A list and brief description of all components, with dependencies.

Base components
---------------

(general-purpose functionality, not science-specific)

access_control
    apply permissions to individual database items
    
    Dependencies: core

annotation
    attach files or notes to database items
    
    Dependencies: units

core
    general utilities and base classes
    
    Dependencies: none

people
    store information about the people and places involved in obtaining
    experimental data, from individual scientists and research labs to
    suppliers of research materials.
    
    Dependencies: core, access_control

storage
    store information about data sources (e.g. files) and their locations.
    
    Dependencies: access_control


Core science components
-----------------------

(not neuroscience-specific)

chemistry
    track simple and compound chemical substances
    
    Dependencies: people, units

equipment
    store information about equipment used in experiments. In many cases, this
    component will not be used directly, but it provides base classes that can
    be subclassed in more specialized components,
    e.g. :mod:`helmholtz.electrophysiology`.

    Dependencies: annotation, people

experiments
    associate database items that belong to the same experiment
    
    Dependencies: access_control, equipment, preparations

measurements
    attach time-stamped measurements to database items
    
    Dependencies: core, units    

species
    store lists of animal species and strains
    
    Dependencies: core

units
    manage physical quantities and units
    
    Dependencies: core


Core neuroscience components
----------------------------

drug_applications
    track the use of chemical substances (e.g. anaesthetics) during an experiment
    
    Dependencies: chemistry, experiments

location
    store information about positions within the brain
    
    Dependencies: neuralstructures, equipment    

neuralstructures
    represent neural structures, from the level of cells up to brain regions
    
    Dependencies: annotation, species

preparations
    store information about experimental preparations.

    Dependencies: measurements, equipment, chemistry

signals
    store information about time-series data
    
    Dependencies: storage, recording

stimulation
    provides base-classes for storage of stimulation parameters, to be subclassed in more specialized components.
    
    Dependencies: equipment


Components for specific experimental methods
--------------------------------------------

electrophysiology
    store information about electrodes and how they are used

    Dependencies: equipment, chemistry