Open AccessSetting up a web-based neuroscience database has never been easier: The CoCoMac engine goes open source
Author(s) -
Bakker Rembrandt,
H E Tiesinga Paul,
Markus Diesmann,
Thomas Wachtler
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
frontiers in neuroinformatics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.144
H-Index - 62
ISSN - 1662-5196
DOI - 10.3389/conf.fninf.2013.09.00099
Subject(s) - computer science , neuroinformatics , world wide web , json , set (abstract data type) , table of contents , database , information retrieval , programming language , data science
We present a web-based framework to (1) set up a relational data base; (2) search and browse its contents interactively; and (3) edit/add content to it. Central to the framework is a database definition file: a text file that describes the database structure in a compact (JSON-based) format. This file can either be written from scratch to set up a new database, or be extracted from an existing database. Multiple versions of the definition file can provide different views (intranet/world wide web) of the same database. The platform provides an interactive search/browse wizard that (1) allows the user to compose complex queries without needing to know the database structure; and (2) presents the search results in tabular form, with interactive (AJAX-based) links to related child and parent tables