feat: add AlignedDynamicTable category validation utilities

+file/+internal/isDescendantOf.m

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+function tf = isDescendantOf(name, namespace, targetAncestorName)
+%isDescendantOf Check if a type inherits from an ancestor type.
+
+    tf = false;
+
+    if strcmp(name, targetAncestorName)
+        tf = true;
+        return
+    end
+
+    ancestry = namespace.getRootBranch(name);
+    for iAncestor = 1:length(ancestry)
+        parentRaw = ancestry{iAncestor};
+        typeDefIndex = isKey(parentRaw, namespace.TYPEDEF_KEYS);
+        currentAncestorName = parentRaw(namespace.TYPEDEF_KEYS{typeDefIndex});
+        tf = tf || strcmp(currentAncestorName, targetAncestorName);
+    end
+end

+file/fillClass.m

@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@
         superclassNames{end+1} = 'matnwb.mixin.HasUnnamedGroups';
     end
 
+    if strcmp(name, 'AlignedDynamicTable')
+        superclassNames{end+1} = 'matnwb.neurodata.AlignedDynamicTableBase';
+    end
+
     %% return classfile string
     classDefinitionHeader = [...
         'classdef ' name ' < ' strjoin(superclassNames, ' & ') newline... %header, dependencies
@@ -178,8 +182,14 @@
 
     fullMethodBody = strjoin({'methods' ...
         file.addSpaces(methodBody, 4) 'end'}, newline);
+    schemaCategoryPropertyBlock = createPropertyBlockForAlignedDynamicTableCategories( ...
+        classprops, nonInherited, name, namespace);
     readPolicyMethodBlock = fillReadPolicy(class, classprops);
-    classSections = {classDefinitionHeader, fullPropertyDefinition, fullMethodBody};
+    classSections = {classDefinitionHeader, fullPropertyDefinition};
+    if ~isempty(schemaCategoryPropertyBlock)
+        classSections{end+1} = schemaCategoryPropertyBlock;
+    end
+    classSections{end+1} = fullMethodBody;
     if ~isempty(readPolicyMethodBlock)
         classSections{end+1} = readPolicyMethodBlock;
     end
@@ -231,3 +241,41 @@
         sprintf('    GroupPropertyNames = {%s}', strjoin(strcat('''', anonNames, ''''), ', ') ), ...
         'end'}, newline);
 end
+
+function propertyBlockStr = createPropertyBlockForAlignedDynamicTableCategories( ...
+        classProps, propertyNames, className, namespace)
+
+    propertyBlockStr = '';
+    if ~file.internal.isDescendantOf(className, namespace, 'AlignedDynamicTable')
+        return
+    end
+
+    categoryNames = string.empty(1, 0);
+    for iProperty = 1:length(propertyNames)
+        propertyName = propertyNames{iProperty};
+        propertyInfo = classProps(propertyName);
+        if isSchemaDefinedAlignedDynamicTableCategory(propertyInfo, namespace)
+            categoryNames(end+1) = string(propertyName); %#ok<AGROW>
+        end
+    end
+
+    formattedNames = """" + categoryNames + """";
+    if isempty(formattedNames)
+        propertyLine = 'DeclaredSchemaCategories = string.empty(1, 0);';
+    else
+        propertyLine = sprintf( ...
+            'DeclaredSchemaCategories = [%s];', strjoin(formattedNames, ', '));
+    end
+
+    propertyBlockStr = strjoin({ ...
+        'properties (Constant, Access = private)', ...
+        file.addSpaces(propertyLine, 4), ...
+        'end'}, newline);
+end
+
+function tf = isSchemaDefinedAlignedDynamicTableCategory(propertyInfo, namespace)
+    tf = isa(propertyInfo, 'file.Group') ...
+        && ~propertyInfo.isConstrainedSet ...
+        && ~isempty(propertyInfo.type) ...
+        && file.internal.isDescendantOf(propertyInfo.type, namespace, 'DynamicTable');
+end

+file/fillConstructor.m

@@ -28,7 +28,9 @@
     end
 
     % Add custom validation for DynamicTable and its descendant classes
-    if file.isDynamicTableDescendant(name, namespace)
+    if file.internal.isDescendantOf(name, namespace, 'AlignedDynamicTable')
+        constructorElements{end+1} = '    obj.ensureAlignedTableConsistency();';
+    elseif file.internal.isDescendantOf(name, namespace, 'DynamicTable')
         constructorElements{end+1} = '    types.util.dynamictable.checkConfig(obj);';
     end
 

