1. HDMF Specification Language¶
Version: v2.1.0-beta [1]
Last modified: Aug 09, 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).
See also
For detailed description of the hdmf-common data format, see here: http://hdmf-common-schema.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html
The mapping of objects described in the specification language to HDF5 is described in more detail in the NWB storage docs: http://nwb-storage.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
Data structures for interacting with the specification language documents (e.g., namespace and specification YAML/JSON files) are available as part of HDMF. For further details, see the HDMF docs available here: http://HDMF.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html
Note
Each API for working with the HDMF specification language may not yet provide full support for all features of the specification language. Please consult the API documentation (e.g., Support for the HDMF Specification Language in HDMF) for details.
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
See also
For examples on how to create and use extensions in PyNWB, see:
http://pynwb.readthedocs.io/en/latest/example.html#extending-nwb : Examples showing how to extend NWB
http://pynwb.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorials.html#extensions : Tutorial showing how to define and use 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
.
1.3.1.7. 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 tosource
, 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. Eithersource
ornamespace
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 isdata_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 thedata_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:
|
|
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 more instances |
|
|
|
One or more instances |
|
|
|
Zero or one instances |
|
|
|
Exactly |
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:
|
storage type |
size |
|
single precision floating point |
32 bit |
|
double precision floating point |
64 bit |
|
signed 64 bit integer |
64 bit |
|
signed 32 bit integer |
32 bit |
|
signed 16 bit integer |
16 bit |
|
signed 8 bit integer |
8 bit |
|
unsigned 64 bit integer |
64 bit |
|
unsigned 32 bit integer |
32 bit |
|
unsigned 16 bit integer |
16 bit |
|
unsigned 8 bit integer |
8 bit |
|
any numeric type (i.e., any int, uint, float) |
8 to 64 bit |
|
8-bit Unicode |
variable (UTF-8 encoding) |
|
ASCII text |
variable (ASCII encoding) |
|
8 bit integer with valid values 0 or 1 |
8 bit |
|
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.
|
Reference type description |
|
Reference to another group or
dataset of the given
|
|
Reference to a region (i.e. subset)
of another dataset of the given
|
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
To represent that an attribute/dataset can be a scalar, use the special value “scalar”:
...
shape: scalar
Specifying that an attribute/dataset can be either a scalar or a non-scalar shape is currently not supported.
The default behavior for shape is:
...
shape: null
indicating that the attribute/dataset is any shape.
Note
Prior to version 3.0, the default behavior for shape, shape: null
, meant 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
value: Optional fixed value 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 default_value
key was removed for datasets. The
default_value
key was 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. value
¶
A fixed, constant value for the dataset. Default value is None, i.e., the dataset has a variable value to be determined by the user (or API) in accordance with the current data.
1.8.1.8. 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
1.8.1.9. quantity
¶
Same as for groups. See Section 1.5.1.5 for details.
1.8.1.10. 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.