nwbindexer usage

Searching using nwbindexer requires two steps: 1. build the index (a SQLite database) and 2. query the index.

Build the index

The index is built by the build_index.py program which can be run by entering either:

$ build_nwbindex <nwb_directory> [ <index_path> ]

or

$ python -m nwbindexer.build_index <nwb_directory> [ <index_path> ]

The first form (build_nwbindex) uses a command-line utility installed by the nwbindexer package. The second runs the command by specifying the python module directly. If no arguments are entered, the usage information is displayed. The arguments are:

<nwb_directory>

Name of directory to scan for NWB files (extension “.nwb”)

<index_path>

Path to index file. If nothing is specified, uses nwb_index.db in the current directory. If only a directory is specified, uses nwb_index.db in the specified directory.

The command scans all the nwb files in <nwb_directory> (and subdirectories) and saves the information about small datasets and attributes in the index file (a SQLite database) specified by <index_path>. The default name of the index file is nwb_index.db. The program can be run multiple times with a different <nwb_directory> and the same <index_path> to add information about additional NWB files to the specified index.

Query the index

Once the index file is built, queries can be run by entering either:

$ query_nwbindex <index_path> [ <query> ]

or

$ python -m nwbindexer.query_index.py <index_path> [ <query> ]

Where:

<index_path>

Path to SQLite database file or a directory or ‘-‘ for the default database (nwb_index.db). If is path to a directory, then uses default database (nwb_index.db) in that directory.

<query>

Query to execute (optional). If present, must be quoted. If not present, interactive mode is used which allows entering queries interactively.