Support storage of external images #529
Labels
category: extension
proposed extensions
priority: medium
non-critical problem and/or affecting only a small set of NWB users
In rly/ndx-pose#9, we would like to support the storage of single images both internally and externally. Only the
ImageSeries
type supports external image storage, but this is intended for images over time, not single time-less order-less images.We could follow the same model as
ImageSeries
which takes both internal and external data, BUT whenImageSeries
stores data externally and not usingdata
, it breaks a rule of inheritance and creates problems. So I propose we take a different approach:BaseImage
(orAbstractImage
) type that extendsNWBData
. It has a description and maybe a resolution, and is not meant to be instantiated.Image
type is meant for storing internal images and make it inherit fromBaseImage
instead ofNWBData
.ExternalImage
type that has a path to an external image file and cached dimensions.Images
andImageReferences
types to work onBaseImage
instead ofImage
.This would also be useful if users want to store their visual stimulus presentations outside of the NWB file as PNGs or other formats. Note that this will expand the number of different data types allowed to be associated with an NWB file. We would want to add a best practice naming convention like we did for external ImageSeries data.
@bendichter @oruebel what do you think?
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