make Image basetype a dataset

[ajtritt]

Motivation

make Image base type a dataset

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[bendichter]

@ajtritt I like this if we can make it work but right now there's an error:
TypeError: incorrect type for 'neurodata_type_inc' (got 'NWBDatasetSpec', expected 'NWBGroupSpec or str')

[codecov]

Codecov Report

Merging #694 into image will decrease coverage by 0.01%.
The diff coverage is n/a.

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##            image     #694      +/-   ##
==========================================
- Coverage   74.76%   74.75%   -0.02%     
==========================================
  Files          58       58              
  Lines        6812     6812              
  Branches     1399     1399              
==========================================
- Hits         5093     5092       -1     
  Misses       1325     1325              
- Partials      394      395       +1

Impacted Files	Coverage Δ
src/pynwb/form/utils.py	87.05% <0%> (-0.3%)	⬇️

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[bendichter]

@ajtritt

Can datasets have datasets? Or should it be:

datasets:
- neurodata_type_def: GrayscaleImage
  neurodata_type_inc: Image
  doc: Grayscale image. Origin in top left.
  shape:
    - null
    - null
  dims:
    - 'y'
    - 'x'
- neurodata_type_def: RGBImage
  neurodata_type_inc: Image
  doc: Color image. Origin in top left.
  shape:
  - null
  - null
  - 3
  dims:
  - 'y'
  - 'x'
  - 'R,G,B'
- neurodata_type_def: RGBAImage
  neurodata_type_inc: Image
  doc: Color image with transparency. Origin in top left.
  shape:
  - null
  - null
  - 4
  dims:
  - 'y'
  - 'x'
  - 'R,G,B,A'

[ajtritt]

@bendichter yes, you are correct. I sloppily copy-pasted... I just changed it though.

[bendichter]

@ajtritt How do you interact with these types of datasets in pynwb? I don't see any such datasets in any of the schema namespace files other than abstract types in base

[ajtritt]

@bendichter there is an Image base class in file.py

pynwb/src/pynwb/file.py

Line 26 in b9a2ef1

class Image(NWBData):

It’s not fully implemented right now, but it would just need to be implemented to support the necessary attributes on the dataset, and the necessary subclasses would need to be added.

[bendichter]

why specify Image in nwb.base.yaml and then define the constructor in file.py? Wouldn't it make more sense to have the constructor in base.py?

[ajtritt]

Sure, it probably makes more sense. But, there's no requirement about where specs are and where their API classes are.