+file/fillCustomConstraint.m

@@ -41,6 +41,13 @@
                 '    types.util.dynamictable.checkConfig(obj)\n', ...
                 'end'] );
 
+        case "AlignedDynamicTable"
+            customConstraintStr = sprintf( [...
+                'function checkCustomConstraint(obj)\n', ...
+                '    checkCustomConstraint@types.untyped.MetaClass(obj)\n', ...
+                '    obj.ensureAlignedTableConsistency()\n', ...
+                'end'] );
+
         otherwise
             customConstraintStr = '';
     end

+file/getPropertyHooks.m

@@ -13,11 +13,23 @@
             'val = types.util.dynamictable.validateColnames(val);' };
     end
 
-    if file.isDynamicTableDescendant(typeName, namespace) ...
+    if strcmp(fullClassName, 'types.hdmf_common.AlignedDynamicTable') ...
+            && strcmp(propName, 'categories')
+        hooks.ValidatorLines = { ...
+            'val = obj.validateCategoryNames(val);' };
+    end
+
+    if file.internal.isDescendantOf(typeName, namespace, 'DynamicTable') ...
             && isSchemaDefinedDynamicTableColumn(propName, prop)
         hooks.PostsetStatements = { ...
             sprintf('types.util.dynamictable.syncNamedColumn(obj, ''%s'');', propName) };
     end
+
+    if file.internal.isDescendantOf(typeName, namespace, 'AlignedDynamicTable') ...
+            && isSchemaDefinedAlignedDynamicTableCategory(prop, namespace)
+        hooks.PostsetStatements = [hooks.PostsetStatements, { ...
+            sprintf('obj.ensureCategoryNameRegistered(''%s'');', propName) }];
+    end
 end
 
 function tf = isSchemaDefinedDynamicTableColumn(propName, prop)
@@ -26,3 +38,10 @@
         && ~strcmp(propName, 'id') ...
         && ~endsWith(propName, '_index');
 end
+
+function tf = isSchemaDefinedAlignedDynamicTableCategory(prop, namespace)
+    tf = isa(prop, 'file.Group') ...
+        && ~prop.isConstrainedSet ...
+        && ~isempty(prop.type) ...
+        && file.internal.isDescendantOf(prop.type, namespace, 'DynamicTable');
+end

+matnwb/+neurodata/+internal/collectConstantPropertiesAcrossHierarchy.m

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+function result = collectConstantPropertiesAcrossHierarchy(className, propertyName)
+% collectConstantPropertyAcrossHierarchy - Collect constant property values
+% across class hierarchy
+%
+% Syntax:
+%   groupTypes = collectConstantPropertiesAcrossHierarchy(nwbTypeName) 
+%   This function retrieves property names of unnamed groups associated with 
+%   the specified NWB type name, traversing the class hierarchy to also include
+%   property names of unnamed groups for parent types.
+%
+% Input Arguments:
+%   nwbTypeName (1,1) string - The name of the NWB type for which property 
+%   names of unnamed groups are to be retrieved.
+%
+% Output Arguments:
+%   groupPropertyNames - An array of property names of unnamed groups 
+%   associated with the specified NWB type.
+%
+% Assumptions:
+%   1. Class name is the name of a generated neurodata type
+%   2. A parent neurodata type (superclass) is always defined as the first
+%      superclass if a class inherits from multiple classes.
+
+    arguments
+        className (1,1) string
+        propertyName (1,1) string
+    end
+
+    result = string.empty; % Initialize an empty cell array
+    currentType = className; % Start with the specific type
+
+    % Iterate over class and superclasses to detect property names for 
+    % unnamed groups across the type hierarchy.
+    while ~strcmp(currentType, 'types.untyped.MetaClass')
+
+        % Use MetaClass information to get class information
+        metaClass = meta.class.fromName(currentType);
+
+        % Get value of GroupPropertyNames if this class is a subclass of
+        % the HasUnnamedGroups subclass.
+        isProp = strcmp({metaClass.PropertyList.Name}, propertyName);
+        if any(isProp)
+            result = [result, ...
+                string(metaClass.PropertyList(isProp).DefaultValue)]; %#ok<AGROW>
+        end
+
+        if isempty(metaClass.SuperclassList)
+            break % Reached the base type
+        end
+
+        % Get superclass for next iteration. NWB parent type should 
+        % always be the first superclass in the list
+        currentType = metaClass.SuperclassList(1).Name;
+    end
+
+    result = unique(result, 'stable');
+end