.6. `attributes`¶

1.5.1.7. `datasets`¶

1.5.1.8. `groups`¶

1.5.1.9. `links`¶

1.5.1.10. `\_required`¶

1.6.1.1. `name`¶

1.6.1.2. `dtype`¶

1.6.1.2.1. Reference `dtype`¶

1.6.1.2.2. Compound `dtype`¶

1.6.1.3. `dims`¶

1.6.1.4. `shape`¶

1.6.1.5. `value`¶

1.6.1.6. `default_value`¶

1.6.1.7. `doc`¶

1.6.1.8. `required`¶

1.7.1.1. `name`¶

1.7.1.2. `target_type`¶

1.7.1.3. `doc`¶

1.7.1.4. `quantity`¶

1.8.1.1. `data_type_inc` and `data_type_def`¶

1.8.1.2. `name`¶

1.8.1.3. `default_name`¶

1.8.1.4. `dtype`¶

1.8.1.5. `shape`¶

1.8.1.6. `dims`¶

1.8.1.7. `doc`¶

1.8.1.8. `quantity`¶

1.8.1.9. `attributes`¶